Wasabi Daikon Sangchae

Want something different? Instead of using chilli powder for this Sangchae, use Wasabi. I got this idea from a Korean Cookbook. Wasabi adds zest to this appetizer, gives a sharper taste and a green tint. Serve Washi Daikon Sangchae together with Chilli Daikon Sangchae as a appetizer, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, plus 1 hours standing

Ingredients (serves 2)

 200g white radish/daikon, peeled and cut into matchstick length

 2 teaspoons salt

 ¾ tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

Marinade Seasoning

 ½ - ¾ teaspoon wasabi or to taste

 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

 ½ tablespoon sugar

 ¼ teaspoon salt

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 ½-1 hour and place in the refrigerator till chilled.

4. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and serve.

Mock Cabbage Kimchi (Vegan)

When I first opened up the Vegetarian Kimchi that I bought in Korea, it tasted like cabbage in my homemade Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce, to me! That was my first impression and with that feeling in mind, I created this recipe and no cooking involved. Omit garlic and double the amount of ginger if desired.

Next, I might be making Cucumber Kimchi in this manner but using chilli power instead of fresh chilli.

Preparation: 20 mins, standing time 4.5 hrs

Ingredients (serves 6-8)
 400g Chinese cabbage, cut into small sections
 4 tablespoons salt

For marinade
 5 fresh chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
 50g garlic, finely chopped
 25g ginger, finely chopped
 60ml apple cider vinegar
 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
 1 tablespoon sugar or to taste

Method
1. Place the cabbage in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 30 minutes, then rinse and drain well, squeezing out any excess moisture.
2. Meanwhile, to make the marinade: combine all the marinade ingredients in bowl and mix well. Set aside
3. Transfer the cabbage and marinade into a glass bottle. Mix well and place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hour prior to serving.

Rooty Veggie Yusheng

Time Flies! It is long past Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) and I just had “Yusheng” ! Isn’t “Yuseng” mix ONLY available during Chinese New Year period? At the moment, Yes!

And I just really can’t understand why it can’t be served all year round just like Rice Dumpling for Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu Festival in Mandarin). Salad lover will like this I guess and it is definitely good to share such lovely stuff with other Vegetarians/Vegans around the World.

I don’t know, maybe, having it as a daily affair, it loses its “special occasion kind of feeling”. Just like we lost the great enthusiasm toward Chinese New Year when we don’t have to wait till Chinese New Year to feast and don nice clothing …

Back to this Yusheng - How did I have this “Yusheng” Mix? In fact, I bought it in February early this year, as one of the surprise special gifts to someone who came over to Singapore from Italy in March. We were supposed to meet, but we were at the same meeting place and at the same time, but missed the chance of meeting each other.

Therefore, this pack of Yusheng Mix (expiry: end of 2009) was still with me until few days back when I finally decided to do another different type of Yusheng (not the Traditional Yusheng or Fruit Yusheng) but using ONLY root vegetables (Beet Root, Yam Bean and Lotus Root). It was appetizing …

Beet Root strained the other ingredients, what can be done here is to cut the root beet into shreds and leave it in the refrigerator to “dehydrate” it a little, so that it is not so "watery".

As for the Lotus root, slice them thinly (the hole pattern looks so beautiful) and put them in water with a few drops of vinegar added, if desired. You can also deep-fry it to make Lotus Root Chips that can be eaten on it own or use it for garnishing or add to a bowl of piping hot Ramen cooked with scrumptious Herbal/Vegetable stock …

Let your creative juices flow, look around the kitchen, mix and match the ingredients, and having unique and delectable dishes is so simple, easy and full of surprises …

The Universe of Vegetarian Cuisine is so vast and yet undiscovered …

Nata De Coco with Sterculia and Agar Agar Dessert

Dried Sterculia Seeds / Soaked Sterculia Seeds in water

You see, with a minor change of the one of the ingredients, you can create a different treats! I replaced soymilk with Nata De Coco! And my boy loves this and asked for more. And it looks colourful and attractive to little ones. Nata De Coco is a high-fibre, low-calories and cholesterol-free dessert. Again, you can make the agar agar yourself or you just get them from the Fruit Stall in the food court.

Preparation: 5 mins, standing time 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 sterculia seeds/mollow nuts, 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.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a jar and pour into individual glasses.
3. Chilled or serve with ice.

Soy Milk with Sterculia and Agar Agar Drink

Dried Sterculia Seeds / Soaked Sterculia Seeds in water

Really, you don’t need special ingredients to come up with some interesting and creative drink for kids or anyone. It can be so simple and yet so easy. You can make the agar agar yourself or you just get them from the Fruit Stall in the food court.

Preparation: 5 mins, standing time 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 sterculia seeds/mollow nuts, lightly bruised
° 50g-75g agar agar (jelly), cubed
° 400ml fresh soy milk

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.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a jar and pour into individual glasses.
3. Chilled or serve with ice.

Vermicelli Salad

Another healthy and easy salad dish, almost no-cooking required except for blanching the Brown Rice Vermicelli in boiling water. Brown Rice Vermicelli is high in fiber and good for our health. You can add some oil (sesame/shallot/garlic/ginger) to it to prevent it sticking together and at the same time add some fragrant to it. I added lettuce leave here to up the fiber intake. Again the amount of carrot and cucumber shreds and herbs to be added depends on individual preference. Remember to add mint leaves, it is A MUST. You will understand what I mean if you taste it …

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (makes 2-4)
° 150g blanched brown rice vermicelli, mixed with 1 teaspoon olive or fragrant oil
° 25g shredded carrot
° 50g shredded cucumber
° few onion slices (optional)
° 1 lettuce leave (optional) for garnish
° some mint and coriander leaves
° some toasted/roasted sesame seeds

Chilli Dipping Sauce
° 2 fresh red chilli padi, sliced
° 2 teaspoons sugar or to taste
° 4 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
° 1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)
° 5-6 kalamansi limes, freshly squeezed

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Set aside.
2. Place the brown rice vermicelli, carrot shreds, cucumber shreds, onion slices, mint leaves, coriander leaves on a serving plate. Garnish with sesame seeds and chilli slices.
3. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Edamame Salad in Bread Box

I got the idea from Sunny’s blog - Coffin Shaped Bread (Guan Cai Ban .Well, I don’t have thick toast and therefore I used 3 slices of bread, cutting out a square from 2 slices of bread to make a ‘hole’ and place them on the other slice of bread. I used edamame beans mixed with vegetarian salad cream to make the salad. You can use corn salad or mixed vegetable salad if desired. This is good for tea break and edamame beans are real nutritious. I purchased the edamame from Fairprice – it is known as soya bean salted about S$2.90 per pack (500g). To get the beans, just squeeze them out from pod, it quite fun too.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 3 slices bread
° 75g edamame beans
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, or to taste
° tomatoes slices (optional), for garnish
° mint leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Mix edamame beans with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise well in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Place one slice of bread on a serving plate. Cut a square out from 2 slices of bread and put on top of the first slice of bread.
3. Spoon the edamame beans into the little square on the bread. Garnish with tomatoes slices and mint leaves and serve.

Silken Tofu with Sweet Miso

Another one! Quick, simple plus impressive! If you consume alcohol, you can add sake or few drop of cooking rice wine to this miso paste. This is another dish that you can play with the presentation using different colour sesame seeds, spring onion/coriander leaf or even chilli slice/flake … Just have some fun with it! Next, I am going to use this sweet miso paste with green tea soba for another recipe …

You can do away with steaming, if you love cold tofu or want to save energy. Steaming or blanching the tofu, will make the texture for some tofu softer.

Preparation: 5 mins, Total time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), steamed or blanched, drained well cut into four sections
° some roasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° few slices spring onion or coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Sweet Miso Paste
° ¾ tablespoon miso paste
° 1 tablespoon hot water
° 1 tablespoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. To make the miso paste: combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Place the tofu on individual serving plates and garnish with spring onion or coriander leaf.
3. Top with sweet miso paste, sprinkle some sesame seeds on it and serve.

Silken Tofu with Vegetarian Meat Floss

This is real simple and to make it look presentable, just plays with the arrangement of the vegetarian meat floss, spring onion or coriander leaves, chilli and different colour sesame seeds.

Not all things need to be complicated to prove its worthiness. If it can be simplified, why make it complex? Sometimes, I just wonder those special or secret recipes, does all of them need to be special by using so many ingredients? I believe, not all special or secrets need to be in that way.

So for this sauce, it’s real simple, even kids can do it. Just get some good quality light soy sauce and the sesame oil can be replaced with garlic oil, shallot oil, chilli oil, olive oil or no oil! And you may even surprise your family member with this simple and easy to do dish, yet yummy. If the tofu is broken during handling stage, never mind, just mess it up a bit and said it is meant to be in this way to absorb the sauce!

You can do away with steaming, if you love cold tofu or want to save energy. Steaming or blanching the tofu, will make the texture for some tofu softer.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), steamed or blanched and drained well
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian meat floss
° some nori shreds
° some roasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° few slices spring onion or coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Sauce
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil or garlic oil or shallot oil or chilli oil or olive oil

Method
1. To make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Place the tofu on a serving plate and drizzle the sauce at the bottom the tofu.
3. Garnish with vegetarian meat floss, spring onion, sesame seeds and serve.

Vegetable Sandwich Spread

Wanted something to spread on bread, try this sandwich spread. You can omit any of the vegetables that you do not like. As for the portion, you don’t have to follow so closely, just make sure the vegetable don’t over power the vegan mayo, if not you will have Coleslaw instead.

Preparation: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients (makes 4)
° 4 slices bread
° 1 teaspoon round cabbage, finely chopped
° 1 slice carrot, finely chopped
° ½ teaspoon or 1 slice onion, finely chopped
° ½ teaspoon red/yellow capsicum, finely chopped
° 1 slice Japanese cucumber, finely chopped
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream/vegan mayonnaise
° ¼ teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon vinegar (optional)

Method
1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Spread the sandwich spread on one slice of bread and place another slice of bread on it to complete the sandwich.
3. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together if desired.

Yusheng (Fruit, Mushroom and Vegetable version “Yusheng”)

In Singapore, Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is the time for “Yusheng” dish, which is created by our local chefs of Singapore in 1963. In the past, it is served on the 7th day of Chinese New Year which is also known as “ren ri” (every man’s birthday). But now, you can have it anytime from the 1st day to 15th day of Chinese New Year!

You can even buy the “Yuseng” mix (which is only available during Chinese New Year period) and get some shredded carrot, white radish, green radish and raw fish (Vegetarian raw fish) to have this dish at home. You toss and say auspicious phrase related to the ingredients like “da ji da li” , “tian tian mi mi”, “yi ben wan li”, … and “cai yuan guang jin”. Remember to toss this salad high, the higher you toss, the greater your fortunes will be.

I bought a pack of “Yusheng” mix (consist of lime/plum sauce, sliced yam, sesame seeds, peanut, pok choy, pickled papaya, vegetarian jelly fish, red & green ginger etc) and added carrot shreds, green mango shreds, white radish shreds, enoki mushroom.

I added enoki mushroom, as it saves me the time spend on preparing more vegetable shreds! I have omitted the vegetarian raw fish (as the mix come with it) and replace green radish with green mushroom shreds for this Fruit, Mushroom and Vegetable version “Yusheng”.

You can add whatever fruit (green papaya, strawberry, green apple …) you like to give this traditional Yusheng dish a new twist.

If you crave for this dish after Chinese New Year, you can also whipped up a simplified version “Yusheng” !

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.

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.

Seaweeds Bibimbap

Well, I just don’t know how to name this Ocean Themed Bibimbap. Again, this is another no-cook dish. The funori and kelps required no cooking too, just soak and drained. This is to say, anyone can make this and the plus point is there is not much washing need to be done.

If you find that cutting carrot into shreds is troublesome, just replace with enoki mushroom. Anymore Bibimbap recipe, there is still one more in my mind – Singapore Variant Bibimbap - using cucumber, onion, satay rice and Stir-fried tempeh with Gochujang chilli paste.

Preparation: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 bowls hot steam rice
° 50g shredded carrot
° few local lettuce leaves
° some shredded nori
° sesame oil (optional), to serve.
° gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste), to serve

Seasoned Kelps
° 5g dried kelp shreds, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and drained
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° salt to taste
° ¼ teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Seasoned Funori
° 10g dried coralline algae or funori (jelly seaweed), washed, rinsed, soaked overnight and cut
° ½ tablespoon rice vinegar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° ¼ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° salt to taste

Method
1. To make Seasoned Kelp: Place all seasoned kelps ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. To make Seasoned Funori: Place all seasoned funori ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
3. Divide rice into individual serving bowls and garnish with sesame seeds. Arrange shredded carrot, lettuce, shredded nori, seasoned funori, and seasoned kelp in another serving bowls.
4. Serves with a plate of gochujang and sesame oil.

Raw Veggies Bibimbap

Bibimbap mixed!

If you know nothing about cooking, or never whip up any dish before. With a given task to whip up a Korean Dish, do you think it is mission impossible? Well, nothing is impossible.

Here is the simple dish – Raw Veggie Bibimbap that you can churn out to impress anyone! Have a electric rice cooker at home to cook plain white rice? If not, just pack some steaming hot white rice from any rice stalls.

Next, get few veggies like carrot, Japanese cucumber, radish, lettuce, dow miao (pea shoots), sprouts, rocket leaves and the list goes on. For carrots, Japanese cucumber, radish and lettuce you just need to cut them into shreds.

And don’t forget you need to have the Gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste) where you can easily get them from any Korean Supermarkets in Singapore.

Now, you have rice, raw veggies and gochujang. Just scoop the cooked rice into individual big serving bowls and top with a portion of the raw veggies. Serve with a plate of gochujang on the side. Your guest could just mix them all well prior to eating.

You are going to impress them and it is sooo simple!

For my Raw Veggies Bibimbap, I have

* shredded Japanese cucumber

* shredded carrot

* shredded lettuce

* dow miao (pea shoots)

* enoki mushroom

* shredded nori

* cooked plain rice sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds

* tomato, for garnish

Mix all the ingredients well with gochujang and drizzle ½ teaspoon of sesame oil (optional). I also added some crispy wonton skin (which is not in the photograph), it is so lovely!

In fact, any Vegetarian Eateries can serve this Raw Veggies Bibimbap or Raw Veggies Bibimmyeon (noodles) at any time, as there isn’t much preparation required at all.

Hmm... A good dish for picnic, charity fair or lunch box. Just keep the cooked rice in a food warmer! And most importantly a perfect and fuss free lunch or dinner for a lazy me on some lazy days …

Silken Tofu with Spicy Soy Sauce

This is an eco-friendly ‘No Cook’ dish which anyone can do within 5 minutes. It is yummy! For a smoother texture, do steam or blanch the tofu for 5 minutes.

Preparation: 5 mins, Total time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), cut into 8 cubes
° few slices spring onion (optional), for garnish

Sauce
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
° 1 teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. To make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Place the tofu on a serving plate and drizzle the spicy soy sauce over the tofu.
3. Garnish with spring onion and serve as an appetizer or side dish with hot rice.

Cold Tofu with Feng Cheng Toon Vegetarian Chops

This is a NO COOK DISH that anyone can do. Just get a pack of silken tofu, cut it into 8 sections. On top of each tofu cube, put ½ teaspoon of ‘Feng Cheng Toon Vegetarian Chops’ (香椿素食肉燥), garnish with chilli slice and coriander. Done and so Simple!

If you want the silken tofu to have softer texture, you need to steam it. Where to get? Friendly Vegetarian Supplier again!

Mock Floss Toast ...

If you have ever been to Toast Box and the Pork Floss Toast made you salivate, no worry, we can easily have a Vegetarian Pork Floss Toast. Just get the Vegetarian Pork Floss from the Vegetarian Shops!

With some breads (toasted optional), spread it with veg*n mayo or margarine and pour the vegetarian pork floss over it, that’s!

I would think that the Golden Pumpkin Meat Floss (vegetarian) is much better than the Vegetarian Pork Floss which I used in the photo.

Lime Chilli Sauce

I just too lazy to make the chilli paste and I got this chilli pasta at the supermarket. I would say it is still better to do the chilli paste yourself, as it will be free of preservative. I shall try to make the chilli paste next time.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (makes 100g)
° 100g chilli paste
° 3 tablespoons (5-6 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 2 tablespoons sugar
° salt to taste (optional)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a small serving bowl. Set aside until ready to serve.

Seaweed Salad (Seasoned Kelp)

This is a simple seaweed salad dish or side dish/cold dish. I bought a pack of dried kelp (shredded), 20g for S$1.78, by AOK at the FairPrice Supermarket. There might be a need to rinse the kelp shreds well to remove the slime with several changes of water.

Soak the kelps in warm water instead of blanching, if desired. Usually, I like to use dried kelps in knot for boiling soup to lend some flavour to the dish. As some recipes call for clear soup, these kelps would need to be discarded. So, instead of wasting food, it can be used to make a small cold dish using this recipe.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 10g dried kelp shreds
° 500ml water
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

Method
1. Blanch the shredded kelps in a pot of boiling water for ½ - 1 minute. Drain well and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Place kelps in a salad bowl. Stir in the sesame oil, sesame seeds, salt and sugar.
3. Use your hand to mix well and serve.