Bitter Gourd and Tofu Soup

The colour of this soup looks beautiful, green, orange, white and maroon! And most importantly, it is simple to whip up. Here is some cool fact about Bitter Gourd or Bitter Melon:

Bitter gourds are very low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, and has high dietary fiber. It is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana.
Bitter melon contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which has been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.
Source: http://www.juicing-for-health.com/bitter-gourd-benefits.html

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
° 100g bitter gourd, sliced
° 1 (125g) firm tofu, cubed
° 25g carrot, sliced
° 6 seedless red dates (optional)
° 1 slice ginger
° 750ml water or vegetable stock
° salt and pepper, to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste
° crispy ginger shreds (optional)

Method
1. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the bitter gourd slices and mix well. Let it stands for 10-15 minutes and rinse off the salt. Drain well and set aside.
2. Place the ginger, water/vegetable stock, red dates in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add in bitter gourd, tofu, carrot and bring to a boil for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt, pepper and granulated mushroom bouillon.
4. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with crispy ginger shreds and serve immediately.

Simple Rice Soup

This is an easy-to-prepare clear rice soup. Don’t discard the kelp, use it to make a mini side dish – Seasoned Kelp http://crystalbyblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/seaweed-salad.html.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 bowl cooked plain white
° 10 kelps in knot
° 5 seedless red dates (optional)
° 1 slice ginger
° 500 ml water or vegetable stock
° salt and pepper to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste
° few drops sesame/shallot oil (optional)
° small handful freshly chopped coriander leaves or spring onion, for garnish
° 1-1½ tablespoons vegetarian meat floss
° some nori shreds
° small handful freshly chopped spring onion (optional)

Method
1. Place kelps, ginger, red dates and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the kelps, red dates and ginger. Season to taste with salt, pepper, granulated mushroom bouillon and sesame/shallot oil.
2. Place a bowl of rice on a serving plate, top with vegetarian meat floss and nori shreds. Garnish with coriander leaves or spring onion.
3. Ladle the soup on the bottom of the rice and serve immediately.

Rooty & Fruity Pink Salad

Another simple salad using beets which has been identified as a nutritional powerhouse and high in folate, manganese and potassium. The beet root will strain the yam bean, therefore making this salad pink (2 different shades) after mixing. Replace green mango with Japanese cucumber, if desired. The sweet pineapple gives a refresh sweet and sour taste to it. And adding mint leaves gave a different favour. For this salad, I added rice cereals too!

Preparation: 8-10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 25g beetroot shreds
° 25g green mango shreds
° 25g yam bean shreds
° 10g pineapple shreds
° 3 tablespoons rice cereals
° few mint leaves, finely chopped

Salad Dressing
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian salad cream/ vegan mayonnaise, to taste
° 1 tablespoon vinegar, to taste
° 1 teaspoon sugar, to taste

Method
1. Combine all salad dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Arrange the beetroot, green mango, yam bean, pineapple in a serving plate. Garnish with mint leaves.
3. Add the salad dressing and sprinkle the rice cereals over it. Serve immediately.

Dried Green Curry Udon

I had cooked this dish "It's OK to be Wrong" Dried Green Curry Udon before but was a failure. Finally, I gave it another try it. Slightly better than the previous creation. In fact, some deep-fried tofu mini cube or toasted tempeh cube or mushroom or young corn can be added. Replace the udon with pasta, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 pack (200g) udon noodle, blanched
° 20g basil leaves
° 1 kaffir lime leave (optional)
° 1 tablespoon green curry paste
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 125ml fresh coconut milk or soy milk
° salt to taste
° 2 dried chilli, sliced and pan fried/toasted

Method
1. Combine the basil leaves and coconut milk in a blender and blend. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the green curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and fry till fragrant.
3. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt.
4. Add in the udon and mix well.
5. Garnish with dried chilli and serve immediately.

Salted Vegetable Soup with Tom Yum Paste

Beginning of this year, I had a salted vegetable and tofu soup from Lotus Heart Tea House ( closed now :( ) in Chinatown. It tastes a little special and I think it had added Tom Yum paste to it. Therefore, I tried to recreate this but I choose to use king oyster mushroom instead of tofu just for fun. Use silken tofu, or deep fried firm tofu, if desired. If you want to taste how it likes and not wants to cook it, maybe you can try something a little bit similar at Naïve http://www.naivecompany.com/ , they serve a much better dish - “Ugly Duckling”. It is not soup but a dish that had tofu, specially cook fresh mustard with tom yam taste I think.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
° 125g-150g salted preserved mustard, cut into pieces and blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes
° 100g king oyster mushroom, cubed
° 2 (100g) tomatoes, cut into 4 wedges
° 2 slices ginger
° 750ml water or vegetable stock
° 1 teaspoon white peppercorn
° 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon vegetarian tom yum paste
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves or spring onion (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Place the salted preserved mustard, mushroom, ginger, water and pepper corn in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Throw in the tomatoes and bring to boil for 3 minutes. Season to taste with light soy sauce and vegetarian tom yum paste.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with coriander leaves or spring onion and serve hot.

Vegetarian "Century Egg" Congee (Version 2)

When I first created the Veg*n Century Egg Congee (using Avocado & Shiitake Mushroom to replace century egg) in 2007, I have thought of using Grass Jelly (Chin Chow) instead of shitake mushroom. Finally, gave it a try some time back.

It is even much easier, just cook some plain congee with vegetable stock or season with mushroom bouillon. Prior to serving, adding the avocado dices and grass jelly! That’s it!

Frozen the rice grain (washed) for few hours in the freezer before cooking the congee, it helps to speed up the cooking time and all you need is about 15 – 20 minutes.

Little White and Brown Shimeji in Muddy SPA

This is supposed to be a stir-fried dish! But to simplify it, just blanch the mushroom in boiling water and mix well with the simple seasoning. And that’s! real simple and even the kid can whip this up. The water used for blanching the mushroom, can be used to make a quick miso soup or for blanching other vegetables etc. Mushroom is a great alternative for children that are not too keen on green. Plus it is high in protein and low in fat.

Preparation: 5 mins Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g white shimeji mushroom, base trimmed and separated
° 100g Buna shimeji mushroom, base trimmed and separated
° fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce or to taste
° 2 tablespoons warm water
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Blanch the mushroom in a pot of boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Drain well.
3. Stir in the seasoning sauce and mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Quick Pumpkin Clear Soup

Simple and easy, because I am lazy and does not have much time lately! Have to come back to spend more time on recipes ... For a different twist, use miso paste to replace all the seasoning … I accidentally put a little more oil in the soup for the picture taking, oil can be omited.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g pumpkin (weight after peeling), small chunks
° 10 kelps in knots
° 6 seedless red dates
° 1 slice ginger
° 375ml water or vegetable stock
° salt and pepper to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste
° sesame oil or fragrant oil (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Place the pumpkin, kelps, red dates, ginger and water in a pot. Bring soup to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.
2. Season to taste with salt, pepper, granulated mushroom bouillon and sesame or fragrant oil.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Apple of My Eye Shake

Green Apple … This is good for kid who does not like to eat sour fruit, by adding it to soymilk and it tastes better ...

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 3 green apples, peeled and chopped
° 500ml fresh soy milk (reduced sugar)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste it, add more sugar, if necessary. Chilled or serve with ice.

Red Date with Nata De Coco, Sterculia and Agar Agar Dessert

Great the uploading problem in Blogger is resolved! Fell in love with the combination of Nata De Coco, Sterculia and Red Agar Agar. It looks lovely and yummy too. To make this dessert more nutritious, I used red dates.

Preparation: 5 mins, standing time 30 mins, Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
° 12 seedless red dates
° 500ml water
° 2 pandan leaves (screwpine), tied into a knot
° 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste
° 2 sterculia seeds/mollow nut, lightly bruised
° 50g-75g agar agar (jelly), cubed
° 360g Nata De Coco

Method
1. Soak sterculia seeds in ample water for 20-30 minutes until the flesh has expanded into a loose, jelly like mass. Peel off and discard the skin. Drain well and set aside.
2. Place the red dates, water and pandan leaves in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in sugar and discard pandan leaves.
3. Mix all the ingredients and ladle into individual bowl.
4. Serve hot or chilled.