Vegetarian Bak Kut Teh (Vegetables Version)

With all these instant sachets, it makes cooking so much easier and it does not require any special culinary skill at all. I used to get the vegetarian bak kut teh pack that comes with herbal sachet and the mock meats which taste equally good. However, I don’t really like eating so much mock meats.

Now, I finally found the A1 vegetarian bak kut teh sachet that suits my palate. By using lotus roots instead of mock meats and increase the vegetables intake by adding rocket leaves, tang-O or lettuce, I can have vegetarian bak kut teh which consists of vegetables. For a quicker version, use shiitake mushrooms, beancurd puffs, as these ingredients take a shorter time to cook. Few pieces of mock meats can be added, if desired. This soup goes well with rice and a plate of freshly sliced red chilli with light soy sauce. Use this soup for noodle, you can have a bowl of vegetarian bak kut the mee.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 1 sachet A1 vegetarian bak kut teh
° 200g lotus root, thinly sliced
° 3-5 cloves garlic
° 1.25 litres water
° 100g rocket leaves or tang-O or Chinese lettuce, torn into big pieces
° salt and pepper, to taste
° light soy sauce, to taste
° a small handful fresh chopped spring onion or coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Place the vegetarian bak kut teh sachet, lotus root, garlic and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 25-30 minutes or until the lotus is tender. Add in the rocket leaves or tang-O or lettuce. Season to taste with salt, pepper and light soy sauce.
2. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves and serve hot.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

No one home for dinner last night! I am a bit too lazy to whip up dinner just for myself. I have some of the below vegetables in the refrigerator and wondering what to do with them. In the end, just try to turn them into creamy soup which is easy to go down or eat with bread. And it turns out real delicious and with the broccoli florets minced to give the soup a tinted green.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 1-2)
° 100g cauliflower florets
° 1 (100g) potato, peeled and diced
° 50g white leek (white portion), trimmed
° 1 (50g) onion, diced
° 50g broccoli florets
° 375ml water
° ½ -1 tablespoon non-dairy margarine
° salt and ground black pepper, or to taste

Method
1. Place the cauliflower, potato, leek, onion and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the broccoli and cook for 1 minute.
2. Transfer to a blender or food processor and add in the margarine and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, sprinkle some black pepper and serve hot.

Simple Corn Salad

The simple recipe of corn salad again is to use fresh corn on the cob. Remove the kernels from the corn on the cob, stream and mix well with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise. Frozen corn can be used but the result is not that desired.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 ears corn on the cob, cut or peeled kernels off the cob
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise

Method
1. Put the corn kernels in a heatproof serving plate and steam for 10 minutes. Mix well with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise.
2. Serve chilled.

Cup Corn

The secret to sweet and delicious cup corn is to use fresh corn on the cob. Remove the kernels from the corn on the cob, stream and season with non dairy margarine and salt. Frozen corn can be used but the result is not that desired.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 ears corn on the cob, cut or peeled kernels off the cob
° 1 tablespoon non-dairy margarine
° salt, to taste

Method
1. Put the corn kernels in a heatproof serving plate and steam for 10 minutes. Mix well with margarine and salt.
2. Serve hot.

Quick American Ginseng Soup

I bought a packet of Yew Chian Haw America Ginseng Soup at Fairprice few days back. The ingredients consist of American Ginseng, Rhizoma Polygonati Odorati, Fructus Lycii, Rhizonma Dioscorea Batatas, Euphoria Longan, Fructus Ziziphi Jujubee. As the ingredients are mostly in grounded form within the sachet and it is appropriate to use it to make quick herbal soup. To optimize the flavour and goodness from the herbal sachet, the soup can be simmered longer or prepared in the morning and re-heat prior to serving at lunch or dinner.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 1 sachet Yew Chian Haw America Ginseng Soup
° 1-1.25 litres water
° 125g-150g king oyster mushroom, sliced or cut into small chunks
° salt, to taste
° a small handful fresh chopped spring onion or coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Place all the ingredients and water in a pot and continually boil for 15-20 minutes or until all the mushrooms are tender. Season to taste with salt.
2. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves and serve hot.

Vegan Scrambled “Egg”

This is a vegan version of scrambled egg using tofu mashed or scrambled. Turmeric is used here to obtain the colour of the egg. The more important reason in using turmeric as it can prevent the onset of arthritis and offer some protection against breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 (225g) big firm beancurd/tofu, pat dry and scrambled
° ¼- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper, to taste

Method
1. Marinate the scrambled tofu with turmeric powder, salt, pepper and sesame oil. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and fry scrambled tofu until dry.
3. Serve hot.

Vegan Coleslaw

There are few different ways to prepare this salad. The cabbage can be minced using the food processor or thinly shredded and mixed with the mayonnaise with a little mustard or vegetable oil and vinegar. I blanched the vegetables, as I prefer it to be a little bit softer and not that raw.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g round cabbage, finely shredded
° 25g carrot, peeled and finely shredded
° 250ml water
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream/ vegan mayonnaise
° salt and pepper to taste
° vinegar (optional)

Method
1. Blanch the cabbage in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain well and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Place cabbage in a salad bowl. Stir in the vegetarian salad cream/vegan mayonnaise and season to taste with salt, pepper and vinegar.
3. Stir well to mix and set aside for a few hours in the refrigerator to allow the flavour to develop.
4. Serve chilled.

Steamed Chestnut

I saw the lovely chestnuts (shells removed and the skins still on) in the supermarket and brought some at the price of $6.80 per kilogram. Chestnut is the least fatty and starchiest of the nuts and is richly nutritious as well.

There are many ways to cook chestnut, boiling with water, roasting in the oven or roasting in a large wok fill with sand or coffee beans which we sometime see some street hawkers doing. I just steam it, the easiest way I think, eat it while it is hot as when it cooled down it is slightly difficult to peel the skin. To peel off the skin of the chestnut prior to steaming, just put them in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes before peeling.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (20± pieces)
° 250g fresh chestnut (shell removed), rinsed

Method
1. Place the mushroom in a heat proof serving bowl and steam for 15-20 minutes.
2. Serve warm.

‘Egg & Mayonnaise’ Sandwich

Oooh, I really like this very much and feel like making them for friends and just tell them it is egg. It can’t really tell when the fresh scrambled tofu mixed with vegan mayonnaise, especially when you like more mayonnaise on it. Just control the amount of turmeric powder used or it can be omitted if desired. As the tofu can be rather wet and therefore I stir-fried it to avoid a runny texture. Toasted the breads, if desired. This recipe is just the basic, other ingredients can be added to this ‘egg and mayonnaise’ mix.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 small firm beancurd/tofu, pat dry and scrambled
° ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
° ½ tablespoon olive oil
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, or to taste
° salt and pepper, to taste
° 4 slices breads
° non dairy margarine (optional), for spread
° cucumber slices (optional)
° tomatoes slices (optional)

Method
1. Marinate scrambled tofu with turmeric powder and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and stir fry the scrambled tofu for 1-2 minutes or until dry. Transfer to a bowl, add vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Evenly spread margarine on one slice of bread.
4. Place the tomato slices and cucumber slices on the bread. Scoop the mashed ‘egg’ over it.
5. Spread margarine on the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
6. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together. Repeat for the next 2 slices of bread.

Quick Mini ‘Steamboat’ Soup

This is a one-pot wonder for days that are too tired to whip up a big meal. It is improvised from the steamboat which we usually have, using its few common ingredients. Carrot is used to sweeten the soup and by using Chinese celery leaves (tang o), it spices up the soup with a lovely taste. Other ingredients like yam slices, different type of mushrooms, cabbage, corn etc can be added, if desired. Taking care not to overload with too much ingredients, as it is not a real steamboat. It goes well with cooked rice and chilli or dipping sauces.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
° 2 baby corns
° 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
° 4 vegetarian fishballs
° 1 slice ginger
° 500ml water
° 4 small beancurd puffs
° 100g silken tofu, cubed
° 100g-150g Chinese celery leaves (Tang O)
° salt and pepper, to taste
° dash sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Place the carrot, corn, mushrooms, vegetarian fishballs, ginger and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add in the beancurd puff, tofu, Chinese celery leaves and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sesame oil.
3. Serve immediately.

Red Date Lotus Seeds and Lily Bulb Tea

I happened to find Lily Bulb while doing marketing yesterday and decide to do up this recipe. This tea is good for easing insomnia, restlessness and irritability. Lily Bulb (Bai He) is often used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to calm and relieve the mind in order to retain healthy energy within the body. And lotus seeds nourish the heart and also help to prevent insomnia.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 17 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 12 seedless red dates
° 50g fresh lotus seeds
° 1 slice ginger (optional)
° 40g rock sugar, or to taste
° 750ml water
° 50g fresh lily bulb, peel off petals piece by piece

Method
1. Combine the red dates, lotus seeds, ginger, water and rock sugar in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the lily bulb and bring to a boil.
2. Serve hot.

Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables

This dish has a combination of few different vegetables and makes it rather interesting and colourful. Blanching the vegetables instead of stir-fried them one after another is to have a better control on the crunchy texture of each vegetable and to avoid overcooking them. The sauce can be just light soy sauce plus sugar with a bit of cornflour solution as an alternative of using vegetarian oyster sauce.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 75g cauliflower florets, blanched
° 6 snow peas, trimmed and blanched
° 3 baby corns, cut into thick slices and blanched
° 8 slices carrots
° 4 shiitake mushrooms
° 50g-75g fresh bamboo shoot
° ½ red chilli (optional), seeded and sliced
° 1 slice ginger, chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil

Sauce
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° ½ tablespoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° 30ml water

Method
1. Prepare the fresh bamboo shoot according to packet instructions and thinly sliced.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce and mix well. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
4. Add the mushrooms and carrot stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Throw in the cauliflowers, sweet peas, baby corn, bamboo shoot and red chilli. Stir in the sauce mixture and stir-fry briskly for less than a minute.
5. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Winged Bean with Vegetarian Belacan

Winged Beans or ‘4 Angles Beans’ – I happened to spot some winged beans at the Prime Supermarket. I remember my mother used to stir-fry winged bean with chilli and belacan. Go for the young pods which have a chewy, crunchy texture and are slight sweet. These beans are high source of protein. Other ways do whipping up winged beans is to stir-fry with vegetarian sambal chilli or using just garlic or ginger, season with salt (which can be one of the stir-fried vegetable for Thunder Tea Rice). I omitted salt or light soy sauce as the vegetarian belacan is salty enough to season the dish.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g winged beans, sliced diagonally
° 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
° 2 thin slices ginger or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1½ teaspoons vegetarian belacan powder
° salt or light soy sauce (optional), to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Stir in the vegetarian belacan powder in low heat. Give it two or three stirs to release its aroma and so that it can cook without burning. Add in the chilli and fry for few seconds.
3. Throw in the winged bean and stir-fry briskly for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Romaine with Preserved Chilli Bean Curd

I had this dish – Stir-Fried Romanine (Cos Lettuce) with preserved chilli bean curd in one of the vegetarian eateries in Ipoh, Malaysia. Besides eating romaine raw or stir fried with garlic/ginger and drizzle with light soy sauce, this is another way to cook this vegetable. Here is the recipe which I have reinvented. Just do not over cook it and serve immediately is the best way to eat this dish.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 3 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g-300g romaine (cos lettuce)
° 1 slice ginger or 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1-1½ cubes preserved chilli bean curd or preserved bean curd, mashed

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Stir in the mashed preserved bean curd and fry for less than half a minute.
3. Throw in the Romaine and stir-fry briskly for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Easy Cream of Mushroom Soup

This is a quick and simple vegan cream of mushroom soup. As herbs or onion or vegetable stock is not used in this recipe, the amount of mushroom is generously more to boost up the flavour of the soup. If the soup is too thick, just thin down water some water. Just be a little careful with the amount of soy milk used, so that it is not too overpowered.

Preparation: 7 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 200g white button mushroom, coarsely chopped
° 1½ -2 tablespoons non dairy margarine
° 350ml-400ml water
° 300ml unsweetened soy milk
° 2 tablespoons flour
° salt and pepper, to taste

Method
1. Combine the flour with soy milk and mix well. Set aside.
2. Melt the margarine in a pot over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes or until soften.
3. Add the water, bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Give the soy milk and flour mixture a quick stir, before gradually stir into the mushroom stock mixture over low heat.
4. Return to high heat, stirring frequently until the soup has thickened. Season to taste with salt.
5. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, sprinkle with pepper and serve hot.

Simple ‘Omelette’

This is a simple vegan version ‘omelette’ using chickpea flour. To spice it up a little bit, I added freshly chopped coriander leaves and red chilli. You may need to add another 1 tablespoon of water if the batter is too thick.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 10 mins standing time, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped
° ½ red chilli, seeded and finely chopped,
° 60g chickpea flour (besan flour/gram dhall)
° ½ teaspoon baking powder
° 60ml water
° salt and ground black pepper, to taste
° 1 tablespoon oil
° few drops sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine the chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and water a bowl. Mix well and add in the coriander leaves and chilli. Leave the mixture to stand for at least 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat oil and sesame oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Pour in the flour mixture and spread out evenly. Flip over the omelette after 1½ minutes or when the base is slightly brown. Remove from heat after another 1½ minutes when the other side of the omelette turned slightly brown.
3. Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

Yard Bean ‘Omelette’

Yard Bean fried with beaten eggs is a very common home-style dish in the Chinese cuisine. In here, by using chickpea flour batter to substitute the beaten egg, we can still achieve almost the same effect. You may need to add another 1 tablespoon of water if the batter is too thick.

Preparation: 8 mins, plus 10 mins standing time, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g yard bean/long bean, coarsely chopped
° 60g chickpea flour (besan flour/gram dhall)
° ½ teaspoon baking powder
° 60ml water
° salt and pepper, to taste
° 1 tablespoon oil
° few drops sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine the chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and water a bowl. Mix well and leave to stand for at least 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat oil and sesame oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the yard beans and stir-fry for 1½ minutes or until the yard bean is soften.
3. Pour in the flour mixture and spread out evenly. Flip over the omelette after 1½ minutes or when the base is slightly brown. Remove from heat after another 1½ minutes when the other side of the omelette turned slightly brown.
4. Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

Onion ‘Omelette’

Onion Omelette is another common home-style dish in Chinese cuisine. In here, this is a vegan version. I added coriander leaves and red chilli, just to jazz up this dish. You may need to add another 1 tablespoon of water if the batter is too thick.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 10 mins standing time, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 (100g-150g) onion, peeled and thinly sliced
° 60g chickpea flour (besan flour/gram dhall)
° ½ teaspoon baking powder
° 60ml water
° salt and pepper, to taste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped
° ½ red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon oil
° few drops sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine the chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and water a bowl. Mix well and leave to stand for at least 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat oil and sesame oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the onion and and sauté briefly until it soften. Throw in the coriander leaves and chilli on top of the onion.
3. Pour in the flour mixture and spread out evenly. Flip over the omelette after 1½ minutes or when the base is slightly brown. Remove from heat after another 1½ minutes when the other side of the omelette turned slightly brown.
4. Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

Spinach ‘Omelette’

Vegan ‘Omelette’! A simple spinach omelette, where you can add some mushrooms, if desired. You may need to add another 1 tablespoon of water if the batter is too thick.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 10 mins standing time, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 50g spinach, pat dried and coarsely chopped
° 60g chickpea flour (besan flour/gram dhall)
° ½ teaspoon baking powder
° 60ml water
° salt and pepper, to taste
° 1 tablespoon oil
° few drops sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine the chickpea flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and water a bowl. Mix well and leave to stand for at least 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat oil and sesame oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and sauté briefly or until it wilts. Pour in the flour mixture and spread out evenly.
3. Flip over the omelette after 1½ minutes or when the base is slightly brown. Remove from heat after another 1½ minutes when the other side of the omelette turned slightly brown.
4. Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

Special Basil ‘Omelette’

This is a vegan version omelette using chickpea flour. The idea and basic recipe comes from a Forumer – Veganic, @ www.vegetarian-society.org. I had added tofu puree to the mixture, partially is add more varieties to it and also to lighten it up, as flour can be quite filling if eaten in huge amount. Adding a handful of freshly plunked basil leaves to beaten egg is a traditional Hakka dish. This dish goes well with the Thunder Tea Rice. You may need to add another 1 tablespoon of water if the batter is too thick.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 10 mins standing time, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° a small handful fresh basil leaves
° 60g chickpea flour (besan flour/gram dhall)
° ½ small firm tofu/beancurd, mashed
° ½ teaspoon baking powder
° 60ml water
° salt and pepper, to taste
° 1 tablespoon oil
° few drops sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine the chickpea flour, baking powder, water, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add in the tofu puree, mix well and leave to stand for at least 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat oil and sesame oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Throw in the basil leaves and stir fry for ½ -1 minute.
3. Pour in the flour mixture over the basil leaves. Flip over the omelette after 1½ minutes or when the base is slightly brown. Remove from heat after another 1½ minutes and transfer to a serving plate.
4. Serve hot.