Broccoli with Fresh Lily Bulb and Wolfberries

A simple dish. No vegetarian oyster sauce. Fear not, just substitute with 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, and use some mushroom seasoning or vegetable stock instead of water. Corn flour or cornstarch can be used instead of tapioca starch.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g broccoli florets, blanched
° 25g fresh lily bulb, petals separated
° ½ teaspoon wolfberries, soaked
° 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 1 teaspoon tapioca starch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
° 125ml water

Method
1. Arrange the broccoli in a serving plate and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Throw in the lily bulb, wolfberries, water and vegetarian oyster sauce. Bring to a boil and stir in the tapioca starch mixture to thicken the sauce.
4. Drizzle the sauce over the broccoli and serve immediately.

Simple Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables

This dish is just a combination of few different vegetables. If you do not have any vegetarian oyster sauce or mushroom sauce, just replace with light soy sauce plus sugar with a bit of cornflour solution and season with pepper or/and granulated mushroom bouillon. Add in 30ml water (adjust the amount of vegetarian oyster sauce) if you prefer more sauce to go with rice.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g Chinese cabbage/wong bak/bak choy, cut into broad strips
° 12 snow peas, trimmed and blanched
° 4 baby corns, cut into thick slices
° 25g carrot, peeled and sliced
° 100g king oyster mushroom, sliced
° 1 slice ginger
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce or mushroom sauce
° pepper to taste (optional)

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Add the king oyster mushroom, carrot and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Throw in the Chinese cabbage, snow peas, baby corn and stir-fry for another 1 -1½ minute.
3. Stir in the vegetarian oyster sauce, pepper and stir-fry briskly.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Baked Bean with Potatoes

Quite a common dish that you can find at the vegetarian stalls. Usually they will add vegetarian ham or vegetarian hotdog to this dish. Nothing difficult at all, you may want to give it a try. It goes well with rice and kids love it. You can even steam the potatoes and later mix in with the bake bean, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 12 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g potatoes, peeled and diced
° 1 can (220g) baked bean in tomatoes sauce
° 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 the potatoes and stir-fry for 5 – 8 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. Stir in the baked bean and bring to a boil.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with spring onion or coriander and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Eggplants with Basil Leaves

The usual way to maintain the lovely colour of eggplants is by blanching them in oil, but for this recipe I used water instead, for a healthier dish. Eggplants can soak up oil very easily and if you love stir-fry eggplant and do not want the huge intake of oil, maybe you can tried out this dish with some compromising.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g eggplants, cut into sections, blanched for 5-7 minutes and drained well.
° 25g basil leaves
° 2 slices ginger or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce or to taste
° few slices red chilli, for garnish
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry until fragrant.
2. Throw in the basil leaves, eggplant and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Drizzle with light soy sauce.
3. Stir fry for another ½ a minute and season to taste with salt.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chilli and serve immediately.

Simple Stir-Fried Power Beans (Petai)

Petai again! Yes, petai, the stink beans which are firm and shiny. It has a diuretic effect and believed to flush toxins from the body. It can be eaten raw or cooked in sambal chilli. Usually, it needs strong accompaniments to mask its taste. In this recipe, I used chilli black bean, a product which I just discover and is a vegetarian product.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 150g petai, halved
° 1 slice ginger or 1 clove garlic, chopped
° ½ tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoons chilli black bean, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine
° sugar to taste (optional)

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the petai and stir-fry briskly for a moment.
3. Add the cooking rice wine, chilli black bean and stir-fry briskly for 2 minutes. Season to taste with sugar.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Soybean Sprout with Celery

Soybean sprouts with Celery is not a bad combination. The result is simple, crunchy and oozing with “freshness”. Oh, the soybean sprouts which look like gigantic mung bean sprouts are rich in vitamin A, B and C and can be eaten raw. Now it is available in some supermarkets or wet market.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g soybean sprout, tailed
° 2 stalks celery, trimmed and sliced
° 2 slices ginger or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° ¾ tablespoon olive oil
° salt, to taste
° Korean chilli powder or dried red chilli flake, or coarse chilli (optional), to garnish

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Add the soybean sprout, celery and stir-fry briskly for 1½ -2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and transfer to a serving dish.
3. Garnish with chilli powder/chilli flake and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried “Fu Gui Cai”

You may have seen this vegetable before, usually only during Chinese New Year period. This is a simple recipe, just stir-fry it with ginger or garlic. To make this dish more interesting, you may opt to use vegetarian oyster sauce, or even stir-fry with vegetarian abalone.


Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g “Fu Gui Cai”, trimmed and leaves separated
° 2 slices ginger or 2 clove garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt to taste
° pepper (optional) to taste

Method
1. Heat the in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the “Fu Gui Cai” and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Fuzzy Melon with Silken Tofu

This is a light and simple dish. Add vegetarian ham or sweet beancurd wafer, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 150g-175g shredded fuzzy melon or hairy melon
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), cut into cubes
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° 200ml vegetable stock or water
° 1 tablespoon tapioca flour, mix with 50ml vegetable stock or water
° salt and sugar, to taste
° pepper to taste
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish
° few slices fresh red chilli, for garnish

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the fuzzy melon, carrot and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until the fuzzy melon is tender. Drizzle with cooking rice wine and season to taste with salt and sugar.
3. Add in the tofu and stir in the vegetable stock or water. Bring to a boil.
4. Stir in the tapioca flour mixture and bring to a boil. Sprinkle sesame oil and pepper and transfer to a serving dish.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves, chilli and serve immediately.

Tempeh with Oatmeal

Oatmeal stir-fry with chilli and curry leaves is simply delicious. To make this even more nutritious, tempeh is added. The tempeh can be cut into small dices or chopped, is your own preference. For an ultra-healthy dish, just baked or toasted the tempeh instead of pan-fry or deep-fry.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 2 (100g) fresh tempeh, diced and baked/toasted/pan-fried/deep-fried
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 4-6 sprigs curry leaves, stalk removed
° 2-3 fresh chilli padi or 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and sliced
° 3 tablespoons instant oatmeal
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° ½ tablespoon sugar, or taste
° pepper (optional), to taste

Method
1. Mix the oatmeal, salt, sugar and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat. Stir fry the curry leaves and chilli for 1 minute. Add in the oatmeal and stir fry until all the ingredients are crispy and aromatic.
3. Add in the tempeh and stir fry briskly. Dish up and serve hot.

Simple Stir-Fried Winged Bean

Simplicity is beauty. A simple dish yet it is tasty. Just enjoy the original taste of the winged bean and its crunchiness.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g winged beans, sliced diagonally
° ½ -1 red chilli, thinly sliced
° 2 thin slices ginger or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the winged bean and stir-fry briskly for 2-3 minutes. Add in the chilli and season to taste with salt.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Tempeh with Basil Leaves

Simple, easy and yet nutritious dish. Toast the tempeh if you don’t like pan-fried or deep-fried.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 pieces fresh tempeh, diced
° 50g or small handful basil leaves
° ½ red chilli, seeded and sliced
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt or five spices salt to taste

Method
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or non-stick pan. Place tempeh in and pan fry until golden yellow. Drain well on kitchen paper if desired and set aside.
2. Pour ½ tablespoon oil in work. Throw in the basil leaves, chilli and stir-fry briskly for a moment.
3. Toss in the tempeh and season to taste with salt or five spices salt.
4. Dish up and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Okra with Special Tom Yum Paste

This is a simple to cook dish. Get a wedge of pineapple from the Fruit Seller, this can save you some time. If you do not like stir-frying, blanch the okra and heat up the special tom yum paste with or without the pineapple in the wok. Vegetarian mock fish slices can be added, if desired. Tomatoes puree is used instead of using corn starch or flour, which is a much healthier alternative. The amount of sugar used is to make up for the sourness of the lime juice which is used for adding tangy taste.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
° 75g okra or lady’s fingers, trimmed and sliced
° 1 (125g) wedge pineapple, diced or sliced
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 3 tablespoons water

Special Tom Yum Paste
° 150g tomatoes, peeled and diced
° 1 slice ginger
° 1 stalk lemongrass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 7.5cm, bruised and chopped
° 1 teaspoon (1 lime) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
° 1½ tablespoons vegetarian tom yum paste

Method
1. Blend special tom yum paste ingredients until fine in a food processor. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Add the okra, pineapple and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in the special tom yum paste and stir-fry briskly for a minute.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetable with Potatoes

Kids will love this dish, frozen mixed vegetable seems palatable to them. On top of that, toasted hard roll or bread dices are so crispy. Alternatively, you may use bread croutons. By adding potatoes, this makes a wonderfully simple dish to attract the kid to fall in love with vegetables. And 2008 is the international year of potatoes – check out why potato is good for you at: www.potato2008.org

Preparation: 7 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g frozen mixed vegetable, thawed
° 150g potatoes, peeled and diced
° 1 hard roll or 1 slice bread, diced and toasted
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the potatoes and fry till golden yellow or until tender.
2. Throw in the mixed vegetable and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Season to taste with salt.
3. Toss in the toasted hard roll or bread.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Chinese Arrowhead with Small Black Fungus

Lately, arrowhead is quite easily available at the market as it is the season which it is harvested. This year it comes very early, usually, we can only get them 1 month before Chinese New Year. When the lady who mans the noodle stall at the wet market saw my arrowheads, she suggested that I stir-fry it with pork and red fermented bean curd. When she came to know that I am a vegetarian, she suggested that I stir-fry these starchy corms with small black fungus.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 300g Chinese arrowhead or arrowroot, peeled and thinly sliced
° 1 small handful some black fungus, soaked and trimmed
° 1 thin slice ginger
° 1 piece red fermented bean curd (2cm x 2cm cube), mashed finely
° 1-2 tablespoons red fermented bean curd sauce, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 125ml water

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Add the red fermented bean curb and stir-fry briskly until aromatic.
3. Add the Chinese arrowhead, black fungus and stir-fry briskly for a moment. Add water, red fermented bean curd sauce and simmer until the sauce is slightly dry.
4. Dish up, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Stuffed Toff Puff with Stir-Fried China Dou Miao

I love China Dou Miao (Snow Pea Shoots) stir-fried with ginger or garlic. It is simple yet delicious. If you have too many of such simple stir-fry veggies for meals, you might like to jazz it up a bit, like combining it with some tofu or tofu puffs and drizzle with some simple sauce. For a more robust sauce, you might want to use vegetable stock, light soy sauce etc.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g china dou miao/snow pea shoots
° 1 slice ginger or 2 clove garlic, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper to taste
° 6 big tofu puffs, make an incision on 2 sides and toasted

Sauce
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 125ml water
° 1 teaspoon tapioca flour
° pepper to taste
° dash sesame oil

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the china dou miao and stir-fry briskly for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Divide the dou miao equally into 6 portion and stuff into the beancurd puff pocket.. Arrange the tofu puff on a serving plate.
4. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the sauce mixture in a heated wok. Stirring constantly until the sauce thicken.
5. Drizzle the sauce over the tofu puff and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Watercress with Vegetarian Sambal Chilli

Someone just told me that stir-fry watercress with sambal chilli is real yummy. Vegetarian sambal chilli can be easily purchased at most vegetarian shops. If not, you can easily make some. This dish can be done in a jiffy!

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g watercress
° ¾ tablespoon vegetable oil
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian sambal chilli, or to taste
° salt (optional) to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the sambal chilli and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the watercress and stir-fry briskly for a moment or 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Endive with Deep-fried Beancurd Stick

This is a simple and easy stir-fry dish. Deep-fried beancurd stick or beancurd sheet can be added to most stir-fry dishes to enhance the look and taste. It can help to soak up any liquid in the dishes.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g endive, cut into 5 cm lengths
° 25g deep-fried beancurd sheet or beancurd stick
° 10 carrot slices
° 5 slices young ginger
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the endive and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute.
3. Add in the deep-fried beancurd sheet, carrot slices and stir-fry for another minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Sugar Snap Peas with Baby Corn

This is a perfectly simple dish. Sugar Snap Peas is also known as sweet peas and it is sweet and crunchy. Just don’t overcook them, if not it will lost its flavour.
Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g sugar snap peas/sweet peas, trimmed
° 8 (50g) baby corns, halved
° 5 slices ginger
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the sugar snap peas, corn and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Drizzle with cooking rice wine. Stir fry for another ½ a minute or until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Spicy Stir-Fried Yard Bean

Omit the tempeh, if desired.

Preparation: 8 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g yard bean/long bean, trimmed and cut into 3cm lengths
° 50g tempeh, chopped or cut into small cubes
° 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
° ½ tablespoon curry powder, mix with 1-2 tablespoons water
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok or non-stick pan. Add the tempeh and pan-fry till crispy or golden yellow.
2. Throw in the yard bean and stir-fry for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the curry powder mixture and stir fry briskly or until the yard bean is tender. Sprinkle with a little bit of water if it is too dry. Season to taste with salt.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Vegetarian Squid

Vegetarian squid by itself does not have any flavour, therefore, it totally depends on the gravy and sauce used.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g vegetarian squids
° 10 snow peas, trimmed
° 4 slices ginger, finely shredded
° 1 tablespoons olive oil
° 1 teaspoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° ground black pepper to taste

Sauce
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
° 2 tablespoons water

Method
1. Mix the vegetarian oyster sauce, light soy sauce, water in a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Throw in the vegetarian squids, snow peas and stir-fry briskly for 1 minute. Drizzle with cooking rice wine. Stir in the sauce mixture and do a last stir fry. Season to taste with pepper.
4. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.