Vegetarian Adam Fish with Power Beans (Petai)

This is real simple and you don’t have to be a great cook to whip up some delectable vegetarian food at home. I brought a pack of ready to serve vegetarian food – Pure Vegetarian Asam Fish by Vegetalk. Just to make this dish impressive, I added petai to it. You can choose other vegetable like lady’s finger, egg plant etc if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 100g petai, halved
° 1 (230g) pack pure vegetarian asam fish
° 1 tablespoon olive oil

Method
1. Heat up the pure vegetarian asam fish in wok and set aside. If it too dry, add some water.
2. Heat oil in another wok. Add the petai and fry for 3 mintues.
3. Throw in the petai to the pure vegetarian asam fish.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Asparagus with Chilli and Garlic

This is real simple and very quick dish. To me, the asparagus look like little green snakes! To my boy, the asparagus is just like a blade of grass that he can stick out from his mouth! I should have cut them into smaller section.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g asparagus, blanched in salted boiling water for 30 seconds and drained well
° 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 2 red chilli padi, sliced
° 2 tablespoons olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Arrange the asparagus in a serving plate and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat. Stir fry chilli and garlic for 1 minute. Off the heat. Place the chilli and garlic on top of the asparagus.
3. Serve immediately.

Mock Abalone (Braised Bailing Mushroom)

For Lunar New Year, Abalone is a delicacy and a ‘must have’ dish for most of the Chinese family Reunion Dinner (on the Eve of Lunar New Year). Being a vegetarian, does not mean that you need to miss out on the taste of this dish! Of course, NOT! There are vegetarian abalones where we can get easily at most of the Vegetarian Shops in Singapore, which is made using cudlan, starch, wheat straw fiber, condiment and seaweed.

However, using fresh ingredient like Bai Ling Mushroom, which have the same texture and look of a real abalone, we can also easily whip up a simple mock abalone. I purchased one fresh Bai Ling Mushroom at the price of S$2.50 and came up with the below recipe.


Preparation: 8 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 (225g±) whole fresh Bai Ling mushroom
° 1 slice ginger
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° ¾ teaspoon sugar
° ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
° 250ml water or vegetable stock
° 1 teaspoon corn flour, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
° few broccoli florets (for garnish), blanched

Method
1. Combine the ginger, vegetarian oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, water or vegetable stock in a claypot. Mix well and add in bai ling mushroom. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes. Flip over the bai ling mushroom after 10 minutes to ensure the upper side is cooked.
2. Lastly, pour in the corn flour solution and off the heat when the gravy thickened.
3. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with broccoli florets and serves hot.

Quick Stir-Fried Beijing Cabbage with Lily Buds and Black Fungus

This is a common dish where we can find at the Vegetarian Stall in Food Court or Coffee Shop. You can even add some deep-fried tofu to this dish to make it more nutritious, if desired. Both dried lily buds and black fungus are a good source of iron.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g Beijing cabbage, cut into strips
° 20 dried lily buds, trimmed, soaked and knotted
° 8g dried black fungus, soaked and trimmed
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil

° some red chilli (for garnish), sliced

° some chopped corriander (for garnish), chopped


Seasoning
° 100ml water
° ½ teaspoon corn flour
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon light soy sauce
° salt and pepper, to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste

Method
1. Place all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the garlic or ginger for half a minute or until fragrant.
3. Add the lily buds, black fungus, Beijing cabbage and stir fry 2 minutes. Pour in the seasoning and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Dish up, garnish with chilli or coriander leaves and serve immediately.

White Radish Sangchae

This is a simple to do healthy appetizer or salad. You can prepare more in advance and this can used for the stuffing for Kimchi which I can only tried when I get a new camera.

Preparation: 10 minutes, plus 1 hour standing time

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 375g white radish, peeled and shredded
° 2 teaspoons salt
° ¾ tablespoon roasted sesame seed

Marinade Seasoning
° 2½ tablespoons dried chilli flake or Korean Chilli powder
° 2 teaspoons lemon juice
° 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
° 2 teaspoons sugar or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine all the marinate seasoning in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt to the radish, mix well and leave for 30 minutes for the liquid to drain. Rinse and gently squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
3. Transfer the radish to a big bowl or plate. Throw in all the marinade seasoning and toss well. Leave to marinate for ½ hour and place in the refrigerator till chilled.
4. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and serve.

Watermelon Juice with Almond Powder

Sometimes back, I have tried Honeydew Soy Milk Shake with Almond, now I add Almond powder to watermelon juice. It tastes good too.

As for the watermelon juice, this is what I did - halve a seedless watermelon and use a tablespoon to scoop out the flesh and throw into a blender (nothing is wasted).

Simple Claypot Noodle

Crave for claypot noodle? No problem, it can be easily done in 10 minutes. Here is the simple recipe for it.

The bad news for me, is that I broke my camera yesterday while rushing to take picture, get ready for dinner, listening and commenting on my boy’s day in school. Moral of the story – never multitasks! So until I can a new one, I might not be able to post any recipe even I have quite a long list of to-do dishes. The good news, I still have 2-3 more recipes haven’t post yet and to think positively I can have a longer break again! Thinking of spending money to get a new camera is real heartache, so to comfort myself – all things are impermanence … Any suggestions for good and reasonable price camera are always welcome, thank you :)

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 250g fresh cooked noodle, blanched
° 3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms
° 100g cai xin, cut into small section
° 1 slice ginger
° 375ml water
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Seasoning
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° 1 tablespoon corn flour

Method
1. Combine all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Place ginger, mushroom and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 mins.
3. Throw in the cai xin, noodle and seasoning and bring to a boil.
4. Serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Zucchini with Fresh Bamboo Shoot

Has no idea what to do with zucchini? Besides doing a seasoned zucchini, zucchini pasta, you can also do a simple stir-fry. Replace fresh bamboo shoot with silken tofu, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g yellow zucchini, cut into cubes
° 100g green zucchini, cut into cubes
° 75g fresh bamboo shoot, blanched and cut into cubes
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger
° salt to taste

° 1-2 slices carrot (for garnish), finely chopped

Seasoning
° 120ml water
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° 1 tablespoon corn flour

Method
1. Combine all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Throw in the zucchini and bamboo shoot and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Pour in the seasoning and stir-fry till the sauce thicken.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with finely chopped carrot and serve immediately.

Braised Bitter Gourd with Dried Chilli

After having Braised Bitter Gourd with King Oyster Mushroom at Ling Zhi Hi-Tea Buffet, I decide to whip up a simple version of this dish. It tastes nice if you eat bitter gourd which might not be so popular among those who do not like the bitter taste. But I like bitter gourd with chilli. Do you like bitter gourd?

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

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g bitter gourd, seeded and thinly sliced
° 1 slice ginger
° 4 dried chilli, cut into small section
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 125ml water
° 2 teaspoons salt

Seasoning
° 1½ tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° ½ tablespoon corn flour
° 60ml water

Method
1. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt to the bitter gourd, mix well and leave for 10 minutes for the liquid to drain. Rinse and gently squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
2. Place all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and dried chilli and fry for 1 minute.
4. Throw in the bitter gourd and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add 125ml of water and simmer for 4-5 minutes or till the water almost dried up. Pour in the seasoning and stir till it thickens.
5. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Seasoned Fresh Bamboo Shoot

This is incredibly simple, very quick and simple dish to prepare in advance.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g fresh bamboo shoot, sliced
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded

Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, or to taste
° ½ -1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds

Method
1. Blanch the fresh bamboo shoot in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain well and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the fresh bamboo shoot to a plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce and mix well.
3. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and serve.

Zucchini Aglio Olio

Zucchini Aglio Olio

Zucchini Aglio Olio with Curry potatoes!

Thanks to Virginie Pean (her lovely blog: Absolutegreen) for leaving a comment on my Seasoned Zucchini recipe, sharing how to make raw zucchini pasta- [extract from her comment: (peeled the whole, so it makes like green pasta) + lemon juice + garlic + olive oil + salt + pepper --> marinated for at least 1 hour].

That gave me the idea for creating this simple recipe. Few days back, I manage to find some yellow zucchini which allow me to test this out. Well, it is lovely, if you love garlic and Pasta Aglio Olio. This can be a good replacement for pasta if you are on a diet or wanting to up fiber intake!

You can use olive oil but in here I used the healthy Extra Virgin Cooking Oil (see above picture) which is given to me by my boy’s kind ex-Chinese Teacher - Ms Lim OH, who is a Buddhist Vegetarian. She got it from YES Natural which is just besides The Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaurant .

Before I forget, use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini, it is so much easier, faster and fun. And click here for: Statistics of Vegetarian in Europe

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 175g yellow zucchini, sliced, blanched in boiling water for 15 seconds and drained well
° 4 cloves (25g) garlic, finely chopped
° 1½ red chilli padi, sliced
° 1 tablespoon extra virgin cooking oil or olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat. Stir fry chilli and garlic for 1 minute. Off the heat.
2. Add in the zucchini and toss evenly with salt. Serve immediately.

Baked Bean with Silken Tofu

So simple and easy to whip up!

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 can (220g) baked bean in tomatoes sauce
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), cut into cubes
° ½ -1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 slice ginger or 1 clove garlic (optional), finely chopped
° 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh spring onion or coriander, for garnish

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Add in the baked bean, silken tofu and bring to a boil.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onion or coriander and serve immediately.

BaiYe Tofu Salad

Happy New Year everyone, I am back from hibernation and getting back to cooking is a little bit tough after a nice break. So, I tried something simple and it looks like noodle but it is not. It is BaiYe Tofu ( 百 页 豆 腐 )- a traditional Chinese soybean product which is popular in mainland china. It can be used for salad, stir-fried dishes or stew. This BaiYe tofu that I bought is a product of Singapore.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g BaiYe tofu, shredded and blanched for 2 minutes and drained well
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded
° small handful of coriander leaves
° some toasted sesame seeds (optional), for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil or olive oil
° 2 tablespoons cider apple vinegar
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
° salt to taste

Method
1. Mix the all the ingredients for seasoning in a bowl and set aside.
2. Add in BaiYe tofu. Toss well.
3. Garnish with coriander leaves, sesame seeds and serve.