Embracing Simplicity - Just King Oyster Mushroom and Chilli

Few days back, someone asked me about Wild Red Mushroom. Unaware of Wild Red Mushroom.  Have not seen one before! Have not tasted any before!  Hmmm... NEW stuff! Very interesting.

Yes, there are so many things in the Universe that we don't know and is waiting for us to explore and to discover, just like the mushroom with a beautiful lovely name - Wild Red Mushroom that I don't know.  

So are you on such a quest? Discovering the beauty of Vegetarian Cuisine or discovering your potential or strengths? Or your warrior's heart is on the search for the truth of your existence?

If you are wondering why my posting is getting lesser nowadays, it is because I am away discovering the Mother Nature's beauty and allure by the stimulating self-discovery workshops ... With these positive energies that I harness, maybe I would be able to have a different feel when I cook and play with vegetarian dishes.

Preparation:     5 mins

Cooking time:    10 mins

           

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         200g king oyster mushroom, sliced

°         3 dried chilli, cut into section

°         1 tablespoon olive oil

°         1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce

°         125ml water

Method

1.      Heat the oil in a wok. Add dried chilli and fry till fragrant.

2.      Throw in the king oyster mushroom and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add in the vegetarian oyster sauce and water. Simmer for 5-8 minutes.

3.      Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with some fresh chinese celery or coriander and serve immediately.

Quick Pumpkin 'N' Mushroom Soup

GONG XI FA CAI - Toast to a year of Prosperity, Health and Good Fortune! 

We had a delectable CNY Set meal @ Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaruant, early this month. They have a delectable Doubleboilded Golden Pumpkin Sharksfin Soup (Photo of Whole Earth's Golden Pumpkin Sharkfin) which my young man loves it so much. As this is special sharkfin soup in the restaurant that comes with the CNY Set, I can't just order this dish alone, I guess.

So, I cooked this simplified version for my young man. The taste is not exactly the same as I omit lots of other ingredients which the restaurant used, are rather expensive during Chinese New Year period, like the Vegetarian Shark Fin cost $12.50 instead of $8.50 few months back. And I don't really want to keep so much ingredients in my already pack refrigerator, therefore, simplified it. Add in more ingredients, if desired, just ensure ingredients balanced well.

Preparation:     10 mins, Cooking time:  25 mins 

           

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         200g pumpkin (weight after peeling), small chunks

°         50g shitake mushroom, sliced

°         50g enoki mushroom, base trimmed

°         500ml water or vegetable stock

°         1 piece (25g) vegetarian ham, sliced thinly

°         salt and pepper to taste

°         granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste

°         1½ teaspoon corn starch, mix with 1 tablespoon water

°         some coriander,  for garnish

Method

1.      Place the pumpkin in a steamer and steam for 5-10 minutes or until tender.

2.      Transfer to a blender or food processor and add in water or vegetable stock. Blend until smooth and creamy.

3.      Place the mushrooms, vegetarian ham and pumpkin puree in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, granulated mushroom bouillon and thicken with corn starch.

4.      Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Cabbage Tofu Parcel

Lost my entire photo collection again (corrupted), second time in a month, guess I will have to stop blogging for a while, no photo for the recipes. Only left with this photo and also decided to pamper myself (laze a bit) after I had made a trip to Blood Bank for blood donation yesterday.

The ‘O’ blood group is current at status LOW these few weeks - http://www.donorweb.org/bloodstocks/, so if you are a local and feeling well for the past 3 weeks and didn’t take any medication for past 3 days, make a trip for blood donation if possible. Who says Vegetarian Diet is lacking, if a Thalassemia Minor like me on a Veg*n diet donated blood for 7 times already, so no worry if you eat well.

Back to this recipe, for a change, using cabbage leaves to wrap the tofu (the tofu ingredients can be used to make tofu ball, wonton filling  etc with slight modifications) … It is a little bit of work and I feel that the marinating ingredients, sauce and tofu texture can be further improved. Maybe, next round I would try adding otah ingredients to it or something else. Give the cabbage leaf a very quick blanch, to soften it for wrapping. Keep the water from blanching for steaming. For simplicity and control of oil intake, I omitted the step heating oil in the wok with ginger or garlic, to make the sauce.    

Preparation:      15 mins Cooking time:    15 mins 

Ingredients (makes 6 pieces)

°         1 (225g) firm tofu (beancurd), washed, pat dry with kitchen paper and mashed

°         6 pieces Beijing Cabbage leave, blanched

°         3 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked, drained and chopped

°         ½  carrot, chopped

°         1 tablespoon corn starch

°         1 teaspoon sesame oil

°         sugar, to taste

°         salt, to taste

°         pepper, to taste

Sauce

°         125ml stock or water

°         1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce

°         1 tablespoon light soy sauce

°         ¼ - ½ teaspoon sugar

°         ½ teaspoon sesame oil

°         1 teaspoon corn flour

Method

1.       Combine the mashed tofu, mushrooms, carrot, corn starch, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper and mix well. Divide into 6 portions.

2.       Place 1 pieces of cabbage leaves on the chopping board or plate. Place a portion of tofu in the centre and roll up.  Secure with a toothpick, if desired and repeat with the rest. 

3.       Place the tofu parcel on the plate and steam for 10 minutes.

4.       Meanwhile, pour all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Heat the mixture in a wok, stirring and bring to a boil.

5.       Arrange the cabbage tofu parcel on a serving plate and drizzle with sauce and serve immediately. 

Mushroom Kinpira

Kinpira is so simple and easy to do, here is another one – using Dried Mushroom! The key for this simple yet yummy side dish is good quality dried mushroom, soy sauce and the preparation of the mushroom. It goes well with congee!

About 2 decades ago, when I was a non-vegetarian, there was a mini vegetarian stall near my workplace selling traditional vegetarian plain congee added with delicious and fragrant Chinese dried mushroom. The mushroom looks something like this but with very oily sauce. Mushroom simmered in the flavorful sauce was so aromatic that make you wanted to have a bowl of piping hot congee just with that. Imagine this tasty congee with little garnish like spring onion and pepper, in front of you at this moment …  are you hungry now?

Meatless congee can be delicious, you will be astonished! 

Preparation:      10 mins, Cooking time:    10 mins         

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

°         50g  dried Chinese mushroom, soaked, sliced and drain well

°         1 tablespoon olive oil

Seasoning

°         1 tablespoon sugar

°         4 tablespoons light soy sauce

°         1 tablespoon cooking rice wine or water

°         1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method

1.       Place all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

2.       Heat oil in a wok. Fry the mushroom for 5 minutes or till slightly burned or dried.  Pour in the seasoning and simmer for 3 minutes or until it is dry.  

3.       Dish up 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.

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.

Silken Tofu with Minced Tempeh and Mushroom

I got the inspiration of this recipe from minced meat over tofu. Using tempeh and mushroom to replicate the minced meat. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water for more sauce and don’t forget to add a tiny bit more vegetarian oyster sauce or soy sauce for that too, if desired. Want a spicy version, add chilli padi or chilli flake!

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), steamed or blanched and drained well
° 100g tempeh, cubed
° 50g fresh shiitake mushroom, cubed
° 1- 1½ olive oil
° 1½ tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° some roasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° few coriander leaves (optional), for garnish


Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the tempeh and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add in the mushroom and stir-fry for another minute. Mix the vegetarian oyster sauce and water well, pour over the tempeh and mushroom.
3. Place the tofu on a serving plate and top with the tempeh and mushroom.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves, sesame seeds and serve.

Enoki Salad

Want some mushroom salad! Here it is, simple and crunchy. The core ingredient is enoki mushroom, you can added shredded carrot or shredded green mango to gives it some colour! Drizzle the dressing ONLY when it is ready to be served … Use Chinese plum sauce instead of Thai plum sauce, it is not that watery. So, have fun and create your very own unique enoki salad …

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g enoki mushroom, base trimmed
° 25g shredded carrot
° some coriander leaves
° ½ teaspoon black and white sesame seeds (optional)
° ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper

Dressing
° 2 tablespoons plum sauce
° 1 teaspoon (1-1½ limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° sugar to taste (optional)

Method
1. Mix all the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Arrange enoki mushroom, carrot and coriander leaves on a serving plate. Garnish with sesame seed and crushed red pepper.
3. Serve with dressing.

Stir-Fried King Oyster Mushroom with Basil Leaves

Basil leaves is often used to stir fry chicken. For this recipe, I replace the chicken with king oyster mushroom which had the texture of chicken meat. Remember to keep some basil leaves for garnish.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g king oyster mushroom, cut into cubes
° 5 dried chilli, cut into section
° 25g basil leaves
° 1 cloves garlic or 1 slice ginger
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° ¾ tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger, dried chilli, basil leaves and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the king oyster mushroom and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add in the vegetarian oyster sauce mixed with water. Stir fry for another ½ minutes or till well mixed.
3. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with some fresh basil leaves and 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.

Enoki and Shiitake Mushroom with Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

This delicious mushroom dish can be prepared quickly and easily. I added a small amount of dried lily buds which has lots of protein, irons, vitamin A and good for revitalizes the blood and strengthen brain function. Thin silken tofu shred can be added, if desired.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g enoki mushroom, base trimmed and cut into small section
° 2 (50g) fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 12 dried lily buds, trimmed, soaked and knotted
° some sea moss (optional)
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° some fresh coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, or taste
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° 125ml water

Method
1. Place all the ingredients for the seasoning in a bowl, mix well and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Add the enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, dried lily buds and stir-fry for 1 minute. Pour in the seasoning, carrot and stir-fry for another 1 to 1½ minutes. Lastly add in the sea moss.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Seasoned Enoki Mushroom

Nutritious, delectable and effortless! The beauty lies in the fact that no cooking is required, because I’m getting real lazy these days! I had Seasoned Fernbrake which was crunchy and tangy, I really like it. But I don’t think fresh Fernbrake is available here. Therefore, I am using Enoki mushroom to as a substitute Fernbrake.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g enoki mushroom, base trimmed and separated
° ½ teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
° some shredded carrot (optional), for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l teaspoon light soy sauce
° ¼ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° salt to taste

Method
1. Place enoki mushroom and seasoning in a bowl or plate. Toss well.
2. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and shredded carrot and serve.

Vegetarian Stew Pork Bun (Kong Bak Bao)

Finally, I experimented with Monkey Head Mushroom, they look so lovely and nice to smell too. Special thanks to Veganic for the instructions on how to prepare the monkey head mushroom. He recommends that the mushroom to be soaked in water for 2 hours, then squeeze out the water and put in fresh water, let it absorb the fresh water and squeeze dry before cooking. Blanch the pre-soaked mushroom for a minute or 2 in boiling water to clean it.

Well, I skip the last step, too impatient of me! I used the monkey head mushroom to cook Stew Pork Bun Vegetarian version -五 香 扣 肉包. My first try was much simpler, no marinating and I didn’t simmer the spices plus I added too much sugar. So, I did another round and this was how I spent my whole day yesterday, playing with 200g of monkey head mushroom to get the recipe below.

Hmmm… it is not perfect yet, I should have added vegetarian oyster sauce and maybe I should have marinated the mushroom with Chinese five spice powder too. And I should use corn flour to thicken the sauce (I ran out of corn/tapioca flour and vegetarian oyster sauce, my manual Reorder Point System 2008 didn’t work!).

At the end of the day, I came to a conclusion!

Don’t ever try to make Vegetarian Stew Pork Bun again – its just too much work and time consuming. Just go dine at The Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaurant , their Kong Bak Bao is awesome and wholesome. The good quality winter mushroom used in that dish resembles the fatty layer of the pork belly meat. Perfect and delectable!

Preparation: 30 mins, plus 3 hours standing times
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 100g monkey-head mushrooms
° 2 star anise
° 1 cinnamon stick
° 2 slices ginger
° oil, for deep-frying
° 8-12 lettuce leaves
° 8-12 leaf buns

Marinade
° 2 pieces red fermented bean curd (2cm x 2cm cube), mashed with 1 tablespoon water

Seasoning
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
° 375ml water
° ½ teaspoon granulated mushroom bouillon
° 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. Soak the monkey head mushroom in a big bowl of water for 1½ -2 hours.
2. Squeeze out the water from the monkey head mushroom and soak in fresh water till it absorbs and plump up. Remove and squeeze out all the water. Repeat this for one more round.
3. Cut the mushroom into slices and marinade with the fermented bean curd for ½ hours.
4. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Drop the marinade monkey head mushroom and fry in batches until lightly golden brown. Remove the monkey head mushroom with a slotted spoon. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
5. Mix all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
6. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok and stir-fry the ginger, star anise and cinnamon for 1 minute. Throw in the seasoning, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes till the spices release its aroma.
7. Add in the deep-fried monkey head monkey and cook till it absorbs all the sauce. Alternatively, thicken with corn flour.
8. Transfer to a serving dish and serve lettuce leaves and leaf buns.

Stir-Fried Capsicum with King Oyster Mushroom

A simple colourful Stir-Fried dish! Stir-frying is a healthy cooking process that preserves vitamins and minerals and at the same time keeps the crunchy texture of the food.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g king oyster mushroom, sliced
° 50g red capsicum, seeded and diced
° 50g green capsicum, seeded and diced
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° salt and grounded black pepper, to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Add the king oyster mushroom and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Throw in the capsicum and stir-fry for another 1 minute. Season to taste with light soy sauce, salt and black pepper.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.