Mock Zha Jiang

Simple mock Zha Jiang for noodle, congee or steamed rice! Tempeh and firm tofu is used to give the sauce a different texture as well as for its wonderful nutrients.

Preparation:    10 mins Cooking time:    8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         1 can mock meat in mushroom sauce (brand: cixin vegetarian)

°         125g tempeh, cut into mini cubes

°         75g firm tofu, pat dry and scrambled

°         2½ olive oil

°         5-6 tablespoons water

°         some coriander leaves, sliced chilli and sesame seeds (optional), for garnish

Method

1.    Heat the oil in a wok. Throw in the tempeh and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

2.    Add in scrambled tofu and fry until rather dry.  Pour in mock meat in mushroom sauce and stir-fry for 1 minute.

3.    Garnish with coriander leaves, chilli, sesame seeds and serve.  

Quick Almond Paste Dessert

Apply the same method for Quick Sesame Paste Dessert, by making slight changes to the ingredient, you can have a different dessert. So, if you do not like sesame, change it to almond powder or grounded peanut powder. The almond powder with fritillaria cirrhosa consists of sugar, therefore, sugar is omitted in this recipe. 

Preparation:     3 mins Cooking time:  5 mins 

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         6 tablespoons almond powder with fritillaria cirrhosa

°         2 tablespoons glutinous rice flour

°         500ml water

°         1 tablespoon almond syrup (optional)

Method

1.      Combine all the almond powder, glutinous rice flour and water in a pot and mix well. Keep stirring and when the mixture bubbles, turn off the heat. Add in the almond syrup and mix well.

2.      Ladle the dessert into individual serving bowl and serve hot. 

Quick Sesame Paste Dessert

Achieving almost the same results with shortcut, using sesame powder and glutinous rice flour to whip this simple yet quick healthy dessert, why not?  The sesame powder consists of sugar, therefore, sugar is omitted in this recipe.  For a more aromatic sesame paste dessert, roast the black sesame and grind to a powdery form, if desired. Garnish with some roasted white sesame seeds or lily bulb petal.

Preparation:     3 mins Cooking time:  5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         4 tablespoons black sesame powder

°         2 tablespoons glutinous rice flour

°         500ml water

Method

1.      Combine all the ingredients in a pot and mix well. Keep stirring and when the mixture bubbles, turn off the heat.

2.      Ladle the dessert into individual serving bowl and serve hot. 

Inaka Soba 'N' Baked Bean

Simple cooking and eating plus do not have to cost a fortune. It is easier than you think. 

Just cook the Inaka Soba per the instruction on the packet.  Next open a can of Baked Bean. Steam or heat the Baked Bean, if desired.

What's the next step? Just add the Baked Bean to the Inaka Soba.

What could make it more interesting and appetizing? Garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves or  nori shreds or sesame seeds or ....

Fancy a spicy version, just sprinkle some chilli flake or paprika!

That's! Real simple. 

Passion Fruit 'N' Papaya Pickle

Passion Fruit 'N' Papaya Pickle

Papaya, Passion Fruit, Lemon Juice and Maltose - just mix it and play with it ... 

Match it. Mix it. Play with it. Yes, it is so simple ...

Preparation:     45 mins

           

Ingredients (serves 4)                              

°         600g green papaya shreds

°         1 tablespoon salt

°         1 passion fruit pulps

°         1/2 green lemon, freshly squeeze

°         4 tablespoons maltose or to taste  

Method

1.      Sprinkle salt on the papaya shreds and mix well. Let it sweats for 15-20 minutes.

2.      Wash and drain the papaya shreds well. Squeeze the papaya shreds to remove the moisture as much as possible.

3.      Combine the papaya shreds, lemon juice, maltose and passion fruit pulps in a glass container, mix well and leave to stand for 3hours prior to serving. It can be kept for 3 days in the refrigerator.

Quick Passion Fruit Jam

Simple! No cooking! Substitute maltose with honey, if desired. 

Preparation:     5 mins

           

Ingredients (makes 150g)

°         1 passion fruit pulps

°         3 tablespoons maltose

Method

1.      Combine the passion fruit and maltose and mixed well. 

The Cheerful Passion Drink

Found a tub of maltose hidden in my kitchen cabinet and decided to make this refreshing drink as the weather is getting hot!  This is rather similar to my previous recipe - Lemon and Passion Juice but substituting sugar with maltose.

Preparation:     5 mins

           

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         1 passion fruit pulps

°         1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed

°         2-3 tablespoons maltose or to taste

°         250ml hot water

°         250ml cold water or sparkling mineral water

Method

1.      Combine the maltose and hot water in a container. Stir vigorously to dissolve the maltose.

2.      Pour in the lemon juice, passion fruit pulps, cold water or sparkling mineral water and mix well. Chilled or serve with ice.

Colour of Gaia

A dish that I cooked few months back - Stir-fried Leek, simply paired with deep-fried bean vermicelli, carrot and Vegetarian mushroom (mock meat).

Sweetness of Spirit Sparking Juice

A detox drink! Adding sparkling mineral water make the red and purple colour beetroot juice more pleasant to drink.  

Adding beetroot juice to lemongrass and ginger drink, it masks the beetroot taste.

Mixing different portion of beetroot juice to lemongrass drink would create interesting different hue - shocking pink, or beautiful light magenta or fuchsia or kinky pink, hence making the drink exciting, fun and appears as sensuous and voluptuous too.

On the whole, magenta is the colour of  "letting go" and it helps to relinquish old thought pattern, release emotions that tie to the past and to give up situations that are holding us back.  Once able to rid off these impediments, it is truly free to flow with the energies of life ...

Preparation:     10 minutes

           

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         150g beetroot, peeled and cut into small chunks

°         250ml water (chilled)

°         1 bottle (325ml) sparkling mineral water

Method

1.      Combine the beetroot and water in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a strainer and squeeze out the juice.

2.      Pour the beetroot juice and mineral water into a container and mix well.

3.      Pour into individual serving glass and serve with ice.

Peachy Pineapple Crush

Giving Pineapple Creamy Juice a different twist! By adding Jolly Shandly (which contains alcohol not exceeding 0.5%), it gives a different tint of flavour and feel. You can substitute with sparkling mineral water if desired. 

Preparation:     10 minutes

           

Ingredients (serves 4)

°         200g-300g ripe honey pineapple, peeled and chopped

°         1 can (330ml) Jolly Shandy (peach flavour) or sparkling mineral water

°         few ice cubes or crushed ice

Method

1.      Place pineapple in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Pour in Jolly Shandy or sparkling mineral water and mix well.

2.      Serve with ice.

Korean Honey Citron Tea Jelly

Just another way of making jelly, by adding Korean Honey Citron to the jelly solution giving it a refreshing taste and the colour that is nearest to sunlight which radiates warmth and joy!  Yellow is the colour of detachment and can help us move away from obsessional thoughts and behaviors according to colour and their attributes. 

Preparation:     5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins      

           

Ingredients (Serve 8-10)

°         1 pack (25g) ice jelly powder (red man brand)

°         1 - 1.1 litre water

°         8 tablespoons Korean honey citron tea paste or to taste

Method

1.      Dissolve ice jelly powder in water in a pot and a boil.

2.      Remove pot from heat and stir in Korean honey citron tea paste and mix well.

3.      Pour the ice jelly mixture into the container and leave to cool before refrigerating until chilled.

4.    To serve, scoop few tablespoons of chilled ice jelly into individual serving bowl. 

When Green Papaya meets Passion Fruit, it is Pickle time ...

This is Green Papaya Pickle with Passion Fruit Paste! 
Unique, isn't it?

Too lazy to whip this, get it from 

Tian Yuan Vegetarian and Health Food Paradise @ Fortune Centre (Bugis) for $5 (worth it) - What really distinguish one business from other?

As you can only get green papaya from vegetable stall in some wet market and passion fruit paste is expensive. 

Spinach Nori Maki

 Spinach Nori Maki  

 Dipping Sauce - Light Soy Sauce and Wasabi 

Miso Soup (minimize wastage - using water from blanching spinach)

This is what I had learnt from Zen Vegetarian (Shojin Ryori Cuisine ) Cooking Class by Chef Danny Chu of Enso Kitchen on 3 April 2010 at  Onaka Healing Kitchen.  

Zen Temple Vegetarian Cooking is not just about cooking.  It is a whole new cuisine on its own, an experience…awareness of the senses, food, taste, presentation, meditation, reflection ...  I had blog about this  Shojin Ryori Cuisine cooking class at A different dinning experience - Vibrant Food for the Body and Soul

We were taught to blanch the spinach and then rinse in cold water, drain and squeeze out the water gently. As usual, I love short cut to save time. Via shortening the blanching time and leave the spinach to cook on its own while cooling off. So I skipped the step of rinse in cold water and save water too.

If you question whether this simple dish with few maki enough, just look at 250g of spinach shared by 2 pax, there lots of fiber. Besides spinach is full of iron and other good stuff. Sprinkling sesame seeds on it was my own idea to make the my food photo beautiful ...

To apply the Zen philosophy of minimize wastage been taught, I used the water for blanching spinach to make Miso Soup for 2 pax or add shiitake mushroom to make a clear soup or what ever ingredients available and to your liking. 

Preparation:        5 mins  Cooking time:      10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)

°          250g spinach, crowns removed, blanched in salted boiling water

°          2 sheets nori

°          soy sauce and wasabi, for dipping

Method

1.       Attend the next available cooking class at ONAKA website.

2.       Alternative, you just check out Chef Danny Chu's Cooking Video! 

Woodsy Gobo Gohan

Quick and easy, awesome and yet wholesome brown rice with root and sea vegetables that anyone can whip up! Marrying Kinpira to One-pot Rice! Burdock Root or gobo is a nutritive powerhouse which is high in fiber and low in calories. It is also a blood purifier in herbal medicine but not suitable for pregnant and lactating women due to the plant's uterine actions.

Preparation:        15 mins  Cooking time:    30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)

°          200g brown rice, washed and soaked and drained

°          1 tablespoon barely

°          500ml water

°          100g gobo/burdock root, cut into thin match-stick length

°          4 shiitake mushrooms, sliced

°          25g carrot, peeled and cut into match-stick length

°          2 pieces konbo (4cmx 6cm)

°          4 tablespoons light soy sauce

°          1½  tablespoons cooking rice wine (optional)

°          ½  tablespoon sugar or to taste

Garnish

°          some coriander leaves or spring onion shreds

°          sesame seeds and chilli flakes or shichimi (optional)

Method

1.       Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.

2.       When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and garnish with coriander leaves or spring onion, sesame seeds and chilli flake or shichimi and serve hot.