Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Vegetarian Bak Kut Teh (Vegetables Version)

With all these instant sachets, it makes cooking so much easier and it does not require any special culinary skill at all. I used to get the vegetarian bak kut teh pack that comes with herbal sachet and the mock meats which taste equally good. However, I don’t really like eating so much mock meats.

Now, I finally found the A1 vegetarian bak kut teh sachet that suits my palate. By using lotus roots instead of mock meats and increase the vegetables intake by adding rocket leaves, tang-O or lettuce, I can have vegetarian bak kut teh which consists of vegetables. For a quicker version, use shiitake mushrooms, beancurd puffs, as these ingredients take a shorter time to cook. Few pieces of mock meats can be added, if desired. This soup goes well with rice and a plate of freshly sliced red chilli with light soy sauce. Use this soup for noodle, you can have a bowl of vegetarian bak kut the mee.


Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 35 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 1 sachet A1 vegetarian bak kut teh
° 200g lotus root, thinly sliced
° 3-5 cloves garlic
° 1.25 litres water
° 100g rocket leaves or tang-O or Chinese lettuce, torn into big pieces
° salt and pepper, to taste
° light soy sauce, to taste
° a small handful fresh chopped spring onion or coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method

1. Place the vegetarian bak kut teh sachet, lotus root, garlic and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer 25-30 minutes or until the lotus is tender. Add in the rocket leaves or tang-O or lettuce. Season to taste with salt, pepper and light soy sauce.
2. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves and serve hot.

6 comments:

  1. And I thought I wouldn't be able to drink Bak Kut Teh!

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  2. Hello, can you please tell me what are soy puffs? Do you mean TVP (textured vegetable protein)? And what is the difference between vegan and non-vegan versions of spice mix? I received a box from a Singaporean friend as a gift, and don't want it to go to waste.
    Thanks,
    William

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  3. Hi Vegandietguy

    We call it tofu puff, it can have other names too. It is not make of TVP, another type of tofu product.

    If you do a google for tofu puff, you can get many info.

    The one that I used in the recipe is something like in this link, but of a different shape and size - http://superiortofu.com/archives/143
    (this link, give quite short and sweet description and nutritious values of tofu puff).

    In Singapore, some Rojak Vendor (Fruit and Veggie Salad in Indonesia style) toast or BBQ the puff and stuff the rojak (salad) in it.

    I am not too sure what spice mix is that, as different producers add slightly different ingredients. By the word Vegan, it would think, it is absent of egg and dairy.

    If we are talking about "Pure Vegetarian" product in term of religion content. For Buddhist Vegetarianism in Singapore , vegetarian ingredient should not contain five pungents (onions, chives, leeks, shallots and garlic) in it (even it is veggie) or have the content egg. For

    Sorry, not too sure, if I have answer your question.

    Have a lovely day.

    Cheers :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks very much for the recipes... i like to take the herbal soups every now and then .. but was not sure if i coule cook them without the usual pork or chicken. Good idea to use lotus root and mushrooms .

    cheers .
    David

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  5. This is great article
    Thank you for the recipe
    I will try to cook

    ReplyDelete