Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Vegetarian Vegeroni Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Paprika Recipe


My kids love vegeroni pasta. It is a good way to get them to eat some greens. Actually, they love any type of pasta, as long as I cook it with a tomato based sauce. This vegeroni pasta is very colourful as well!
Ingredients
Vegeroni Pasta, 2 cups
Olive Oil, 1 tablespoon
Sweet corn, 1/2 cup
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Garlic (optional), 3 pcs, chopped finely
Tomato paste, 1 can
Paprika powder, 1 teaspoon
Oregano (dried), 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Boil vegeroni pasta in hot water until it turned soft. Drain away water and put aside. Pour some olive oil in frying pan and put in the garlic. Add tomato paste, sweet corn, carrot, paprika powder, oregano and salt to taste. Stir until the ingredients are cooked. Pour the vegetarian pasta sauce over the boiled pasta. Serve while still hot.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Vegetarian Bell Pepper, Pineapple and Apple Salad


Although this homecooked dish is for our family meal at home, it is nice to decorate it once in a while. The flowers are made from pineapples and the stem from parsley. For some crunchiness, I added in an apple. In order to give this vegetarian salad an extra kick, I used a bell pepper that have been baked in an oven. You can use a blow torch to do this as well. The burned skin of bell pepper is very easy to be removed.
Main Ingredients
Bell Pepper, 1 pc, baked or barbecued
Apple, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Pineapple, cut vertically for the flower and cubes for the salad part
Parsley, for garnishing
Salad Dressing
Tomato Sauce, 5 table spoons
Cream or cheese, 1/2 cup
Pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Cut all the ingredients for the salad and arrange in a plate as shown. Mix all the salad dressing ingredients well. Pour the dressing onto the salad and serve.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Vegetarian Cream Cheese Mushroom Soup Recipe



I used canned button mushroom for this soup. It is raining outside now and the rain always makes me craving for a bowl of hot soup.
Then, I remembered that I still have some cream cheese and a can of button mushroom in stock. Both would make a good combination for a homemade mushroom soup. The result would taste better if you add in some cream. But since I do not have cream in stock, I just cook it with whatever I have.

Ingredients
Button Mushroom, 5 pcs, cut into small slices
Cream cheese, 150 gms
Onions, 1 pc, blended
Tomato Sauce, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Pepper, to taste
Water, 3 rice bowls
Oregano, to taste

Put water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add in button mushroom, onions, tomato sauce, salt, pepper and oregano. Let it boil for 15 minutes. Add cream cheese and keep on stirring the mixture until they are well mix. Serve while still hot! Bon appétit!
I ate it with finger biscuits!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Vegetarian Begedil (Deep Fried Potato Patty) Recipe



Deep fried potatoes would normally taste very good. You can’t go wrong with it. This begedil (Deep Fried Potato Patty) is a typical Malaysian food and one of the favourite dishes that you can find at most homes.
There are many versions of begedil and each family would prefer to cook it in their own types of ingredients. I prefer the method below which is simple but the end result is nice! Kids would love this begedil very much.

Ingredients
Pototo, 2 pcs
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut into slices and deep fried
Salt to taste
Flour, 4 table spoons
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Cut potato into slices and deep fry it until golden brown. Put the potato in a blender and blend it until fine. Add salt, shallots and flour. Pour in a little water to make it into a paste. Roll them into small bite size balls and deep fry in hot vegetable oil until they turned golden brown. Serve while still hot. You can eat it with steamed rice or just as it is.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Vegetarian Stir Fried Baby Asparagus


I know the asparagus in the photo look rather thin. These are very young shoots and they are very crunchy. Asparagus is sweet and there are many ways to cook it. One of the easiest ways is to fry them with garlic.

Ingredients
Asparagus, 1 bunch, cut in to bite length
Garlic, 3 pcs, chop finely
Salt to taste
Olive oil or vegetable oil

Heat up pan and saute garlic until fragrant. Put in the asparagus. Stir fry until it is cooked and pour in a little water. Add salt to taste. Serve while still hot.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Vegetarian Fried Brinjals (Eggplant) with Long Beans



Brinjals belongs to the nightshade family and is in the same group as tomatoes. This wonderful vegetable is very easy to cook and taste good too. In order to make it tastier, you can pre fried it so that it turns soft and caramelised. Then you can cook it with whatever ingredients that you think would be suitable and goes along well with it!

Ingredients
Brinjals, 2pc, cut into bite sizes
Long Beans, 4 pcs, cut into 1.5 inch length
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Light Soya sauce, 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Olive oil

Heat up non stick pan to brown the brinjals and long beans. Turn to medium low heat so that the brinjals would cook slowly until they turned soft. Put the brinjals and long beans aside. Pour a little olive oil on the pan and sauté the garlic till it turn golden brown. Add in soya sauce and a little water. Pour in the brinjals and long beans. Add salt to taste. Serve with steamed rice.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Vegetarian Mutt Cho (Preserved Chinese Dates), Lotus Fruit and Figs Dessert Recipe


This dessert recipe uses Figs (a sweet fruit, Wuhua guo, Ficus Carica) which moisten the lungs and clear excess heat from the body. Meanwhile, Lotus seeds (Lianzi, Nelumbo nucifera) nourish the kidney and spleen. In order to make the dessert more flavourful, I added in some mutt cho (preserved Chinese Dates).

Ingredients
Lotus Seeds (Lianzi), 10 pcs
Chinese Preserved dates (mutt cho) 10 pcs
Figs, 10 pcs
Water, 8 bowls
Rock sugar, to taste

Put all the ingredients in a pot with the water in it as well. Boil for around 1 hour. Add rock sugar to taste. Serve this wonderful dessert hot or chilled.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Vegetarian Crispy Fried Tempeh with Flour Recipe




There are many ways of cooking this wonderful Indonesian healthy food made from soya beans. Tempeh can be cut into thin slices and fried in batter just like ubi goreng (fried sweet potato). The crispy tempeh can be eaten plain or with spicy chilly sauce. Alternatively it can also be part of your regular dishes to be eaten with rice.

Ingredients
Tempeh, 1 pc cut into thin slices
Rice Flour, ½ cup
Corn flour, 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Sugar, a little
Water, to mix with flour

Add water to flour slowly and make into a batter. Add corn flour, salt and sugar. Heat up wok and put in vegetable oil for deep frying. Coat the tempeh with the batter and deep fried until golden brown. Eat while still hot and crispy.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Vegetarian Kiam Chye (Salted Vegetable, Ham choy) Soup Recipe


Some people find vegetarian soup rather plain. In order to dish out a savoury and flavourful vegetarian soup, I used various ingredients to prep up the taste. I tried cooking salted vegetable soup (ham choi) by using groundnuts and turnips for natural sweetness. The taste turned out quite good!

Ingredients
Salted vegetable, 3 leaves, cut into bite sizes
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Turnip (sengkuang), 1 small, removes skins and cut into four
Groundnut, ½ cup
Tomato, 1 pc, cut into four
Assam Keping (dried sour fruit) 3 pcs or more if you want it to be very sour
Ginger, 3 slices
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Olive oil or vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon
Water, 4 bowls

Put water in pot and bring to a boil. Add carrot, turnip, assam keping, ginger and groundnut. Boil until the peanut turned soft. Add in the rest of the ingredients and boil for a short while. Serve soup with steamed rice.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Vegetarian Fried Chinese Chives Flowers (Ku Chai Hua) with Ginger Recipe



It has been a long time since I last cooked this dish. I like to cook Chinese chives flowers with a little starchy gravy just like the way I fry kailan or broccoli.
Here is my stir fry Chinese Chives Flowers recipe.

Ingredients
Chinese Chives Flower, 1 bunch, cut into 1” length
Ginger, 5 slices
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into bite sizes
Light soya sauce
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Chinese cooking wine (shao shing chiew, optional), 1 teaspoon
Vegetarian oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon
Corn flour and water mixture
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and put in 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. Put in the garlic and sauté it until fragrant. Throw in the ginger and carrot. Add Chinese chives flowers and light soya sauce. Stir fry for a short while and add in the Chinese cooking wine. Add vegetarian oyster sauce and salt to taste. Pour a little corn flour and water mixture to make to thicken the gravy. Serve with steamed rice.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Young Tapioca Shoots with Sambal



This is another popular dish in the outskirt districts of Java Island. Young tapioca leaves are soft and it is nice if eaten with vegetarian sambal. However there are some sap in these young leaves that needs to be removed before eaten. In order to do that they are best boiled in water with a little soda bicarbonate added. Boiling the leaves this way also helps to soften the fibres in the leaves. Tapioca leaves have high contents of nutrients, protein and crude fibre.

Ingredients
Tapioca leaves, 1 bunch, remove stems
Water, 1 pot
Soda Bicarbonate, 1/3 teaspoon

Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add tapioca (ubi kayu) leaves and soda bicarbonate. Boil until the leaves turned dark green. Drain away excess water and serve with sambal (chilly).

Friday, August 27, 2010

Jawa Vegetarian Chap Chai Recipe


This recipe is popular among the community in Jawa Island, Indonesia. Fried flour is the base ingredient in this recipe. The aromatic fried shallots gave the dish a very nice flavour. For some crunchiness, vegetables like cabbage, spring onions and carrots. The Chap Chai is a quite a unique dish. Check out his recipe!

Ingredients
Flour, ½ cup
Water
Salt to taste
Cabbage, 2 leaves, cut into bite sizes
Carrot, 10 to 15 slices
Shallots, 4 pcs, slice thinly
Spring onions, 2 stalks, cut into 1” length
Vegetable oil

Mix flour, water and salt to form a batter. Heat up frying pan and put in some oil. Spread the batter on the pan thinly and fry until it is cooked. Cut the fried flour into bite sizes and put aside.
Add a little vegetable oil in the pan and sauté shallots until they turned golden brown. Add in the cabbage, shallots and spring onions. Stir fry for a short while. Put in the fried flour. Add a little water and salt to taste. Serve with steamed rice.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Vegetarian Stir Fried Crab Mushroom with Bok Choy Recipe


This is the first time I combined bok choy with crab mushroom. I was a little worried whether these two ingredients match or not but the results turned out quite good. For extra body and flavours I added starch with Chinese cooking wine to it. The tasty crab mushrooms blend well with the crunchy bok choy.

Ingredients
Crab Mushroom, 1 bowl
Bok Choy, 1 bunch,
Ginger, five slices
Garlic, 4 pcs, chopped finely
Chinese Cooking wine (Hua Tiau Shao Shing Chiew), 1 tablespoon
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Sesame oil, ½ teaspoon
Corn flour and water mixture as gravy thickener
Vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon

Heat wok and put in vegetable oil. Sauté garlic and ginger until fragrant. Put in the white crab mushroom and bok choy. Stir fry for a short while. Add light soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil and salt to taste. Pour in a little water. Add corn flour and water mixture. Serve with steamed rice while still hot.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Vegetarian Smoked Tofu Recipe





Raw rice, tea and sugar to smoke the tofu

I used the same ingredients to smoke the tofu as in Lily Wai Sek Hong’s smoked ribs recipe. This resulted in a totally new flavour for my vegetarian tofu dish and a new acquired taste as well. Anyway, I guess we are used to smoked meat than smoked vegetarian tofu! LOL!
Here is my simple smoked tofu recipe.

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block, cut into 1“ thick slices
Spring onions, 2 stalks, cut into small pieces
Light soya sauce, 3 tablespoons
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon
Olive oil or any vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut into slices and deep fried until crispy


For Smoking Tofu
Raw Rice, 1 tablespoon
Chinese tea, 1 tablespoon
Sugar, 1 tablespoon

Put tofu on a steaming tray. Add in light soya sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce and olive oil. Steam the tofu in high heat for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and drain all the water from the wok. Line the bottom of the wok with an aluminium foil to protect it and put in all the ingredients for smoking. Sprinkle some water over the raw rice, Chinese Tea and sugar. Put the tofu tray into the wok and cover up the lid. Turn on the heat and smoke the tofu for 10 minutes. Garnish with spring onions and deep fried shallot before serving!

Simple Vegetarian Chinese Style Stir Fried Spinach Recipe


I bought a bunch of fresh Chinese spinach from the wet market last weekend. My favourite way of cooking the spinach is by frying it in a hot wok. If the wok is hot enough, you will have a spinach dish with nice ‘wok hei’ (wok burnt) smell.
Cooking the spinach briefly would help to break down some of the nutrients to enable our body to absorb them better. This is a rather healthy way of cooking green spinach.

Ingredients
Green Spinach, 1 bunch, cut into bite sizes
Olive oil or Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Put in the garlic and stir it quickly to avoid burning it. Add in the spinach and fry until it turn a little light green in colour. Add a little water and salt to taste. Serve while still hot.

Simple Vegetarian Stir Fried Young Sweet Potato Shoots Recipe


This inexpensive vegetable is tasty and easy to cook. Sweet potato shoots (pucuk ubi keledek) normally do not contain harmful agricultural chemicals because they are rather easy to cultivate. I planted some in my backyard and they grew a little too ‘wild’. Therefore I have to get rid of them. Anyway, one bunch of sweet potato shoots average price is around RM1 (USD 0.30).

Ingredients
Sweet potato shoots, 1 bunch, cut into bite sizes
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Heat up frying pan and add in a little vegetable oil. Add in the garlic. Put in the sweet potato shoots and turn up the heat. Stir fry for a short while and add a little water. Bring to a boil and put in salt to taste. Serve with steam rice while still hot.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Vegetarian Black Glutinous Rice (Bubur Pulut Hitam, Bee Koh Moi, hak lor mai chok) Recipe


This is a great dessert for the Ramadan month. Bubur Pulut Hitam (Black Glutinous Rice) is normally eaten with Coconut Milk and I love the smooth taste of this yummy dessert. My sister in law gave me a packet of black glutinous rice bought from Kedah. Very likely it was imported from Thailand through the southern border. The black glutinous rice should be boiled with water until they turned soft before adding the sugar or else the rice grains will never become tender.

Ingredients
Black Glutinous Rice, 1 cup
Water, 5 bowls
Coconut milk, from 1 coconut
Sugar to taste
Salt, a dash
Pandan Leaves (Screw pine), 5 pcs

Pour water into a pot and add in the black glutinous rice. Put in the pandan leaves (screw pine). Boil until the rice grains turn soft. You will have to open a lid a little or the content inside would overflow during cooking. Add salt and sugar to taste. Scoop a portion of the vegetarian bubur pulut hitam(black glutinous rice porridge, hak lor mai chook) in to a serving bowl. Pour a little coconut milk on top and serve.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Simple Chinese Vegetarian Spinach Soup Recipe


Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is inexpensive and taste great too. It is full of nutrients and there are many ways to prepare spinach dishes. Spinach is a good source of Vitamin A, B, C & E, many types of minerals, iron and folic acid (B6). I tried putting it in soup and the end result tasted quite good! No wonder Popeye loves Spinach so much! LOL!

Ingredients
Spinach, 1 bunch, cut into small strands
Chinese Red Dates, 10 pcs
Dried longan, 10 pcs
Olive oil, 1 teaspoon
Water, 7 bowls
Salt to taste

Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Put all the ingredients in the boiling water. Let it simmer under medium heat for around 20 minutes. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Deep Fried Vegetarian Vegetable Fritters Recipe


Everyone loves deep fried crispy fritters especially when there are hot out from the wok. Prawns are the common ingredient use in non vegetarian version of this fritters. You can add any crunchy types of vegetable in the batter and it is the final texture of the fritters that will tell whether the fritters are good or not! This is also a good way to get kids to eat vegetable.

Ingredients
Flour, ¾ cup
Egg (optional), 1pc
Carrot, 1 small, cut into strips
French Beans, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Spinach, 3 stalks, chopped finely
Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely
Salt to taste
Water

Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and slowly add water while stirring the mixture. Add more flour if necessary. Heat up oil for deep frying. Use a small ladle to scoop some of the batter and deep fry in the hot oil until golden brown. Serve while still hot! Best eaten with chilly sauce.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Vegetarian Chinese Herbal Soup Recipe


In the normal non vegetarian Chinese herbal dishes,
Chicken is used as one of the main ingredients. The Chinese believe that chicken is nutritious and have healing properties when cooked for a long time. In this vegetarian dish, I replace the chicken with turnips which help to make the soup sweet. Below are the list of Chinese herbs I used and also the health benefits of each and everyone of it.

Yuk Chuk (Polygonatum root, Polygonatum odoratum) – Moisturises our internal organ, balances Yin energy, clear wind and softens the sinews.

Kei Chi (Lycium Berries, Lycium Barbarum) – Brighten the eyes, moistens the lungs and enriches Yin energy.

Longan Fruit (Yanrou, Euphoria Longan, nourishes the blood and spleen)

Ingredients
Turnips, one small, remove skins and cut into four
Kei Chi (Lycium Berries), 2 tablespoons
Yuk Chuk, around 10 pcs
Longan fruits, 8 pcs
Salt to taste
Water, 7 bowls

Pour water in pot and bring to a boil. Add turnips, kei chic, yuk chuk and longan fruits. Boil for one and a half hour. Add salt to taste and turn off the heat. The Vegetarian Chinese Herbal Soup is best eaten with steam rice.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Vegetarian Mee (Noodles) Mamak Spaghetti Recipe


I used spaghetti to replace the normal yellow noodles. Actually spaghetti would be a better choice compare to the yellow egg noodles. Mee Mamak is very popular in Indian Muslim restaurant in Malaysia. I have used egg in the recipe below but you can opt out from using it if you don’t take eggs. You can use some deep fried tau kee to garnish the Mamak Mee and also to give it an extra crispy texture.

Ingredient
Spaghetti, 1 bowl, (boiled and cooked)
Tomato sauce, 2 table spoons
Chilly sauce, 2 table spoons
Shallots, 3 pips, cut into slices
Egg, 1 pc
Tomato, 1 pc, cut into slices
Salt to taste
Light Soya Sauce, 1 table spoon
Dark Soya Sauce, ½ teaspoon
Bean sprout (taugeh, optional), ½ cup

Heat up wok, add a little vegetable oil and sauté shallots until golden brown and crispy. Add in the spaghetti and stir fry for a short while. Put in the chilly sauce, tomato sauce, salt to taste, light soya sauce and dark soya sauce. Crack the egg and add in to the mee. Fry thoroughly under high heat. Put in the beans sprout. Fry for a short while. Garnish with cucumber slices and serve.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Vegan Deep Fried Tofu with Carrot and Leeks Recipe


This is a popular dish after the Chinese celebrate the Chinese New Year. During these time leeks are available abundantly and this dish is a good change after eating all the hearty meals during the celebration. I have added in the carrots to give the dish an extra crunch and colour. Leeks go along well with tofu and this is one of my family favourite dishes.

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block, cut into 1 inch cubes
Garlic, 3 pips, chopped finely
Leeks, 5 stalks, cut into thick slices
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into slices
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon

Deep fry the tofu in hot oil until golden brown. Remove the tofu, drain away excess oil and put aside. Heat up pan and put in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Sauté garlic until fragrant and put in the carrot. Add leeks and salt to taste. Pour in a little water and fry for a short while. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fried Wet Twisted Tau Kee with Cinnamon Stick Recipe – Vegetarian


I love using this wet twisted tau kee (beancurd strips) in my vegetarian dishes. No matter how I cook them, the dish would always turn up nice. I decided to be a little more adventurous by frying the wet twisted tau kee with cinnamon stick and potato. This is a great dish to go with your steamed rice.

Ingredients
Twisted tau kee, 1 cup
Potato, 1 pc large, cut into cubes, deep fried or steam until soft
Cinnamon stick, 2 pcs
Frozen Vegetable mix (carrot, corn & green beans), ½ cup
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut into slices
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon

Heat up frying pan and add in the vegetable oil. Sauté the shallots and cinnamon until fragrant. Add in the wet twisted tau kee and potato. Add frozen vegetable mix and salt to taste. Serve while still hot.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Vegetarian Sambal (chilli) Tofu with Okra Recipe


Okra is one of my wife favourite vegetables and she would buy it often from the wet market. This sambal dish is very suitable for vegetarian nasi lemak (coconut milk rice).
For a little extra flavour, I added deep fried tofu to the okra.

Ingredients
Tofu, 10 pc, deep fried
Shallots, 5 pcs, blended
Vegetarian oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon
Okra, 5 pcs, cut into slices
Chilli paste, 3 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Tamarind juice from 1 tablespoon tamarind
Olive oil or vegetable oil

Heat up pan and add in around 2 table spoons of olive oil. Sautee shallots until fragrant and add in the chilli paste. Stir fry for a short while. Add salt, sugar, tamarind juice and vegetarian oyster sauce. Fry until all the ingredients are well mixed. Add in the okra and little water. Fry for a short while and add in the tofu. Serve with Nasi Lemak (coconut milk rice).

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Vegetarian Paprika Potato Stew Recipe


Paprika is one of the best ingredients to bring out the flavours in many dishes. Paprika is actually toasted bell pepper powders and they are available in many hypermarkets nowadays. My kids love these stew dish and I cooked it for their supper.
Here is the Vegetarian Paprika Potato Stew Recipe.

Ingredients
Potato, boiled until soft, 2 pcs, cut into bite size
Tomato, 2 pcs, cut into bite size
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Paprika, 1 teaspoon
Dried Thyme, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, to taste
Dark soya sauce, a few drops for colouring the dish
Tomato sauce, 3 table spoons
Basil leaves 1 pc
Salt to taste
Olive oil, 2 table spoon

Heat up pot and put in the olive oil. Sauté the onion in the hot olive oil until fragrant. Add in the potato and carrot. Add water just enough to cover the potato and the rest of the ingredients. Thicken the stew with a little corn flour and water mixture.
The Paprika Potato stew is best eaten with garlic bread or toast.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Simple Vegetarian Steam Soft Tofu with Spring Onions and Shallots Recipe

When I have limited time to cook, I would just steam the tofu with some soya sauce and sesame oil. Sometime a plain dish taste very good compared to complicated ones. Actually, this dish would taste better if you use Japanese soft tofu. Since I did not have these in stock, I just used normal tofu.
This dish takes around 20 minutes to prepare and everyone in my family loves this plain tofu dish.

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block, cut into four
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut into slices and deep fried until golden brown
Spring onions, 2 stalks, cut into small length
Sesame oil, ½ teaspoon
Light Soya sauce, 2 table spoon
Vegetarian oyster sauce (optional), 1 table spoon

Pour the sesame oil, light soya sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce on the tofu. Steam the tofu at high heat for 15 minutes. Garnish with spring onions and shallots before serving.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Vegetarian Sesame Seed Tofu with French Beans and Basil Recipe


I love the aroma of freshly toasted sesame seed. It has been some time since I last use sesame seed in my dishes. The sesame seed add some bursting aromatic sensation to this tofu dish. For some greens, I put in some French Beans. The basil leaves and aromatic sesame seed gave this dish a fabulous flavour.

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block, cut into 1 inch cube sizes, deep fried until golden brown
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 table spoon
Soya sauce, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Basil Leaves, 10 pcs
Sesame seeds, 1 table spoon, toasted till golden brown
French Beans, 5 pcs, cut into 1 inch length
Corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy

Heat up wok; add a little olive oil and sauté garlic until golden brown. Add a little water, vegetarian oyster sauce, soya sauce and salt to taste. Fry for a short while. Add French beans and basil leaves. Thicken the gravy with corn flour and water mixture. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seed on top of the dish and serve with steam rice.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Vegetarian Wet Twisted Tau Kee (Bean Curd Strips) and Cauliflower in Tomato Sauce Recipe


I still have some leftover tau kee in my freezer and I guess it would go along well with the cauliflower that I have. My kids love dishes that are cooked using tomato sauce. They would flood their rice with the savoury tomato sauce gravy. The best thing about these wet twisted Tau Kee is that they are very versatile ingredients and suitable for any type of vegetarian dishes.

Ingredients
Twisted Wet Tau Kee, 10 pcs
Cauliflower, 1 cup
Onion, 1 pc, cut into slices
Tomato sauce, 8 table spoons
Chilly Sauce, 1 teaspoon
Basil Leaves, 1 pc
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Heat up wok, add a little olive oil and sauté the onions until they turn soft. Put in the twisted tau kee and cauliflower. Stir fry for a short while. Add a little water, tomato sauce, chilly sauce, basil leaves, salt and sugar to taste. Serve hot with steamed rice or corn bread.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Vegetarian Baked Brinjal (Egg plant) with Tomato Recipe



Brinjals or egg plant belongs to the nightshade family of plants like tomato, which contain traces of solanine. Therefore those with Rheumatoid Arthritis should not take these types of vegetables because they could make the joint pain worse.
However, eggplant is really nice and easy to cook. For those without joints problem, I guess it should be ok to eat egg plants!

Ingredients
Brinjal (egg plant), 2 pcs
Tomato, 2 pcs
Salt to taste
Soya sauce, a dash
Paprika, 1 teaspoon
Olive oil, 3 tablespoons
Pepper to taste
Butter, 1 tablespoon
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely

Cut brinjals into four. Cut off the top part of the tomato and a little of the bottom part so that it can stand upright. Put both brinjals and tomatoes on baking tray. Pour olive oil over them. Season the tomatoes and brinjals with salt, paprika and pepper. Add butter and olive oil. Sprinkle the chopped garlic over the brinjals and tomatoes. Bake the brinjals and tomatoes in preheated oven at 200 Dec C for 20 minutes.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Vegetarian Spicy Mock Chicken Wings – Twisted Wet Tau Kee (Bean Curd Strips) Recipe

Twisted tau kee has the same taste and texture as wet tau kan (bean curd blocks). The shape and texture is suitable for making fried mock chicken wings, vegetarian of course!
You can buy these twisted tau kee from any vegetarian food supplier. I got mine from the Kepong Baru Wet Market in Kuala Lumpur.
This recipe turned out quite nice and my kids love it very much.

Ingredients
Wet Twisted Tau kee, 20 pcs
Curry powder, 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Dark Soya Sauce
Vinegar, 1 teaspoon
Corn Flour, 1 teaspoon
Tomato sauce, 2 tablespoons

Marinade the twisted tau kee with all the rest of the ingredients. Let the marinade soak into the tau kee for around 20 minutes. Heat up wok and add in vegetable oil for deep frying. Fry the twisted tau kee for 5 minutes or until they turned golden brown. Serve while still hot and crispy!

Simple Vegetarian Dalcha Curry Recipe

It has been quite some time since I last cook Dalcha Curry. Dalcha curry goes along well with all types of roti (bread). This is a mildly spiced curry; therefore kids would normally take it. To speed up preparation time, I soaked the dhall beans for around 4 hours before cooking it. If you want to soak the beans overnight, then you better leave them in the fridge to prevent the beans from turning bad.
Some dhall curry recipe uses coconut milk but I opted not to use it here.

Ingredients
Dhall Beans, ½ cup, soak in water
Turmeric, 1 tablespoon, add to curry paste
Curry powder, 2 tablespoons, make into paste
Cumin, ½ teaspoon, add to curry paste
Fennel, ½ teaspoon, add to curry paste
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
Onions, 3 pcs, cut into slices
Cinnamon stick, 2 pcs
Star Anise, 3 pcs
Cloves, 5 pcs
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Eggplant, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Tomato, 2 pcs, cut into bite size
Long beans, 3 pcs, cut into 1” length
Potato, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Tamarinds, 1 tablespoon, soak in water
Salt to taste
Dried chillies, 3 pcs (optional)

Heat up pot and put in some vegetable oil. Sauté onions and garlic until golden brown. Add in cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves. Stir fry for a short while. Put in the curry, fennel, turmeric and cumin paste. Pour some water into the pot; add the egg plant and dhall beans. Bring to a boil and turn the heat to low. Let it simmer for around 1 hour. Add carrot, tomato, long beans and potato. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Pour in the tamarind juice and add salt to taste. Serve with roti chanai, rice, puri, chapati or plain bread.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Vegetarian Tang Hoon (Glass Noodle) and Corn Mock Shark fin Soup

Tang hoon is a type of noodle that is very suitable to be used as a vegetarian replacement for shark fin. You must soak tang hoon(glass noodle) in room temperature until it become soft before using it. For some natural sweetness I use corn and carrots to make the stock.
This soup taste good with a dash of Chinese Dark Vinegar.

Ingredients
Water, 3 bowls
Corn, ½ cup
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into small cubes
Vegetarian Oyster sauce (optional), 1 tablespoon
Egg (optional), 1 pc
Light Soya Sauce, 2 tablespoons
Dark soya sauce, ½ teaspoons
Chinese Cooking Wine (Shao Shing Chiew) (optional), 1 tablespoon
Black vinegar, 1 tablespoon
Pepper, ½ teaspoon
Salt to taste
Tang Hoon (Glass Noodle), 1 small bunch, soaks in room temperature water to soften.
Corn flour and water mixture

Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add corn and carrot. Let it boil for around 15 minutes. Put in the vegetarian oyster sauce, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, Chinese cooking wine, black vinegar, salt to taste and tang hoon. Thicken the soup with the corn flour and water mixture. Beat the egg slightly and pour into the soup while stirring it to create strands of cooked egg.
Garnish with spring onions and serve. Taste good if eaten with a little Chinese Black vinegar.

Related Post : http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2009/02/vegetarian-emperor-shark-fin-soup-with.html

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Vegetarian Ground Nuts Soup with Chinese Red Dates (Ang Cho) Recipe


I love soup that have ground nuts in it because of its’ natural sweetness. Peanuts soup is normally cooked with lotus roots but since I do not have lotus roots in stock, I have to give this ingredient a pass.
It is advisable to boil until the peanut is soft so that you can also eat them with the soup.

Ingredients
Peanut, 1/3 cup
Lotus roots, (optional), 1 section, cut into slices
Chinese Red Dates (Ang Cho), 10 pcs
Salt to taste
Light soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Olive oil, 1 table spoon
Water, 5 bowls

Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add in the peanut, lotus roots and ang cho (Chinese Red Dates). Boil until the peanut soften. Add light soya sauce, olive oil and salt to taste.

Vegetarian Stir Fried Cabbage with Carrots Recipe


My kids would not eat cabbage if I stir fried it without cutting them into thin strips. It is intriguing how the look of food would change a child perception in eating it.
Therefore, when ever I want my children to eat their greens, I would cut them into small pieces or small strips. Cutting cabbage into small strips also make it soaked up all the nice and flavourful gravy. I guess it taste better this way.

Ingredients
Cabbage, 8 leaves, cut into strips
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into strips
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Vegetable oil or olive oil, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Soya sauce, 1 table spoon
Vegetarian Oyster sauce (optional), 1 table spoon

Heat up wok or pan and put in some vegetable oil. Add in the garlic and sautéed until fragrant. Put in the cabbage and carrot. Fry until both are well cooked and add a little water. Add salt, soya sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce. Serve with steamed rice!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Stir Fried Bitter Gourd with Tau Cheo (Preserved Soya Bean) Recipe



Tau Cheo (Preserved soya bean) is one of the most commonly used ingredients in Chinese cooking. It is a great ingredient that can bring out the flavours in a dish.
My wife loves bitter gourd that is fried with tau cheo (preserved soya bean). You can use either preserved soya bean or the one in paste. The savoury and saltiness of preserved soya bean helps to eliminate the bitterness in the gourd. This is a tasty and healthy dish to eat with steamed rice. It is also very easy to prepare.

Ingredients
Bitter gourd, 1 pc, cut into thin slices
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Tau Cheo (preserved soya bean), 1 table spoon
Sugar, a pinch

Heat up frying pan and add in a little olive oil. Sauteed garlic until fragrant and add in the tau cheo (preserved soya bean). Fry for a short while. Add a little water so if the tau cheo is too dry. Put in the bitter gourd and sugar. I didn’t add salt because tau cheo is already very salty.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Vegetarian Sambal Oyster Mushroom for Nasi Lemak (Scientific name, Pleurotus ostreatus)


Oyster mushroom is rather common edible mushroom and it is easily available in every part of the world. This tasty mushroom contains statins(ie. Lovastatin), which helps to reduce cholesterol in our body.
The Oyster mushroom is widely used in Asian cooking. I thought it would be a good idea to use oyster mushroom in my vegetarian nasi lemak sambal recipe. For a little crunchy aromatic flavour , I added my home fried groundnuts in the dish.

Ingredients
Oyster Mushroom, 1 rice bowl
Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely
Chilly paste, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Vegetarian oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon (optional)
Ground nuts, ½ cup, fried until crunchy

Heat up wok and add a little vegetable oil. Sautéed onions and chilly paste mixture until fragrant. Add salt and oyster mushroom. Fry until mushroom is cooked. Add the ground nuts. Serve with nasi lemak (coconut milk rice).

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Making of Mock Cod Fish using Tofu




The mock cod fish that you find in Vegetarian restaurant is definitely not made from tofu. The actually use some processed vegetarian ingredients which I am not sure what it contain.
I tried to make cod fish using tofu and seaweeds as the skin. The dish turned out quite good and my kids was thrilled to see a mock cod fish! LOL!
This is a simple to prepare steamed dish.

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block
Seaweed (sushi type), 1 piece
Sesame Oil
Light Soya sauce
Garlic Oil (optional) or you can just use olive oil
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon
Oyster Mushroom, around 8 pcs
Parsley for garnishing

Cut tofu block in to the shape of a cod fish cut. Use a scissor to cut the seaweed into strips around 1 ½ cm width. Wet the seaweed strips and wrap it to the side of the tofu. Add sesame oil, light soya sauce, garlic oil, oyster mushroom and vegetarian oyster sauce. Steam the mock cod fish in high heat for around 20 minutes. Serve with white rice.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Vegetarian Baked White Crab Mushroom with Cheese – A Fusion Dish







Mushroom is one my favourite ingredients. The ability of the spongy mushroom to absorb the dishes flavour is just amazing! I tried to make this dish with a touch of oriental taste fused with a little western herb, thyme. I use regular type of cheese but if you can get hold of vegan cheese, by all means you can also use it in this dish.
I cut some bird eye chilly (cili padi) and mixed it with soya sauce. The dish taste great with the extra spicy bird eye chilly soya sauce.

Ingredients
White crab mushroom, 1 small packet
Light Soya Sauce, 1 tablespoon
Mozzarella Cheese (or you can also use Vegan Cheese), 3 table spoon
Pepper, a dash
Chilli power, ½ teaspoon
Olive oil, 1 table spoon
Thyme, ½ teaspoon

Wash white crab mushroom thoroughly. Put it on a steaming tray and add the soya sauce. Then add a dash of pepper, thyme, chilly powder and olive oil. Top the mushroom with mozzarella cheese and bake in preheated oven at 180 Dec C of 20 minutes. Serve while still hot!

Vegetarian Stir Fried Sambal Kangkong (Chilly Water Convolvulus)



Kangkong (water convolvulus) plants are found in tropical countries and they grow very well in soil with good irrigation or in the water. Water convolvuluses that grow in water have a slight muddy smell. Therefore, most consumers prefer those that are planted in soil instead! The young leaves and stem have crunchy texture. Water convolvulus cooks easily and it will loose its’ crunchiness if cooked too long. Malaysians love to eat water convolvulus with spicy hot chilly. This is my vegetarian version of Stir Fried Chilly Kangkong!

Ingredients
Kangkong (water convolvulus), 1 bunch, clean and cut into 2 “length
Chilly paste, 2 table spoons
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 table spoon
A little sugar
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon
Shallots (optional), 3 pcs, chopped finely

Heat up wok and put the vegetable oil. Sautéed shallots until fragrant. Add in the chilly paste. Fry for a short while, then add in the water convolvulus. Put sugar and salt to taste.
Add a little water if the dish is too dry.
Serve hot with steamed rice or nasi lemak.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Simple Deep Fried Bitter Gourd Recipe -Vegetarian




Bitter gourd (scientific name, Momordica charantia, Chinese: 苦瓜, Japanese, Goya) is an edible bitter vegetable. It is well know for its’ medicinal value such as stimulating digestion, increase insulin sensitivity, might be an effective treatment for HIV and some species have anti Malaria properties.
However the red arils of the seed is said to be poisonous to children and I was told that it is not a suitable food for pregnant women.
I learned prepare this Indian style fried bitter gourd from Sonia’s blog. Deep fried bitter gourd is one of my favorite dishes whenever I eat at Indian restaurants. It is a must have for me and I found that it goes along well with okra curry. Sometimes I would also eat them with potato masala or just with yogurt. I just love the crispy and aromatic fried bitter gourd. Check out this wonderful Indian recipe!

Ingredients
Bitter gourd, 1 small size, sliced thinly
Chilli powder, 1 table spoons, more if you want it to be spicier!
Rice Flour, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Marinade the bitter gourd slices with chilli powder, rice flour and salt. Heat up wok and add in vegetable oil for deep frying. Turn the heat to medium and fry until the bitter gourd turned crispy and brown in colour. Serve while still hot or else it will lose its’ crispiness.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Vegetarian Fried Tomato Organic Bihun (Rice Vermicelli) Recipe




My aunt gave me a pack of organic vermicelli (bihun) which is suppose to have high fibre content, no preservatives, no additives and no coloring. Anyway, I find that more people are into eating organic food nowadays mainly due to health reason. This organic bihun has a firmer texture than ordinary vermicelli. Therefore before frying them, I have to soak it in water a little longer than normal bihun. I find that organic vermicelli do not turn soggy easily, which makes it easier to handle during frying or cooking.
Instead of frying it with dark soya sauce, I thought why not try something different. I have added eggs and shallots to this dish but you can omit these ingredients if you don’t take them. Here is my recipe for Vegetarian Fried Tomato Organic Bihun (Rice Vermicelli)

Ingredients
Organic Vermicelli, ½ a packet, soak in water until soft
Tomato Sauce, 7 table spoons
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 table spoon
Shallots (optional),3 pcs, sliced
Eggs (optional), 1 pc
Sawi (vegetable, you can use any leafy vegetable), 1 bunch, cut into 1” length
Cabbage, 3 large leaves, cut into small strips
Tomato, 1 pc, cut into 4
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and put in some vegetable oil. Fry the sliced shallots until golden brown. Add in the vermicelli and fry for a short while. Put in the tomato sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, sawi, cabbage and tomato. Fry for a short while. Add in the eggs and salt to taste. Garnish with parsley and serve while still hot!