Vegetarian Trishaw Noodle

Have you eaten Trishaw Noodle before? I am not too sure about the history of the Trishaw Noodle in Singapore. My guess is that it is an economical street food. It is a very simple soup noodle and we can hardly find this soup noodles nowadays. I replace Cai Xin with Shanghai Green and meat with Vegetarian Mock Abalone which I still have some left over from the previous dish.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 100g fresh cooked noodle, blanched
° 2 stalks shanghai green
° 2-3 slices carrot
° 1 slice ginger
° 6 vegetarian mock abalone with sauce
° 300ml water
° salt and pepper to taste
° light soy sauce to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° some spring onion (optional) for garnish

Method
1. Place the ginger, carrot, water in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Throw in the noodle, shanghai green, vegetarian mock abalone with sauce and bring to a boil for ½ a minute. Season to taste with salt, pepper, light soy sauce and sesame oil.
3. Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.

Spicy Kacang Puteh (Chickpeas)

Was soaking some chickpeas for making Dhal, i used some to try out the suggestion given by Veganic in Vegetarian Society Forum on Chickpeas. I toasted them in the toaster oven. You may want to turn them to prevent them for burning, if necessary. Well, it is perfectly simple and taste yummy.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 50g chickpeas
° 200ml water
° ¾ teaspoon curry powder, or to taste
° sea salt to taste
° 1-1½ teaspoons olive oil

Method
1. Soak the chickpeas with 400ml of water for 12 hours or more or overnight. Drain and rinse well.
2. Place the chickpeas, curry powder, salt and oil in a bowl. Mix well.
3. Spread out on a baking tray and toast for 15 minutes.
4. Serve immediately.

Spring Rolls (Popiahs)

Lately, there is one Thai Eatery, selling deep fried spring rolls with different type of fillings – tofu filling, vermicelli filling etc. It reminds me of the previous recipe - Vietnamese Popiah.

Just that the wrapper is not rice paper but spring roll wrapper which is more suitable for deep-frying. You don’t need any special culinary skills to whip this up, except deep-frying it which most of us have no problem with. Basically, this can be a 'No Cook' dish too.

I bought a packet of plain Fried Been Hoon (rice vermicelli) from a vegetarian stall for S$0.80 (around 300g) which is enough to make 50 pieces. With some salad sprouts, mint leaves and shredded carrot, I started making the spring rolls. After which, I deep-fried them and they go well with chilli sauce.

If you prefer it not to be deep-fried, just roll up and dip with some sauce (plum sauce mixed with lime juice, sugar, chopped chilli and sesame seeds or some other sauces) ,it tastes good too !

Vegetarian Cuttlefish Kangkong

There are not many stalls selling cuttlefish kangkong now in Singapore. It is even very rare to find vegetarian cuttlefish kangkong. So far, I had tasted it from 2 vegetarian stalls and one of them no longer operates. One day, I saw the picture of vegetarian cuttlefish kangkong at Veggie Bun’s blog - Cuttlefish. She had it at Ma Zhi Su. To re-create this dish in vegetarian version, it is not that difficult as we don’t need to prepare the cuttlefish, as we use vegetarian squid (product of SuXianZhi). As for the sauce, I used the red sweet sauce for Chee Cheong Fun and got it from the supermarket. The only problem is that I have no control over the sauce. Add some freshly squeezed lime juice, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g kangkong/water Convolvulus, trimmed, blanched, drained and cut into 5cm lengths
° 50g vegetarian squid, blanched
° 100g sweet sauce
° warm water
° 1 beancurd puff (optional), toasted and cut into strips
° 1 teaspoon roasted white sesame seeds
° 1 teaspoon roasted grounded peanuts

Method
1. Mix some warm water with the sweet sauce to achieve the desired consistency.
2. Arrange the kangkong in a serving plate. Top with the vegetarian squid and beancurd puff.
3. Pour the sweet sauce over the kangkong, vegetarian squid and beancurd puff.
4. Sprinkle some sesame seeds, grounded peanuts and serve immediately.

Chee Cheong Fun with Mushroom Sauce

Chee Cheong Fun or rice noodle rolls with mushroom sauce. Another way to enjoy the chee cheong fun just that it required a little more work.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 fresh rice noodle rolls, cut
° 3-4 dried Chinese mushrooms, washed and soaked with 250ml water
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger
° ½ teaspoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon mushroom sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, or to taste
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° pepper to taste
° ½ teaspoon tapioca flour, mixed with 60ml water
° some roasted sesame seeds
° 1 teaspoon finely chopped spring onion (optional)
° 1 teaspoon crispy shallot (optional)

Method
1. Squeeze out the water and thinly sliced the mushrooms. Set aside and keep 125ml of the soaking water.
2. Arrange the rice noodle rolls in a heatproof serving plate. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the rice noodle rolls in the steamer and steam for 2-3 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
4. Throw in the mushrooms and stir-fry briskly. Stir in the mushroom water and add in the mushroom sauce/vegetarian oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Bring to a boil and add in the tapioca starch solution. Season to taste with pepper and sesame oil.
5. Ladle the mushroom sauce over the rice noodle rolls. Sprinkle some spring onions, crispy shallot and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Chickpeas

I bought a pack of chickpeas after reading about Falafel in Vegetarian Society Forum. Next, I soaked the chickpeas overnight. Guess what happened, I ended up boiling it with star anise and cinnamon, within 30 minutes, it tasted like those steamed ‘love peas’ that were sold at the night market – Pasar Malam! I love to eat the steamed chickpeas which I usually get from the Pasar Malam. Now, I don’t have to wait for the night market to be around my vicinity to enjoy those lovely peas – here’s the recipe. Oops, I will try Falafel next time.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g chickpeas
° 900ml water
° 2-3 star anises
° 1 cinnamon stick
° 1 teaspoon salt

Method
1. Soak the chickpeas with 400ml of water for 12 hours or more or overnight. Drain and rinse well.
2. Place the chickpeas, star anises, cinnamon stick, salt and 500ml of water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes.
3. Remove with a slotted spoon, transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.

Simplified Putu Mayam

Have you try Putu Mayam before? My mother would buy the putu mayam from the Indian stall for us when we were little kids. Putu mayam actually looks likes a web of rice vermicelli (bee hoon) top with freshly grated coconut and brown sugar (orange in colour). It tastes better with more coconut and sugar. I don’t have a putu mayam maker, so I simplified the process by using rice vermicelli. Check out this on how putu mayam is made- go to: http://www.foodmalaysia.net/recipe_collections/putu-mayam.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 100g rice vermicelli, blanched in salted boiling water till soft
° 250g grated coconut
° ½ teaspoon salt (optional)
° 3-6 tablespoons brown sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Mix the grated coconut with salt and set aside.
2. Divide the rice vermicelli into individual serving plates. Top with grated coconut and sugar and serve.

Chee Cheong Fun

Look yummy isn’t? Yes, this is the chee Cheong fun or rice noodle rolls where we can easily get from the wet market which is plain (no prawn) at S$0.30 per piece. Usually, this goes with black or red sweet sauce with shallot oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds plus chilli paste (which consists of dried prawn). For a vegetarian or vegan version where we can quickly churn out at home, just use olive oil, light sauce plus some sesame seeds and go with or without vegetarian chilli sauce.

Preparation: 2 mins, Cooking time: 6 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 fresh rice noodle rolls, cut
° ¾ tablespoon olive oil
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
° 1 teaspoon finely chopped spring onion (optional)
° 1 teaspoon crispy shallot (optional)

Method
1. Arrange the rice noodle rolls in a heatproof serving plate.
2. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the rice noodle rolls in the steamer and steam for 2-3 minutes.
3. Drizzle oil, light soy sauce over the rice noodle rolls. Sprinkle some spring onions, crispy shallot and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Fried Carrot Cake

I had an ex-colleague who married to USA. One day, she told her hubby that she missed the carrot cake. The next day, her hubby brought home some carrot cake but that was not what she missed. The carrot cake she was referring to is fried carrot cake or chai tow kway" (菜頭粿;) which is a common dish here which Singaporeans eat throughout the day.

Ready made carrot cake for stir fry can be purchased and this carrot cake that I used is produced by Hiap Chen Food Proudcts Pte Ltd. Egg is omitted for this vegan version.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 500g carrot cake, cubed
° 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 2 tablespoons salted radish (chye poh)
° 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
° 4½ -5 tablespoons sweet sauce
° ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° ½ red chilli (optional), finely minced

Method
1. Heat one and half tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan or wok. Add the garlic and salted radish fry for 2 minutes or till fragrant. Set aside.
2. Heat one and half tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan or wok. Add the carrot cake and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add in the stir-fry garlic and salted radish and chilli paste. Drizzle with the sweet sauce, light soy sauce and mix well.
3. Serve immediately.

Steamed Chestnut

I saw the lovely chestnuts (shells removed and the skins still on) in the supermarket and brought some at the price of $6.80 per kilogram. Chestnut is the least fatty and starchiest of the nuts and is richly nutritious as well.

There are many ways to cook chestnut, boiling with water, roasting in the oven or roasting in a large wok fill with sand or coffee beans which we sometime see some street hawkers doing. I just steam it, the easiest way I think, eat it while it is hot as when it cooled down it is slightly difficult to peel the skin. To peel off the skin of the chestnut prior to steaming, just put them in a bowl of hot water for 5 minutes before peeling.

Preparation: 3 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (20± pieces)
° 250g fresh chestnut (shell removed), rinsed

Method
1. Place the mushroom in a heat proof serving bowl and steam for 15-20 minutes.
2. Serve warm.

Rojak … A Spicy Salad !

Rojak is a fruit and vegetable salad dish which is very popular in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a popular street food which needs to be consumed immediately, before it waters out after a while. To create that exotic flavour, do not forget to add tamarind liquid, lime juice and torch ginger bud.

Preparation: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
° 200g-250g pineapple, peeled and cut in bit-sized chunks
° 200g cucumber, cut in bit-sized chunks
° 200g yam bean, peeled and cut in bit-sized chunks
° 100g young green mango (optional), peeled and cut in bit-sized chunks
° 50g beansprout (optional), tailed, washed and blanched
° 1 chinese crullers, toasted and snip in bit-sized chunks
° 1 small torch ginger bud, finely shredded

Dressing
° 1 tablespoon assam/tamarind paste, knead with 3 tablespoons hot water and strained
° 2 tablespoons (4 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 4-5 tablespoons vegetarian rojak sauce
° 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
° 4-5 tablespoons grounded peanut

Method
1. To make dressing. Mix assam/tamarind liquid, lime juice, sugar, rojak sauce in a large mixing bowl. Remember to taste it, it should be spicy, sweet, sharp and smoky. Add more assam/tamarind liquid, sugar, or lime juice, if necessary.
2. Throw in all the entire ingredients and toss well. Sprinkle in most of the sesame seed and grounded peanut and toss again.
3. Top with more grounded peanut, shredded torch ginger bud and serve immediately.

Muah Chee (Sesame Flavour)

This is another variant of Muah Chee by adding instant black sesame paste powder to the dough giving it another flavour.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 150g glutinous rice flour
° ½ sachet (25g) instant black sesame paste powder
° 280ml water
° 1 tablespoon sugar
° ½ tablespoon vegetable oil

Peanut Mixture
° 100g roasted peanuts powder
° 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Combine the flour, sesame paste powder, water, sugar and oil in bowl. Mix well.
2. Grease a heat-proof ware, pour in the muah chee mixture and steam for 10-15 minutes or until it turn gooey.
3. Meanwhile, to make the peanut mixture, combine the peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar in a plate. Set aside.
4. Scoop out the cooked muah chee dough and use a pair of scissors to snip into small nuggets and coat it with the peanut mixture.
5. Serve warm.

Muah Chee (A Traditional Sweet Snack)

Muah Chee, anyone? Muah Chee is a simple traditional snack or street food eaten throughout Southeast Asia. It is made of gooey rice dough cut into small nuggets and coated with finely crushed peanuts and sugar. In this recipe, I had added sesame seeds which may be grinded to be added to the peanut mixture. Usually, the cooked muah chee dough is keep warm and is coated with oil (shallot oil) to prevent it drying up. If you are to prepare it immediately, you can omit adding oil. Omit sugar in the muah chee mixture, if desired but it may be a bit bland.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 150g glutinous rice flour
° 250ml water
° 1 tablespoon sugar
° ½ tablespoon vegetable oil

Peanut Mixture
° 100g roasted peanuts powder
° 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)
° 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Combine the flour, water, sugar and oil in bowl. Mix well.
2. Grease a heat-proof ware, pour in the muah chee mixture and steam for 10-15 minutes or until it turn gooey.
3. Meanwhile, to make the peanut mixture, combine the peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar in a plate. Set aside.
4. Scoop out the cooked muah chee dough and use a pair of scissors to snip into small nuggets and coat it with the peanut mixture.
5. Serve warm.

Vegetarian Popiah - Fresh Spring Rolls

Popiah or fresh spring rolls are a popular street food, which is filled with stewed julienned yam bean, beansprouts etc and wrapped in a paper-thin crepe.

Preparation: 20 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (makes 10-12)
° 20-24 pieces fresh popiah wrappers
° 100g sweet sauce

Chilli Sauce
° 6 fresh red chilli,
° salt and sugar, to taste

Yam Bean Filling
° 600g yam bean, peeled, shredded and drained
° 2 chinese dried mushrooms, soaked and shredded
° 50g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 2 tablespoons vegetables oil
° 1 thin slice ginger or 1 clove garlic or 1 shallot
° ½ tablespoon salted soybean paste
° 350ml water
° 1½ tablespoons sugar, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Other Filling
° 12 chinese lettuce leaves
° 120g beansprouts, tailed and blanched
° 120g grounded peanut
° vegan ‘egg’ (optional)
° a small handful fresh coriander sprig

Method

To prepare chilli sauce
1. Blend the chill in a blender or food processor until it is a smooth paste. Season to taste with salt and sugar.

To prepare yam bean filling
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic or shallot and fry till golden brown.
2. Add the salted soy bean paste and stir-fry briskly until aromatic.
3. Add the yam bean, mushrooms, carrot and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in water, sugar, salt, light soy sauce, vegetarian oyster. Stir occasionally and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and sauce is slightly dry. Season with sesame oil and pepper. Set aside and keep warm.

To wrap popiah
1. Place 2 fresh Popiah wrappers overlapping each other on chopping board. Spread sweet sauce and chilli sauce on it.
2. Place a small Chinese lettuce leaf in the centre and top with yam bean filling, beansprouts, grounded peanut, vegan ‘egg’ and coriander sprig.
3. Roll up and cut into 4 or 5 pieces and serve.

Tip

1. How to make Vegan Scrambled Egg.

2. A pinch of chinese five-spice powder can be added, if desired. Vegetarian Oyster Sauce and Light Soy Sauce can be optional.

Crispy Stuffed Beancurd

A quick and easy to prepare snack which are enjoyed by many at home and at the Night Market Street Stalls (Pasa Malam).

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 2 firm tofu/beancurd (225g), cut diagonally and make a slit at the base
° 4 slices cucumber
° 40g bean spouts, trimmed
° oil, for deep-frying

Method
1. Heat oil over a high fire and deep fry the beancurds until golden brown. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool.
2. Blanch the bean spouts in boiling water for 1 minute and drain well.
3. Stuff the beancurds with a slice of cucumber and some bean spouts. Serves with chilli sauce.