Vegetarian Curry Mock Abalone

In 1988, when my mother went vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar, we just followed her vegetarian diet. Sometimes, we will have vegetarian curry mock abalone as one of the vegetarian dishes. Back in the 80s, we could purchase canned curry vegetarian mock abalone from the supermarket.

I can’t remember when, when this canned food was no longer sold in the supermarket. I was searching for it for many years, one day I found one can of it exactly like what I had as a teenager in a local supermarket and after which no more. Weird things do happen to me sometimes which I can’t really explain how they happened.

Never had I thought of recreating this until few days back I was thinking what recipes I can derive using canned vegetarian food. After all, it is not difficult at all and I use unsweetened soy milk which I believe the canned curry vegetarian mock abalone doesn’t have. I omitted any seasoning, as the mock abalone is already tasty even discarding the liquid sauce.

The ingredients of canned Vegetarian Mock Abalone are Fried Gluten, Sugar, Salt and Soy Sauce. On a closer look on the can, it even states – “Good source of protein”. This is one of the foods that I stock up at home for any emergency.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 can vegetarian mock abalone, drained
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° 20 curry leaves (optional)
° 125ml unsweetened soy milk
° 1-1½ tablespoon olive oil

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with 3 tablespoons of water to form curry paste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick wok. Add in the curry leave and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Pour in unsweetened soy milk, vegetarian mock abalone and bring to a boil.
4. Serve immediately.