French Bean N Mock Floss

Deep-fried French Beans with Mock Floss

Toasted French Beans with Mock Floss

Mock Floss, Vegetarian Floss, Pumpkin Floss …  Floss again?

Haha… I am not a big fan of Floss, just like other ingredients or recipes in this blog. I brought to create the recipe and now I still have half a bag of floss left. Therefore, thinking hard on how to finish them. Besides this recipe, there is another recipe using floss, yet to be post on the blog  … 

For this recipe is inspired by the Celebrity Chef – Sam Leong’s cookbook – A Wok Through Time. There is a dish -  Wok-fried Long Beans with Homemade XO Sauce, is  a green cylinder of long beans topped with a dry, fluffy XO sauce. The Dry homemade XO Sauce look like pork floss to me, therefore I substitute with Mock Floss for a vegetarian version.  A lot of time, by flipping cookbooks and those lovely pictures are a great source of inspiration, with little modification or improvising them, you get the vegetarian version and or maybe something totally new …   

 I used French bean and for a healthier version,  by mix ¾ teaspoon of oil with a pinch of salt to the French bean and toasted them in Toaster Over for 10 minutes instead of deep-frying.  Deep-fried or poaching in oil look much better in term of the colour. 

Next, arrange them on a plate and topped with mock floss. I added more sesame seeds (black and white) plus a pinch of dried chilli flakes as I don’t have shichimi togarashi.

So, here is the output! Does it look good? Do you feel like having some?

For a more presentable look, you can tie the deep-fried French beans into a knot, arrange either one or few on a small serving plate and garnish with mock floss.  If you want to place them on a porcelain spoon, arrange the spoons in circle on a plate facing outward. Just play with it and explore …

Steamed Eggplant in Tangy Chilli Sauce

Steamed Eggplant with Tangy Chilli Sauce 

Steamed Eggplant with Chicken Rice Chilli N Tomatoes Sauce

This is an Indonesia Dish with I had in the 90s at an Indonesia Restaurant in Shenton Way for our monthly departmental lunch. It is known as Terong Balado –Baked Eggplant in Spicy Chilli Tomatoes sauce. I just discovered a quick and easy version, if you find the below too troublesome and want less cooking. For the Tangy Chilli Sauce, use the chicken rice chilli sauce (http://crystalbyblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/chicken-rice-chilli-sauce-with-garlic.html) and add tomatoes sauce (ratio 2:1) or to taste.  If you don’t consume any shallot and garlic, omit those and increase the ginger but not too much.
Preparation:      15 mins Cooking time:    10 mins

          

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         1 (200g) long slender eggplant, sliced

°         a small handful fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Spicy Sauce

°         1 (125g) tomato, poached and peeled

°         25g ginger, sliced

°         25g shallot, peeled and sliced

°         25g garlic, peeled and sliced

°         2 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

°         1 tablespoon olive oil

°         1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

°         1 teaspoon sugar

°         1/3 teaspoon salt

°         1 tablespoon tomatoes sauce or to taste

Method

1.       Arrange the eggplant in a heat proof serving plate and steam for 10 minutes or until soft.

2.       Put tomato, ginger, shallot, garlic in a blender and blend till smooth.

3.       Heat the oil in a wok and pour in the spicy paste, Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, add in the chilli and season to taste with vinegar, sugar, salt and tomatoes sauce.

4.       Pour sauce over the eggplant, garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Steamed Eggplant with Mock Floss (aka Purple Eggplant 'N' Auburn Floss)

Want some? It looks good and tastes good too!

This dish is inspired from two non-vegetarian restaurants – Taste Paradise and Peach Garden. Taste Paradise has Crispy-fried Japanese Egg plant topped with Pork Floss. For Peach Garden is thin crispy fried egg plant strips fried in light batter and tossed with generous helping of pork floss and a touch of garlic.

Anyway, I haven’t taste these 2 dishes at all, pork floss isn’t vegetarian! Am I going to miss out delicious food, of course -  NO, I decide to whip up and share this with all Vegetarians and Vegan -  a simple and healthy vegetarian version – Steamed Eggplant with Mock Floss.

Here you go, just simple 3 steps where anyone can cook :-

·        Slice the eggplant (or cut into long thick strip), arrange on a serving plate and steamed for 8-10 minutes.  

·        Drizzle shallot/olive oil, little amount of light soy sauce (optional) over the eggplant.

·        Topped with generous amount of mock floss, garnish with coriander leaves and chopped fresh red chilli.

For a special feel – instead of chopped fresh red chilli – use shichimi togarashi (seven spice chilli mix) where you can get from supermarket.

Food presentation isn’t difficult at all, sometime, it can be labour intensive and time consuming but there are also some very simple and yet elegant that can be done up real fast. There is no fix rule, how edible food garnish should be placed, so loosen up and play with it. The more you do it, it just come naturally, without even having to think about it.

So, hurry grabs some eggplant, mock floss and cooks this …

Terrific Cabbage Roll Pickles

Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II (click to listen, have fun and enjoy!), it starts with upbeat music - a Indian Stringed Instrument – Santoor! Beautiful way of introducing a classical instrument, otherwise I would not even know that there is such beauty sound in the world. If only Vegetarian Cuisine just like Santoor in this song. Again, why not? Vegetarian Cuisine can be trendy …

So, I tried out with pickles and play with it! The food presentation of this dish can be improved. In the photo, I didn’t cut it into bite size, if not it can be stacked up and sprinkle with shicimi togarashi to make it looks classy. Place them in a glass bottle (recycle your home sauce bottle), décor the bottle in a simple way, if desired – you can give away them as - Homemade Nappa Pickles. An appetizer for a party (just add a garnish with skewer, if desired) or a side dish or as refreshment between spicy dishes …     

Preparation:      10 mins, plus 1-2 hours standing time

Ingredients (serves 8)

°         4 (200g)  Chinese cabbage/Nappa/Wok Bak leaves, halved lengthwise and blanched

°         2 tablespoons cider vinegar

°         1 tablespoon sugar or to taste

°         ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste

°         3-4 slices red chilli, chopped 

Garnish

°         Some  roasted sesame seed (optional)

Method

1.       Combine the napa, chilli vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well.  Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

2.       Tightly roll the leaves and cut into bite-size if desired. Sprinkle some sesame seeds, chopped chilli/chilli flakes and serve.

Cabbage Tofu Parcel

Lost my entire photo collection again (corrupted), second time in a month, guess I will have to stop blogging for a while, no photo for the recipes. Only left with this photo and also decided to pamper myself (laze a bit) after I had made a trip to Blood Bank for blood donation yesterday.

The ‘O’ blood group is current at status LOW these few weeks - http://www.donorweb.org/bloodstocks/, so if you are a local and feeling well for the past 3 weeks and didn’t take any medication for past 3 days, make a trip for blood donation if possible. Who says Vegetarian Diet is lacking, if a Thalassemia Minor like me on a Veg*n diet donated blood for 7 times already, so no worry if you eat well.

Back to this recipe, for a change, using cabbage leaves to wrap the tofu (the tofu ingredients can be used to make tofu ball, wonton filling  etc with slight modifications) … It is a little bit of work and I feel that the marinating ingredients, sauce and tofu texture can be further improved. Maybe, next round I would try adding otah ingredients to it or something else. Give the cabbage leaf a very quick blanch, to soften it for wrapping. Keep the water from blanching for steaming. For simplicity and control of oil intake, I omitted the step heating oil in the wok with ginger or garlic, to make the sauce.    

Preparation:      15 mins Cooking time:    15 mins 

Ingredients (makes 6 pieces)

°         1 (225g) firm tofu (beancurd), washed, pat dry with kitchen paper and mashed

°         6 pieces Beijing Cabbage leave, blanched

°         3 Chinese dried mushrooms, soaked, drained and chopped

°         ½  carrot, chopped

°         1 tablespoon corn starch

°         1 teaspoon sesame oil

°         sugar, to taste

°         salt, to taste

°         pepper, to taste

Sauce

°         125ml stock or water

°         1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce

°         1 tablespoon light soy sauce

°         ¼ - ½ teaspoon sugar

°         ½ teaspoon sesame oil

°         1 teaspoon corn flour

Method

1.       Combine the mashed tofu, mushrooms, carrot, corn starch, sesame oil, sugar, salt, pepper and mix well. Divide into 6 portions.

2.       Place 1 pieces of cabbage leaves on the chopping board or plate. Place a portion of tofu in the centre and roll up.  Secure with a toothpick, if desired and repeat with the rest. 

3.       Place the tofu parcel on the plate and steam for 10 minutes.

4.       Meanwhile, pour all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Heat the mixture in a wok, stirring and bring to a boil.

5.       Arrange the cabbage tofu parcel on a serving plate and drizzle with sauce and serve immediately. 

Okra with Otah ... (Vegetarian)

This is real simple dish. The key is the Vegetarian Otah. I bought a pack of Otah wrapped in coconut leaves that cost about S$6 for 20 pcs at the wholesaler. I used those! Yes, it defeats the purpose of buying Otah in this form and stuff into other vegetables, but it is delicious.

Make a cut on each Okra and stuffed theOtah in it. Brush it with some oil and toasted in the toaster oven and it is ready. It can be BBQ too, if desired.

Be innovative, you can use other vegetables too! Have fun …

Lotus Root Kinpira

Sweet and crunchy lotus root topped with toasted sesame seeds! Simply tasty. And it is also very easy to whip up. You can add some cooking rice wine or sesame oil to it, if desired. If you have any superior stocks, use it to replace the water for the seasoning. Lotus Root is full of goodness.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
 180g fresh lotus root, peeled and sliced
 2 tablespoons olive oil
 some toasted sesame seeds (optional)
 some fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Seasoning
 60ml water
 1 tablespoon sugar
 3 tablespoons light soy sauce

Method
1. Place all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the root lotus for 3 minutes. Pour in the seasoning and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Dish up and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Garnish with chilli or coriander leaves, and serve immediately.

Asparagus in Sock

After making Asparagus with Special Plum Sauce, I was thinking if anyone does not like plum sauce, the same dish can use other type of dressing or sauce. For this recipe, I use vegetarian oyster sauce (mushroom sauce) and mix other simple ingredients. I am still using Bamboo Fungus, its net like formation, to hold the asparagus together, so it is easier to pick up. They now look like Asparagus wearing white sock.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 8 asparagus, halved diagonally, blanched in boiling water for 30 seconds and drained well
° 8 bamboo fungus/bamboo pith, soaked and blanched in boiling water for 1 minute and drain
° 2 cloves garlic or 1 slice ginger
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° few wolfberries (optional), soaked

Seasoning
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce
° 1 teaspoon sesame soil
° 60ml water
° ¼ teaspoon corn flour
° ¾ tablespoon cooking rice wine (optional)

Method
1. Put 2 sections of asparagus into each bamboo fungus. Arrange on a serving plate and garnish with carrot slice.
2. Combine all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
4. Pour in the seasoning mixture and bring to a boil. Drizzle over the asparagus.
5. Garnish with wolfberries and serves immediately.

Asparagus with Chilli and Garlic

This is real simple and very quick dish. To me, the asparagus look like little green snakes! To my boy, the asparagus is just like a blade of grass that he can stick out from his mouth! I should have cut them into smaller section.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g asparagus, blanched in salted boiling water for 30 seconds and drained well
° 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
° 2 red chilli padi, sliced
° 2 tablespoons olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Arrange the asparagus in a serving plate and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat. Stir fry chilli and garlic for 1 minute. Off the heat. Place the chilli and garlic on top of the asparagus.
3. Serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Zucchini with Fresh Bamboo Shoot

Has no idea what to do with zucchini? Besides doing a seasoned zucchini, zucchini pasta, you can also do a simple stir-fry. Replace fresh bamboo shoot with silken tofu, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g yellow zucchini, cut into cubes
° 100g green zucchini, cut into cubes
° 75g fresh bamboo shoot, blanched and cut into cubes
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger
° salt to taste

° 1-2 slices carrot (for garnish), finely chopped

Seasoning
° 120ml water
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° 1 tablespoon corn flour

Method
1. Combine all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Throw in the zucchini and bamboo shoot and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Pour in the seasoning and stir-fry till the sauce thicken.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with finely chopped carrot and serve immediately.

Braised Bitter Gourd with Dried Chilli

After having Braised Bitter Gourd with King Oyster Mushroom at Ling Zhi Hi-Tea Buffet, I decide to whip up a simple version of this dish. It tastes nice if you eat bitter gourd which might not be so popular among those who do not like the bitter taste. But I like bitter gourd with chilli. Do you like bitter gourd?

Preparation: 5 mins plus 10 mins standing time, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g bitter gourd, seeded and thinly sliced
° 1 slice ginger
° 4 dried chilli, cut into small section
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 125ml water
° 2 teaspoons salt

Seasoning
° 1½ tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° ½ tablespoon corn flour
° 60ml water

Method
1. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt to the bitter gourd, mix well and leave for 10 minutes for the liquid to drain. Rinse and gently squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
2. Place all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger and dried chilli and fry for 1 minute.
4. Throw in the bitter gourd and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add 125ml of water and simmer for 4-5 minutes or till the water almost dried up. Pour in the seasoning and stir till it thickens.
5. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Zucchini Aglio Olio

Zucchini Aglio Olio

Zucchini Aglio Olio with Curry potatoes!

Thanks to Virginie Pean (her lovely blog: Absolutegreen) for leaving a comment on my Seasoned Zucchini recipe, sharing how to make raw zucchini pasta- [extract from her comment: (peeled the whole, so it makes like green pasta) + lemon juice + garlic + olive oil + salt + pepper --> marinated for at least 1 hour].

That gave me the idea for creating this simple recipe. Few days back, I manage to find some yellow zucchini which allow me to test this out. Well, it is lovely, if you love garlic and Pasta Aglio Olio. This can be a good replacement for pasta if you are on a diet or wanting to up fiber intake!

You can use olive oil but in here I used the healthy Extra Virgin Cooking Oil (see above picture) which is given to me by my boy’s kind ex-Chinese Teacher - Ms Lim OH, who is a Buddhist Vegetarian. She got it from YES Natural which is just besides The Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaurant .

Before I forget, use a vegetable peeler to slice the zucchini, it is so much easier, faster and fun. And click here for: Statistics of Vegetarian in Europe

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 175g yellow zucchini, sliced, blanched in boiling water for 15 seconds and drained well
° 4 cloves (25g) garlic, finely chopped
° 1½ red chilli padi, sliced
° 1 tablespoon extra virgin cooking oil or olive oil
° salt to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan over medium heat. Stir fry chilli and garlic for 1 minute. Off the heat.
2. Add in the zucchini and toss evenly with salt. Serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Beijing Cabbage with Vegetarian Mock Abalone

Had opened a can of vegetarian mock abalone yesterday and there was still some left in the refrigerator and therefore I used it to stir-fry cabbage. You may also use it to stir-fry noodle to or just heat up.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g Beijing cabbage, cut into strips
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 75g-100g vegetarian mock abalone
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper, to taste
° 3 tablespoons vegetarian mock abalone sauce

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Fry the garlic or ginger for half a minute or until fragrant.
2. Add the cabbage, carrot and vegetarian mock abalone. Stir fry over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of sauce from vegetarian mock abalone. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Dish up and serve immediately.

Mix and Match Recipes !

Stir-Fried Beansprout with Asparagus and Carrot (garnish with crispy tempeh cubes)

Stir-Fried Lady’s Finger (garnish with crispy tempeh cubes and chopped red chilli)

By mixing and matching 2 recipes together, it creates another variant! You can even chop the tempeh smaller if desired, it would looks like minced meat.

Crispy Tempeh Mini Cubes
Simple Stir-Fried Beansprout
Simple Stir-Fried Okra(Lady's Finger)

Stuffed Red Chilli

Toasted or baked Stuffed Chilli / Steamed Stuffed Chilli

I posted the Vegetarian Spinach Fish Ball two days ago. I was wondering what else can I do with them, I still have some left …

What I did next, again is something very simple. I bought some fresh chilli from the wet market, washed, made a slit and removed the seeds, cut the Vegetarian Spinach Fish Ball into 4 quarters and then stuffed them into the red chilli.

What’s next? I tested out steaming and toasted it in my toaster oven (brush some oil). Which method to use, that depends on your preference.

Oh yeah, for those who does not like mock fish ball, use baby corn then. This dish is so easy and simple. It can be used for BBQ too.

Stir-Fried Pumpkin with Fresh Lily Bulb and Wolfberries

Oh, I have too many fresh lily bulbs. Besides using to cook the broccoli, I still have lots of them left. Guess, pumpkin, lily bulb and wolfberries can be a nice combination. Corn flour or cornstarch can be used instead of tapioca starch.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g pumpkin (weight after peeling), cut into chunks
° 25g fresh lily bulb, petals separated
° ½ teaspoon wolfberries, soaked
° 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)
° 1 teaspoon tapioca starch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water
° 125ml water
° fresh coriander leaves, for garnish

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Add the pumpkin and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until the pumpkin is soften.
3. Throw in the lily bulb, wolfberries, water and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar and tapioca starch mixture to thicken the sauce.
4. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Beetroot Soy Milk Shake

Oh, the colour of beetroot is so lovely. Want to know more about beetroot, check it out at Beetroot @ BBC . Beetroot can be eaten raw too. If you like you may even skip the steaming and to make the beetroot soy milk shake. I chosen to peeled with fruit peeler before steaming, so that I don’t have to do that afterward.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g beetroot, peeled and cut into small chunks
° 250ml unsweetened soy milk
° sugar (optional), to taste

Method
1. Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place the beetroot in the steamer and steam for 10 minutes or until soften. Leave to cool.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Taste it, add more sugar, if necessary. Chilled or serve with ice.

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.