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.