Red Vegetable Soup

What is the real name for this vegetable? I don’t know. It is labeled as red vegetable and you can get it from the wet market and FairPrice Supermarket in Singapore. I remember my mom used to boil this quick soup with a salted egg. For this vegan recipe, I added some kelp to impart some flavour to the soup as I was not using any vegetable stock.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 220g red vegetable, stem discarded
° 6 dried kelps in knot
° 1-2 thin slices ginger
° 750ml water
° salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Place the dried kelps, ginger and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
2. Add in the red vegetable and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls. Serve hot.

Pumpkin Fried Rice with Basil

Halloween is on 31 October, and there will be lots of pumpkins available. With some pumpkin and basil, you can cook this delectable fried rice. Olive can be added to this fried rice, if desired.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° 200g pumpkin (weight after peeling), diced
° 1 slice ginger or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 50g basil leaves
° 3 tablespoons olive oil
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
° salt, to taste
° pepper (optional), to taste

For Garnish
° 50g basil leaves
° oil, for deep-frying
° roasted sesame seeds or pine nuts or pumpkin seeds (optional), for garnish

Method
1. To make crispy basil leaves for garnish: Heat oil in a wok, add in basil leaves and chilli and fry until crispy. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat and stir fry the pumpkin for 3 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
4. Throw in the basil leaves and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cooked rice and season with light soy sauce, salt and pepper. Fry about 2 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry. Add in the pumpkin.
5. Sprinkle some sesame seeds or pine nuts or pumpkin seeds, garnish with crispy basil leaves and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Chendol with Soy Milk Drink

Soy Milk Chendol with Gula Melaka

Nothing special for this drink and it is improvised from Chendol Drink. For this recipe, it is using soy milk to replace the coconut milk for a healthy choice. If you are craving for Chendol and yet don’t want to consume any coconut milk, here might be the solution. Gula melaka syrup may be added, if preferred, however the soy milk need to be unsweetened or reduced-sugar. Add some grass jelly cubes, if desired, as soy milk goes very well with grass jelly.

Preparation: 5 mins, Total time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 200g-300g prepared chendol, drained
° 500ml fresh soy milk

Method
1. Add the chendol to the soy milk. Mix well and pour into individual cups.
2. Chilled or serve with ice.

Chickpeas

I bought a pack of chickpeas after reading about Falafel in Vegetarian Society Forum. Next, I soaked the chickpeas overnight. Guess what happened, I ended up boiling it with star anise and cinnamon, within 30 minutes, it tasted like those steamed ‘love peas’ that were sold at the night market – Pasar Malam! I love to eat the steamed chickpeas which I usually get from the Pasar Malam. Now, I don’t have to wait for the night market to be around my vicinity to enjoy those lovely peas – here’s the recipe. Oops, I will try Falafel next time.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g chickpeas
° 900ml water
° 2-3 star anises
° 1 cinnamon stick
° 1 teaspoon salt

Method
1. Soak the chickpeas with 400ml of water for 12 hours or more or overnight. Drain and rinse well.
2. Place the chickpeas, star anises, cinnamon stick, salt and 500ml of water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
3. Remove with a slotted spoon, transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Healthy Tempeh Snack

Toasted Tempeh
Tempeh before toasting

Tempeh which is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybean particles into a cake form. I found another way to eat this snack without deep-frying it. Just put it in a toaster oven and toast for 10 minutes. Without any oil, seasoning and it is a healthy snack for those who need something to bite and at the same time watching the weight.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 4)
° 4 pieces (200g) fresh tempeh

Method
1. Place the tempeh in the toaster oven and toasted for 10 minutes.
2. Arrange on a serving plate and serve immediately.

Simplified Putu Mayam

Have you try Putu Mayam before? My mother would buy the putu mayam from the Indian stall for us when we were little kids. Putu mayam actually looks likes a web of rice vermicelli (bee hoon) top with freshly grated coconut and brown sugar (orange in colour). It tastes better with more coconut and sugar. I don’t have a putu mayam maker, so I simplified the process by using rice vermicelli. Check out this on how putu mayam is made- go to: http://www.foodmalaysia.net/recipe_collections/putu-mayam.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 100g rice vermicelli, blanched in salted boiling water till soft
° 250g grated coconut
° ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
° 3-6 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Mix the grated coconut with salt and set aside.
2. Divide the rice vermicelli into individual serving plates. Top with grated coconut and sugar and serve.

Steamed Sweet Potatoes

SWEET POTATOES are ranked the highest in nutritional values, low in sodium, cholesterol free, fat free, high in fiber, with protein, vitamins A, B6 & C, iron and calcium. Orange and yellow sweet potatoes contain beta-carotene and purple sweet potatoes are very rich in anthocyanins. It helps to prevents osteoporosis, constipation, boost the immune system and anti-aging with whitening effect etc. It is also good for young children brain development and growth.

You can cook sweet potatoes in many ways, baked, roasted, sautéed, boiled or steamed. To save time and conserve energy, I place the sweet potatoes in the rice cooker when I cook the rice. Just remember to give the sweet potatoes a good scrub or peel the skin, halved it if desired.

As it is not the purple ones, it does not leach out their colour. Even if the colour and nutrients is leaches out, it goes to my rice and not wasted. Or you may opt to put the sweet potatoes on the steam tray of the rice cooker instead.

When the rice is ready, my healthy snack is ready too. The skin can be eaten too, peeled it off, if preferred.

Water Chestnut and Sugar Cane Drink

Just buy a pack of water chestnuts and a pack of sugar cane from the market. You will be able to have a lovely glass of homemade sweet and cooling drink by boiling water chestnuts with sugar cane. Don’t discard the water chestnuts, it can be eaten. Peel the skin of the water chestnuts, if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 350g water chestnuts, rinsed well and bruised
° 150g sugar cane
° 1 litre water
° 100g rock sugar, or to taste

Method
1. To make the drink, put all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat, strain and serve warm or chill.

Quick Vegetarian Lor Mee

Lor mee’s recipe usually call for stock that is simmered over an hour or more with chicken carcasses, pork bones and some spices. For this quick and easy homemade vegan version, I used only the spices and just do a quick boiling for 15 minutes. If you prefer better flavour stock gravy, used vegetables and the spices to brew the stock for 1-2 hours. I added finely shredded or chopped beancurd sheet to recreate the marbled effect with beaten egg. King oyster mushroom is used to replace the thinly sliced pork or chicken fillet. Top with some Chinese lettuce and shallot crisps, if desired. And don’t forget the chilli.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g hokkien mee, blanched
° 40g beanspouts, tailed and blanched
° few sprigs coriander leaves, for garnish

Gravy
° 750ml water
° 2 star anises
° 1 cinnamon stick, 3cm lengths
° 1 tablespoon white peppercorns
° 3 slices ginger
° 150g king oyster mushrooms, sliced
° 1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
° 1 teaspoons dark soy sauce
° ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
° 3 - 3½ tablespoons tapioca starch, mixed with 100ml water
° 1 piece bean curd sheet 16x24 cm (optional), finely shredded or chopped

Method
1. Place the star anises, cinnamon, white peppercorns, ginger, king oyster mushroom and water in a pot. Bring soup to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes to make the stock. Remove the king oyster mushroom and set aside. Remove the rest of the ingredients with a slotted spoon and discard. Strain the stock.
2. Throw in the bean curd shreds and bring to a boil. Season to taste with five-spice powder, dark soy sauce and salt.
3. Stir in tapioca starch solution slowly and stir continuously until the gravy thickens.
4. To serve, divide beansprouts, hokkien mee, king oyster mushrooms between serving bowls. Ladle the gravy into individual serving bowls, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Pineapple with Dipping Sauce

It is always good to eat more fruits as eating fruits and nuts may delay Alzheimer’s disease, a study shows.
Some of the Fruit Vendors prepared a dipping sauce that customers can request to add on to their pineapple. Sweet and juicy pineapple is best eaten as it is, but for those that cause a little irritation of the tip of the tongue, just dips in this sauce might help to negate this effect and may also intensify the pineapple flavor. Feel free to adjust the combination of soy sauce or just use one type of it to come up with something that suits your taste.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 pineapple, peeled and cubed

Dipping Sauce
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 2 fresh red chilli padi, seeded and sliced
or
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 2 fresh red chilli padi, seeded and sliced

Method
1. Combine the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar in a small serving bowl. Mix well and add in the chilli. Dilute with cool water, if desired.
2. Serve as a dipping sauce for pineapples.

Watermelon Juice

Healthy homemade fruit juice is always better than fizzy drink and it is so refreshing. I love this so much when I too lazy to dice the watermelon to eat. Basically it is so simple to do, just halve the watermelon and use a tablespoon to scoop out the flesh, even kids can do it. Don’t make too much, if you can’t finish it in a day. It is good for those little ones who can’t chew well or take a long time in eating, or does not have enough fiber.

There was an article saying that “Those who reported drinking three or more glasses of juice per week were significantly less likely to develop Alzheimer’s” – thesundaytimes October 14 2007.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 8-10)
° 1 seedless watermelon

Method
1. Cut the watermelon into half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Throw in the watermelon flesh to a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Serve chill or with ice.

Salted Vegetable and Tofu Soup

This is the Salted Vegetable (preserved mustard or pickled mustard or ham choy in Cantonese) and Tofu Soup recipe improvised from the Duck with Salted Vegetable Soup. My dad loved to boil soups using soft tofu/beancurd that is available from the wet market, not the Japanese Silken Tofu. He would spend hours slow cooking the soup until the tofu is full of little tiny holes insides (look something like Swiss cheeses). As a result, the tofu is very yummy, especially dipped with chilli sauce. If you like this, boil this soup a bit longer to get that special effect on the tofu.

Sour plum and assam slices can be added, if desired. There is no need to add any salt as the preserved mustard imparts its saltiness and sourness to the soup. This soup is a bit sour plus slightly peppery which can be really appetizing and is usually served with yam rice. It might not be a good idea to eat too much of the preserved mustard too often.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 200g salted preserved mustard, cut into pieces and blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes 400g soft beancurd/tofu, cut into 4-8 sections
° 4 tomatoes, cut into 4 wedges
° 2-3 slices ginger
° 1.25 litre water
° 1 tablespoon white peppercorn
° pepper to taste
° ½ teaspoon olive oil (optional)
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves or spring onion (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Place the salted preserved mustard, tofu, ginger, water and pepper corn in a pot. Bring to a boil and 30-45 minutes.
2. Throw in the tomatoes and bring to boil for 3 minutes. Season to taste with pepper and oil.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with coriander leaves or spring onion and serve hot.

Yam Rice

This is slight different from Mushroom and Yam Rice recipe which I had. In here, I used only yam and some spices. If you prefer lighter colour rice, replace the dark soy sauce with light soy sauce or used half of each type of soy sauce. I cooked this rice to go with the Salted Vegetable Tofu Soup.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, washed and drained
° 400ml water
° 150g yam or 2 baby yams, peeled and diced
° 1 slice ginger
° 3 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° 2 star anises
° ½ cinnamon stick, 3cm length
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
° 1¾ -2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
2. When done leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Bamboo Shoot Rice

This is another easy recipe. Just throw all the ingredients in the rice cooker and you will have your wonderful bowl of rice within 20 minutes. During that time, you can do some else while waiting. Just sprinkle with some sesame seeds or add some Edamame (salted soya bean).

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, washed and drained
° 400ml water
° 100g fresh bamboo shoot, boiled in hot water for 10 mins and diced
° 1 slice (25g) vegetarian ham (optional), diced
° 3 fresh shiitake mushrooms, diced
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
2. When done leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Avocado Spread

Avocado Spread Sandwiches, Crispy Biscuits & Vegetarian Prawns topped with Avocado Spread

Vegetarian Noodle Prawns serve with Avocado Spread, Avocado Dice, Mint Leaves, Seeds or Nuts

Thin Crispy Biscuits serve with Avocado Spread, Avocado Dice, Mint Leaves, Seeds or Nuts

Besides the previous few recipes on avocado, it can be blended and mixed with mayonnaise to make a special type of bread/biscuit spread or salad dressing or as a dipping sauce. It is absolutely simple and here is the recipe. Feel free to add salt, sugar, non-dairy margarine, vinegar, if desired. Use your creativity or imagination to do up a little art piece topping on the thin, crispy biscuits or deep-fried vegetarian noodle prawn as appetizers.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (makes 150g±)
° 1 ripe avocado (200g)
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, or to taste

Method
1. Cut the avocado into half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place the avocado in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Combine with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise and mix well.
3. Serve as bread spread or salad dressing or dips.

Stir-Fried Watercress with Preserved Chilli Beancurd

I saw a photo of the stir-fried watercress with preserved beancurd at The Urban Vegan’s blog. I had used preserved chilli beancurd to stir-fry romaine and why didn’t I think of using it to stir-fry watercress? Well I gave it a try and here is the recipe – simple and easy. Preserved chilli beancurd can be use to stir-fry sweet potato leaves, spinach too.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g watercress
° 1 slice ginger, finely chopped or shredded
° ¾ tablespoon vegetable oil
° 2 cubes preserved chilli beancurd or preserved beancurd, mashed
° 1 fresh red chilli padi, sliced
° dash sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Stir in the mashed preserved bean curd and fry for less than half a minute.
3. Add the watercress and stir-fry briskly for a moment or 1-2 minutes. Throw in the red chilli and sprinkle some sesame oil.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Vegetarian “Century Egg” Congee

I am using a fruit – Avocado, to create the Vegan/Vegetarian version of Century Egg Congee. The ripe avocado tastes like the century egg yolk except it is yellowish in colour. I added some shiitake mushrooms to recreate the century egg white which has a gelatinous texture. Give it a try and don’t “overcook” the avocado, as it may taste bitter. If you find it bitter, mashed them in the congee, you won’t notice it.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins, plus 30 mins standing time

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g rice, washed and drained
° 1.2 litres water
° 6 thin slices ginger, finely shredded
° ½ - 1 ripe avocado, diced
° 2-3 fresh shiitake mushroom, diced
° salt, to taste
° light soy sauce (optional), to taste
° sesame oil, to taste
° pepper, to taste

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 1 hour or more, if desired.
2. Bring the congee to a boil for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover with a lid and leave it to stands for 30 minutes or more. Throw in the mushroom and re-boil the congee for few minutes prior to serving. To thicken the congee, mix 1-2 tablespoons of glutinous rice flour with 4 tablespoons of water and stir into the congee, if desired. Season with salt, light soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Finally, add in the avocado.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Avocado Entrée

Guess what I recalled when I was tasting the avocado? It tasted like Century Egg Yolk. So I tested out with some pickled ginger, those that we use it for century egg and sushi. Not sure anyone else had tried that. If you like the pickled ginger, you will love this. As the pickled ginger add an appetizing flavour to the otherwise bland avocado. So, this will be the special entrée.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 ripe avocado, diced
° ½ bottle preserved ginger slice/pickle ginger slice
° some toothpicks

Method
1. Secure the avocado dices with one or two slices of twisted pickled ginger with a toothpick. Alternatively, just place some pickled ginger beside the avocado dices in a serving plate.
2. Serve as an appetizer.

Avocado with Palm Sugar

Avocado with Sauce I

Avocado with Sauce II

Special thank to amazing ‘Anonymous’ who left a comment in my blog regarding avocado. ‘Anonymous’ mentioned that the Fruit Seller said that eating avocado with honey is delicious and recommended me to try. Seriously, I had never tried that before. Well, I was thinking how about a vegan version. Then the idea of using Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) came to my mind. The result was not bad. I had 2 different sauce versions for dipping the avocado in. One is thicker and the other is more like syrup. It depends on personal preferences. Alternatively, you can blend the avocado into a creamy paste and add gula melaka on it. Ripe avocados are those that are brownish in colour and soft to touch, not the greenish one!

Avocado by itself is rather bland and when I was eating it yesterday, it had a taste so familiar and yet I cannot recall immediately. It took me a long time and I finally got it and came up with two recipes.

Preparation: 8 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 ripe avocado, diced or blended

Sauce I – Thick Gula Melaka Sauce
° 25g gula melaka (palm sugar), finely chopped
° 1 teaspoon hot water

Sauce II – Gula Melaka Syrup
° 25g gula melaka (palm sugar), finely chopped
° 25ml-30ml hot water

Method
1. Combine gula melaka and hot water. Stir until the gula melaka dissolved.
2. Serve as a dipping sauce for avocado or drizzle over the creamy avocado.

Vegetarian Curry Instant Noodle

HA, what is this? Curry Instant Noodle, sometimes, it may be a bit difficult in getting vegetarian instant noodle without MSG, without garlic or shallot, a particular flavour and so on. Here, is a little simple workaround. Now, get that Instant Noodle without the seasoning pack (KOKA Ezy-Cook Noodles). If you have some vegetable stock on hand, whipping up a bowl of instant noodle soup is no problem at all. Here is a recipe for curry instant noodle using natural herbs - curry powder and mint leaves. Tom Yam flavour can be achieved too, just used some vegetarian tom yam paste and squeeze some fresh lime juice over it.

Preparation: 5 mins ,Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 pack KOKA Ezy-Cook noodle
° small handful (25g) mint leaves
° 1 slice ginger (optional)
° 875ml water
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon olive oil (optional)
° 1 teaspoon light soy sauce (optional)
° salt to taste
° ¼ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Pour 500ml of water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add in the noodle and cook for 2 minutes. Remember to stir tenderly to loosen the noodle. Drain well and set aside.
2. At the mean time, pour 375ml of water into claypot or corningware, add in ginger and bring to a boil. Add the mint leaves curry powder and bring to a boil. Season to taste with oil, light soy sauce and salt.
3. To serve, add in the noodle to the soup or ladle the soup into a serving bowl with noodle. Sprinkle some chilli powder and serve immediately.

Crispy Mushrooms with Basil

This is a deep fried dish, if you are watching your weight, it is best to avoid this or share among your family members or you need to exercise more and no more deep-fried food for the rest of the week.

Honestly, the deep-fried enoki mushroom is real FANTASTIC. With some crispy basil leaves, this made a real presentable dish if you have any guests around for dinner. By the way, enoki mushroom is said to be able to wards off cancer and have a surprisingly high vegetable protein of 5 per cent. Basil on the other hand is said to help relieve fever, purge wind, cleanse blood and strengthen the stomach. So eat more of these, but not the deep-fried one!

Oh, the oil for deep-frying will get milky due to the corn flour used so strain with a paper coffee bag place in a bowl.

Preparation: 8 mins, Cooking time: 12 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 100g enoki mushroom, base discarded and separated
° 6-8 fresh shiitake mushrooms
° small handful (25g) basil leaves
° 2 red chilli padi, sliced
° oil, for deep-frying
° 3-4 tablespoons corn flour
° 1/3 teaspoon Chinese five-spices powder, or to taste
° 1/3 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Method
1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok, add in the basil leaves, chilli and fry until crispy. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.

2. Combine corn flour, five-spice powder and salt in a plate and mix well. Coat the entire mushrooms with the flour.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Place the mushrooms in and then fry until golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper.
4. Arrange the basil and mushrooms on a serving plate and serve immediately.

Chee Cheong Fun

Look yummy isn’t? Yes, this is the chee Cheong fun or rice noodle rolls where we can easily get from the wet market which is plain (no prawn) at S$0.30 per piece. Usually, this goes with black or red sweet sauce with shallot oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds plus chilli paste (which consists of dried prawn). For a vegetarian or vegan version where we can quickly churn out at home, just use olive oil, light sauce plus some sesame seeds and go with or without vegetarian chilli sauce.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 6 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 fresh rice noodle rolls, cut
° ¾ tablespoon olive oil
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
° 1 teaspoon finely chopped spring onion (optional)
° 1 teaspoon crispy shallot (optional)

Method
1. Arrange the rice noodle rolls in a heatproof serving plate.
2. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the rice noodle rolls in the steamer and steam for 2-3 minutes.
3. Drizzle oil, light soy sauce over the rice noodle rolls. Sprinkle some spring onions, crispy shallot and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Meaty Alternatives - thesundaytimes September 2, 2007

Click on the picture, to enlarge. Happy reading.

Eight Treasure Porridge

Ingredients: sticky rice, rice, crushed corn, red kidney bean, read bean, black rice, white kidney bean, hushed buckwheat, peanut, mung bean, red jujube.

The other day, I used Eight Treasure Porridge to cook Eight Treasure Rice instead. This time, I use it to cook porridge. Again, it is fairly simple. Wash and rinse and soak for 5 hours and cook for 30 minutes. It was suggested to add sugar and but I used salt instead and it is equally tasty.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 3-5 hrs standing time, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g eight treasure rice, washed and drained
° 1.5 litre water
° salt to taste

Method
1. Put the rice and water in a claypot or pot. Let it stands for 3-5 hour.
2. Bring the porridge to a boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes. Stirring occasionally or every 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
3. Ladle the congee into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Chestnut Rice

Kuri gohan is a Japanese dish which boiled rice (usually glutinous rice) with sweet chestnuts. Currently, we can easily get shelled chestnut in the wet market or supermarket. And by adding it to the rice, it saves time and energy in cooking, which is what I love. It definitely adds some flavour and twist to the plain rice that we have. Mix with some unpolished brown rice if desired. Chestnut has about 40% carbohydrate and makes a good source of energy. It is also high in Vitamin B1 and good for anyone suffering from general fatigue. Peeling chestnuts can be easy by soaking them in hot boiling water for 10 minutes before peeling.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, washed and drained
° 400ml water
° 10-12 fresh chestnuts (shell removed), soaked in hot water for 10 mins and peeled
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
2. When done leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Stir-Fried Shiitake Mushroom

Lately, we can find different variety of mushrooms at the supermarket and even the wet market they are stocking up a few different type of mushrooms. They would normally suggest that using few varieties of mushrooms and stir-fry with garlic and oyster sauce. This is a dish of shiitake mushrooms stir-fry with garlic or ginger and vegetarian oyster sauce. I add some veggie to this dish, which can be optional. It is rather similar to the recipe ‘China Chye Sim and Shiitake Mushroom”. The differences are there is a slight different in the sauce ingredients and the amount of veggie is lesser for this dish.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g fresh shiitake mushrooms
° 100g romaine (cos lettuce) (optional), blanched for 5-10 seconds
° 2 slices gingers or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 2 tablespoons olive oil
° ¼ fresh red chilli (optional), sliced

Sauce
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce
° 5 tablespoons water
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the ginger or garlic and fry until fragrant.
3. Add the mushroom and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the sauce, continue to cook for another 1 minute.
4. Pour over the romaine, garnish with some red chilli and serve immediately.

Thunder Tea Rice Soup

Earlier, I have a recipe for Thunder Tea Rice Soup which is clear soup version . This recipe is more toward the traditional Thunder Tea Rice Soup, by blending the ingredients and adding them directly to the soup. So you can find tiny pieces of ingredients in the soup itself and it is quite nice.

I have omitted ngai, if you can get it but not too much. Depending how you like the soup, you can alter the proportion of the basil leaves, mint leaves and coriander, it definitely gives you slightly different flavour.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 25g basil leaves (stems removed before weighing)
° 25g mint leaves (stems removed before weighing)
° 1 stalk (25g) coriander
° 1 slice ginger
° 500ml water
° salt, to taste
° ½ teaspoon green tea powder, or to taste
° 1-1½ teaspoons roasted/toasted white sesame seeds

Method
1. Place the basil leaves, mint leaves, coriander, and ginger in a blender with 125ml of water. Blend well and set aside.
2. Pour 375ml of water into a pot and bring to a boil. Stir in the vegetable puree and bring to a boil.
3. Season to taste with salt and stir in the green tea powder.
4. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, sprinkle some sesame seeds and serve hot.

Stir-Fried Long Life Handmade Noodle

Long Life Handmade Noodle signifies long life, and is an essential item on any birthday banquet menu. Never cut the noodles into shorter length if it is cooked as a Birthday dish! For this recipe, Chinese chives, bean sprout, mushroom, yellow tofu - Chinese heritage yellow taukwa, are used to stir-fry this noodle. The long life handmade noodle comes in 2 colours – white and orange. I pick the white one for this recipe. As the noodle itself contains salt, therefore, there is no need to season with any salt.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 175g long life handmade noodle
° 100-150g chinese chive, cut into 5cm length
° 100g bean sprout, trimmed
° 1 (110g) Chinese heritage yellow taukwa/yellow beancurd, cut into strips
° 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut into slices
° 2 slices ginger, finely chopped
° 3 tablespoons olive oil
° 1/3 teaspoon salt, or to taste
° 1 litre water

Method
1. Place the noodle in a pot of 1 litre boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain well and if the noodle is too salty, rinse under running tap water. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the tofu and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
4. Throw in the mushroom, Chinese chive, bean sprout, and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt.
5. Add in the noodle and toss gently. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Plum Sauce Achar

This is a quick and easy achar is using plum sauce. This can be served as a side dish to accompany the vegetarian chicken rice. Reduce the amount of vinegar and replaced with kalamansi lime juice, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g cucumbers, seeded and cut into matchstick lengths
° 50g carrot, peeled and cut into matchstick lengths
° 2 tablespoons plum sauce, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, or to taste
° 1½ teaspoons sugar, or to taste
° 1-2 teaspoons white sesame seeds, lightly toasted
° 1-2 teaspoons coarsely grounded peanut (optional)
° salt (optional)

Method
1. Pour all the ingredients into a salad bowl and mix well. Sprinkle more sesame seeds before serving.

Deep-Fried Vegetarian Drumstick

This vegetarian drumstick is made from beancurd skin and vegetarian spices. This can be easily obtainable at the vegetarian shops/stalls or some supermarket. It can be a dish by itself, finger food or serve with the vegetarian chicken rice.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 7 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 8 vegetarian drumsticks
° oil, for deep-frying

Method
1. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or wok. Place the vegetarian drumsticks in and then fry until golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
2. Serve immediately.

Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce (without garlic and shallot)

Although there are many commercial chilli sauces available, nothing beats the taste of a freshly made sauce such as this one. It can be kept in the fridge for up to a month. This recipe does not call for any garlic or shallot.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (makes 150g)
° 100g (6-8) fresh red chilli, seeded and halved
° 1-2 fresh red chilli padi (optional)
° 25g ginger, coarsely chopped
° 1 tablespoon white rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
° 5 tablespoons (6-8 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 1-2 teaspoons sugar
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 1 teaspoon cooking rice wine (optional)

Method
1. Puree the chilli and ginger in a blender or food processor until it is smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to a glass container, add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt and cooking wine. Mix well and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tip
1. Serve with light soy sauce if desired. Dilute with water or lemon juice if the chilli sauce is too thick upon serving. Stock can be added to make it tasty.
2. Do not add any chilli padi if a milder flavour is preferred.
3. Cooking rice wine is added if chilli sauce is to be kept for more than a week to a month. Cooking wine, by definition, is a very inexpensive wine that has been treated with salt as a preservative.
4. To prepare fresh chilli, rinse them under water and cut them lengthways. Remove and discard the seeds using a knife.

Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce (with garlic and shallot)

Although there are many commercial chilli sauces available, nothing beats the taste of a freshly made sauce such as this one. It can be kept in the fridge for up to a month.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (makes 225g)
° 100g (6-8) fresh red chilli, seeded and halved
° 1-2 fresh red chilli padi (optional)
° 25g ginger, coarsely chopped
° 25g garlic, coarsely chopped
° 75g shallot, coarsely chopped
° 2 tablespoons white rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
° 5 tablespoons (6-8 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 1-2 teaspoons sugar
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 1 teaspoon cooking rice wine (optional)

Method
1. Puree the chill, ginger, garlic and shallot in a blender or food processor until it is smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to a glass container, add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt and cooking wine. Mix well and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tip
1. Serve with light soy sauce if desired. Dilute with water or lemon juice if the chilli sauce is too thick upon serving. Stock can be added to make it tasty.
2. Do not add any chilli padi if a milder flavour is preferred.
3. Cooking rice wine is added if chilli sauce is to be kept for more than a week to a month. Cooking wine, by definition, is a very inexpensive wine that has been treated with salt as a preservative.
4. To prepare fresh chilli, rinse them under water and cut them lengthways. Remove and discard the seeds using a knife.

Broccoli

This is something that is real simple. Just blanch the broccoli florets and dip it in light soy sauce with chilli. It is good if you do not have time to stir-fry any vegetables and at the same time want some vegetable to go with that plate of noodle or one-pot rice. Add some carrot slices to increase the intake of vegetables, if desired.

Preparation: 4 mins, Cooking time: 6 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g broccoli florets
° 500ml water
° 1-2 fresh red chilli padi, sliced
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce or dark soy sauce

Method
1. Bring 500ml water to a boil. Blanch broccoli florets in batches for 30 - 45 seconds or until crisp-tender. Drain well and arrange on a serving plate.
2. Serve with a plate of red chilli padi with soy sauce.

Home-made Barley Drink

Barley Drink or Barley Water

Lemon Barley Drink

It is a delectable drink that my mom used to make on a weekly basis for all of us when we were young. Add some lemon juice and you can enjoy a glass of lemon barley drink.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 1 hr standing time, Cooking time: 55 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 100g Holland barley or pearl barley, rinsed
° 4-6 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° 1.5 litres water
° rock sugar or sugar, to taste

Method
1. Place the barley, pandan leaves and water in a pot. Soak for one hour or more.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes or until the barley is tender. Add in the sugar and bring to a boil.
3. Pour into individual cups. Serve hot or chilled.

Shimeji Mushroom Rice

I read about shimeji gohan - rice with shimeji mushrooms, in a Japanese cookbook. It called for shimeji mushroom, rice and salt. For the cooking juice, it required dashi stock, light soy sauce and sake. To simplify, I added kelps and ginger to replace the dashi stock and use Chinese cooking wine with some sugar to replace the sake. I had also increased the amount of mushrooms, so that it more like combining two dishes in one and thus save lots of cooking time. For a more nutritious meal, unpolished brown rice can be used or mixed with jasmine rice. However, it required some soaking time. Sprinkle with some spring onion, if desired. Or add some blanched broccoli florets and carrot to make it a one-pot meal.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, washed and drained
° 400ml water
° 150g buna shimeji/brown beech mushroom, base discarded and separated
° 2-3 slices ginger, finely chopped
° 6 kelps in knot
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
2. When done leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

China Chye Sim with Shiitake Mushroom

I love simple dish that does not need lots of culinary skill. For this recipe, the sauce is just enough to avoid any wastage. If you prefer more sauce, just increase the ingredients for the sauce to 1.5 times. Ginger or garlic can be sliced and discarded prior to adding the mushroom, if you prefer a neater presentation.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g china chye sim, trimmed
° 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms
° 2 slices gingers or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 500ml water
° ¼ fresh red chilli (optional), finely chopped

Sauce
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
° 5 tablespoons water
° 1 teaspoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Bring 500ml water to a boil. Blanch china chye sim in batches for 45 - 60 seconds or until crisp-tender. Drain well and arrange on a serving plate.
2. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the ginger or garlic and fry until fragrant.
4. Add the mushroom and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the sauce, continue to cook for 1 minute.
5. Pour over the china chye sim, garnish with some red chilli and serve immediately.

Eight Treasure Rice

I bought a packet of eight treasure porridge at the super market and used it to cook Eight Treasure Rice instead. It is real simple and not to worry about the soaking part. Just wash the rice and add water to it in the morning and turn on the rice cooker at lunch or dinner time. This is a nutritious meal as it contained sticky rice, rice, crushed corn, red kidney bean, read bean, black rice, white kidney bean, hushed buckwheat, peanut, mung bean, red jujube. It was suggested to add sugar and preserved fruit to it, but I replaced with a bit of salt to make this rice tasty. Omit the salt, if desired. You may even sprinkle some sesame seeds or pine nut on the rice.

Preparation: 5 mins, plus 3-5 hrs standing time, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g eight treasure rice, washed and drained
° 400ml water
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker and soak for 3-5 hours.
2. Turn it on the cooker after the soaking process.
3. When done leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot.