Mini Otah Toast

Many would find that cooking is a time consuming and tedious task, from thinking of what to cook, what ingredients to buy, where to buy them, the washing, the cutting, the cooking, the cleaning up ….

Often, good delicious recipes are labour intensive which most of us does not have the time. And one of the headache problems is those seasoning and sauces occupied the space in the refrigerator and often not consume before they expired. Maybe, some would like to get those ready-prepared vegetables in the supermarket and just do a simple quick stir-fry.

Usually, the common reaction is don’t cook, eat out! Often eating out, those eateries offering healthy food are quite limited. So, sometimes, we still yearn for a simple home cooked meal, and would usually go for those real simple and easy recipes!

Here is one of them, spreading ready-made raw vegetarian otah on bread and toasted them in the oven toaster for 5-8 minutes.

For party food, garnish with black and white sesame seeds, coriander leaves, nori shreds, mock floss etc. Serve with lettuce if desired.

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.

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.

Vegetarian Stew Pork Bun (Kong Bak Bao)

Finally, I experimented with Monkey Head Mushroom, they look so lovely and nice to smell too. Special thanks to Veganic for the instructions on how to prepare the monkey head mushroom. He recommends that the mushroom to be soaked in water for 2 hours, then squeeze out the water and put in fresh water, let it absorb the fresh water and squeeze dry before cooking. Blanch the pre-soaked mushroom for a minute or 2 in boiling water to clean it.

Well, I skip the last step, too impatient of me! I used the monkey head mushroom to cook Stew Pork Bun Vegetarian version -五 香 扣 肉包. My first try was much simpler, no marinating and I didn’t simmer the spices plus I added too much sugar. So, I did another round and this was how I spent my whole day yesterday, playing with 200g of monkey head mushroom to get the recipe below.

Hmmm… it is not perfect yet, I should have added vegetarian oyster sauce and maybe I should have marinated the mushroom with Chinese five spice powder too. And I should use corn flour to thicken the sauce (I ran out of corn/tapioca flour and vegetarian oyster sauce, my manual Reorder Point System 2008 didn’t work!).

At the end of the day, I came to a conclusion!

Don’t ever try to make Vegetarian Stew Pork Bun again – its just too much work and time consuming. Just go dine at The Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaurant , their Kong Bak Bao is awesome and wholesome. The good quality winter mushroom used in that dish resembles the fatty layer of the pork belly meat. Perfect and delectable!

Preparation: 30 mins, plus 3 hours standing times
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 100g monkey-head mushrooms
° 2 star anise
° 1 cinnamon stick
° 2 slices ginger
° oil, for deep-frying
° 8-12 lettuce leaves
° 8-12 leaf buns

Marinade
° 2 pieces red fermented bean curd (2cm x 2cm cube), mashed with 1 tablespoon water

Seasoning
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
° 375ml water
° ½ teaspoon granulated mushroom bouillon
° 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. Soak the monkey head mushroom in a big bowl of water for 1½ -2 hours.
2. Squeeze out the water from the monkey head mushroom and soak in fresh water till it absorbs and plump up. Remove and squeeze out all the water. Repeat this for one more round.
3. Cut the mushroom into slices and marinade with the fermented bean curd for ½ hours.
4. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Drop the marinade monkey head mushroom and fry in batches until lightly golden brown. Remove the monkey head mushroom with a slotted spoon. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
5. Mix all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
6. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok and stir-fry the ginger, star anise and cinnamon for 1 minute. Throw in the seasoning, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes till the spices release its aroma.
7. Add in the deep-fried monkey head monkey and cook till it absorbs all the sauce. Alternatively, thicken with corn flour.
8. Transfer to a serving dish and serve lettuce leaves and leaf buns.

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.

Toasted Sandwiches with Cinnamon Apple Filling

I love Apple Pie Filling very much and decided to use it to make sandwiches. In this recipe, I replace butter with olive oil. The amount of cinnamon powder can be adjusted to personal preference.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 8)
° 8 slices bread

Cinnamon Apple Filling
° 400g green apples dices
° 2 tablespoons olive oil
° 2½ tablespoons sugar, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons cinnamon powder, or to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a non-stick work.
2. Add in the green apple, cinnamon powder and sugar. Stir fry for 10 minutes or until apple is soften. Leave to cool.
3. Place the cinnamon apple filling onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches makers.

Easy Homemade Eggless Kaya (Pumpkin Kaya)

So much talks about the pumpkin kaya and I remember a lovely Lady Volunteer, Kim Lan who in her 60s told me that pumpkin can be used to make pumpkin kaya and it is taste just like Kaya (Traditional Coconut Egg Jam which is used commonly as bread spread in Singapore). I regretted not asking her the exact ingredients and instructions.

Today, I did a first try and it turn out well. Traditional Kaya takes hours to made and it is very tedious. The pumpkin kaya that I did, was rather fast and save that my arm from aching (the continually stirring). The time taken to cook the kaya, depend how thick you love it to be, and pandan leaves can be added during the cooking, if desired. I found some oil at the end of the cooking, it could be from the coconut milk after continual cooking. Anyway, I discarded them. Palm sugar or brown sugar can be used too.

Doesn’t feel like making this, you can get from Nutrihub @ Cuppage Plaza, B2-25/26, Orchard.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (makes 250g±)
° 250g pumpkin (weight after peeling), cut into small chunks
° 250ml fresh coconut milk
° 2 tablespoon sugar or to taste
° 4 pandan leaves/screwpine (optional), tied into a knot

Method
1. Place the pumpkin in a heat proof serving bowl and steam for 8 minutes or until soft.
2. Pour coconut milk and pandan leaves and bring to a boil. Alternatively, omit this step.
3. Combine the pumpkin, coconut milk and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth.
4. Cook in a non-stick pan for 8-10 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring continually until the pumpkin kaya becomes thick.
5. Discard any oil from the pumpkin kaya, leave to cool and store in a jar.

Seaweed Bread Roll

Run out of ideas for making sandwiches, try this Seaweed Bread Roll! Oh, it is scrumptious!

What you need is nori, bread, lettuce, shredded carrot and Japanese cucumber, and lastly vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream.

Next, place the nori (should be much longer than the bread) on a plate. Place the bread on top of the nori. Arrange the lettuce, carrot and Japanese cucumber on the bread. Spread some vegan mayonnaise vegetarian salad cream and start to roll from one end to the other. To finish, seal with some vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream. Its that easy!

Mayo Corn Sandwiches

Oops, in the sandwiches maker for too long, a little bit too brown!

Forget about Mayo Egg sandwiches. Try this, it is yummy too. The secret to sweet and delicious mayonnaise corn is to use fresh corn on the cob.

Preparation: 8 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 4 slices bread
° 1 ear corn on the cob, cut or peeled kernels off the cob
° 1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream, to taste

Method
1. Put the corn kernels in a heatproof serving plate and steam for 8-10 minutes.
2. Remove from streamer and leave to cool. Mix well with mayonnaise.
3. Place the mayo corn onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches maker.

Seaweed & Cucumber Sandwich

In fact, I wanted to make a sushi bread roll but end up having a Seaweed & Cucumber Sandwich! Oh, the sandwich bread I have is just too thick and small to roll nicely. I shall get the right type of bread next round. My seaweed and cucumber sandwich was so delicious that I could not stop eating.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices breads
° vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream, for spread
° 2 slices cucumbers
° ¼ sheet nori
° some toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method
1. Place 1 quarter sheet nori on one slice of bread.
2. Evenly spread vegan mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream on the nori.
3. Place the cucumber slices over the nori and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.
4. Place the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
5. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Tofu Sandwiches

Tofu Sandwich, anyone? It is simple, just pan-fried the firm tofu (halved from side way). After that, place some toasted seaweed, tomatoes slices, cucumber slices, lettuces, vegetarian ham and sprinkle some sesame seed on top. What to add to the filling, is all personal preference.

For kids, just cut into smaller square and make sure it is not too huge for them to pop into their tiny mouth.

Toasted Sandwiches with Curry Potatoes

If you love the filling of the curry puff and do not wish to have deep-fried food, try out these toasted sandwiches with curry potato filling. It is simply delectable. If you intend to make them for a picnic, you will need to have a sandwich maker to seal in the filling. The vegetarian mushrooms that are used in the recipe can be purchased from Vegetarian shops. Its ingredients are mushroom stalks and seasoning. Besides curry potatoes, you can have Soon Kueh’s filling or Apple Pie filling or any other filling that you like.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (makes 12)
° 12 slices bread

Curry Potatoes Filling
° 350g potatoes, peeled and diced
° 50g carrot, peeled and diced
° 25g onion (optional), peeled and finely diced
° 50g vegetarian mushroom or vegetarian mushroom slice (optional), finely chopped
° 1 sprig curry leaves
° 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
° 1-1½ tablespoons curry powder, or to taste
° ½-1 teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste
° 1 sprig curry leaves
° 250ml water
° salt and sugar to taste
° 2-3 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, add the curry leaves and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste, fry until thickened and fragrant.
3. Stir in the potatoes, carrot, onion, vegetarian mushroom and stir fry for 1 minute. Add in the water, coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Alternatively, add the potatoes, carrot, onion, vegetarian mushroom, water, coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stirring occasionally.
4. Season to taste with salt and sugar. Stir and cook till the gravy had dried. Set aside.
5. Place the curry potatoes onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches makers.

Avocado Spread

Avocado Spread Sandwiches, Crispy Biscuits & Vegetarian Prawns topped with Avocado Spread

Vegetarian Noodle Prawns serve with Avocado Spread, Avocado Dice, Mint Leaves, Seeds or Nuts

Thin Crispy Biscuits serve with Avocado Spread, Avocado Dice, Mint Leaves, Seeds or Nuts

Besides the previous few recipes on avocado, it can be blended and mixed with mayonnaise to make a special type of bread/biscuit spread or salad dressing or as a dipping sauce. It is absolutely simple and here is the recipe. Feel free to add salt, sugar, non-dairy margarine, vinegar, if desired. Use your creativity or imagination to do up a little art piece topping on the thin, crispy biscuits or deep-fried vegetarian noodle prawn as appetizers.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (makes 150g±)
° 1 ripe avocado (200g)
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, or to taste

Method
1. Cut the avocado into half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place the avocado in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
2. Combine with vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise and mix well.
3. Serve as bread spread or salad dressing or dips.

Leaf Bun with Vegetarian Ham

Besides stuffing leaf bun with golden roasted vegetarian duck. Vegetarian ham or vegetarian luncheon meat can be used too. Lettuce can be used instead of cucumber slices, if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 6 frozen leaf buns
° 6 slices vegetarian ham or vegetarian luncheon meat, pan-fried or oven-baked or steamed
° 6 slices cucumber

Method
1. Place the leaf buns in a heat proof plate and steam for 5 minutes.
2. Insert one slice of cucumber and one slice of vegetarian ham or vegetarian luncheon meat duck in the middle pocket of the leaf bun. Repeat for the rest and serve.

Leaf Bun with Golden Roasted Vegetarian Duck

It is rather easy to find leaf buns or sandwiches skin at the supermarket. Just stuffed with golden roasted vegetarian duck, this made a simple and quick Chinese-style sandwich.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 6 frozen leaf buns
° 6 slices golden roasted vegetarian duck
° 3 pieces Chinese lettuce, torn into half

Method
1. Place the leaf buns in a heat proof plate and golden roasted vegetarian duck slices in another heat proof plate. Steam for 5 minutes.
2. Insert a piece of lettuce and one slice of golden roasted vegetarian duck in the middle pocket of the leaf bun. Repeat for the rest.
3. Serve immediately.

‘Egg & Mayonnaise’ Sandwich

Oooh, I really like this very much and feel like making them for friends and just tell them it is egg. It can’t really tell when the fresh scrambled tofu mixed with vegan mayonnaise, especially when you like more mayonnaise on it. Just control the amount of turmeric powder used or it can be omitted if desired. As the tofu can be rather wet and therefore I stir-fried it to avoid a runny texture. Toasted the breads, if desired. This recipe is just the basic, other ingredients can be added to this ‘egg and mayonnaise’ mix.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 small firm beancurd/tofu, pat dry and scrambled
° ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
° ½ tablespoon olive oil
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, or to taste
° salt and pepper, to taste
° 4 slices breads
° non dairy margarine (optional), for spread
° cucumber slices (optional)
° tomatoes slices (optional)

Method
1. Marinate scrambled tofu with turmeric powder and set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and stir fry the scrambled tofu for 1-2 minutes or until dry. Transfer to a bowl, add vegetarian salad cream or vegan mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Evenly spread margarine on one slice of bread.
4. Place the tomato slices and cucumber slices on the bread. Scoop the mashed ‘egg’ over it.
5. Spread margarine on the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
6. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together. Repeat for the next 2 slices of bread.

Simple Veggie Sandwich

This is a quick and easy veggie sandwich to prepare. Toasted the breads, it definitely taste better. If you like more veggies, add some fresh crisp lettuce and crunchy onions. Eggless mayonnaise or vegetarian salad cream can be used as spread or just squeeze some on the veggies and sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on it.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices breads
° non dairy margarine (optional), for spread
° 4 slices cucumbers
° 2 thick slices tomatoes

Method
1. Evenly spread margarine on one slice of bread.
2. Place the tomato slices, slightly overlapping and place the cucumber slices over the tomato slices.
3. Spread margarine on the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
4. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Potato and Mayonnaise Sandwich

This is an easy but makes a satisfying light lunch and they are very easy to prepare, too.

Preparation: 5 mins Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices of bread
° 1 potato, peeled and cut into chunks
° 1 tablespoon mayonnaise/vegetarian salad cream
° salt and pepper to taste
° toasted sesame seeds and butter (optional)

Method
1. Cook the potato in a pot of boiling, lightly salted water for about 15 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain well and mash potato in a container with a fork.
2. Add the mayonnaise/vegetarian salad cream, toasted sesame seeds to the mashed potatoes and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Evenly spread mayonnaise/vegetarian salad cream or butter on one slice of bread.
4. Spread the mashed potato mixture on the bread.
5. Spread mayonnaise/vegetarian salad cream or butter on the second slice of bread, and complete the sandwich.
6. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Tip
1. How to toast n roast sesameseeds

2. Potato and mayonnaise sandwich tasted better with toasted bread.
3. Vinegar/fresh lemon juice, chopped celery, cucumber slices, tomatoes slices, lettuces can be added, if desired.
4. For potato and mayonnaise croissant. Add lettuces, cucumber/tomatoes slices and grilled vegetarian bacon slice or vegetarian ham slice.

Vegetarian ('Fake') Bacon Sandwich

This is a super easy to make sandwich.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices of bread
° margarine (optional), for spread
° 3-6 slices vegetarian bacon

Method
1. Fry or grill 3 to 6 slices of bacon per sandwich and arrange between 2 slices of margarine bread.
2. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Vegetarian ("Fake") Ham Sandwich

This is an easy but makes a satisfying light lunch and they are very easy to prepare, too.

Preparation: 8-10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 2 slices of bread
° margarine (optional), for spread
° 1-2 slices vegetarian ham
° few lettuce leaves
° 2 thick slices tomatoes (optional)
° cheese (optional)

Method
1. Evenly spread margarine on one slice of bread.
2. Place the tomato slices, slightly overlapping and place a few large lettuce leaves over the tomato slices. Now place the ham slice over the lettuce leaves.
3. Spread margarine on the second slice of bread and complete the sandwich.
4. Slice the sandwich diagonally and use sandwich toothpicks to hold the sandwich halves together.

Tip
1. Toast the sandwich in the toaster over for a minute or two to melt the cheese, if desired.
2. Use toasted bread, it tasted better.