Veganformation Vegetarian Food Cooking Adventure

Vegetarian Steamed Japanese Soft Tofu with Thai Basil Leaves Recipe

2012-01-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

I always keep a few packs of Japanese soft tofu in my fridge because I can use to cook up a simple dish in a jiffy. In this Vegetarian Steamed Tofu with Thai Basil recipe, I used cylindrically packed Japanese soft tofu that I bought off the shelf from the local hypermarket. This type of tofu is very easy to prepare and you will a a dish cooked up for your family in a short time!

Here is my Vegetarian Steamed Japanese Soft Tofu with Thai Basil Leaves Recipe....

Ingredients

Japanese Soft Tofu, 1 pack

Thai Basil Leaves, 20 leaves

Shallots, 3 pcs

Light Soya sauce, 3 tablespoons

Dark Soya Sauce, 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

Arrange Japanese Soft Tofu on a steaming plate and steam at high heat for 20 minutes. While the tofu is in the steamer, you can prepare the sauce separately. Heat up wok and put in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (corn, sunflower, palm, rapeseed or canola oil). Add in the shallots and fry until golden brown. Add light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and a little water. Add salt and sugar to taste. Throw in the Thai Basil Leaves. Stir fry for a short while. Pour the sauce over the steamed tofu and serve while still hot!

Happy Cooking!

Vegetarian Stir Fried Taugeh (bean sprouts) with Kuchai (Chinese Chives) Recipe

2011-09-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

This is a very simple dish to prepare but well loved by some who like crunchy vegetable like Taugeh (Bean Sprouts. Chinese chives have a high fibre composition, therefore it is very good for our bowel movement. Taugeh and Kuchai (Chinese Chives) make a perfect combination.
Taugeh (beansprouts) cooked easily, so a short frying time in the hot pan will help it to keep its' crunchiness.

Here is the simple Vegetarian Stir Fried Taugeh with Kuchai recipe

Ingredients
Taugeh, 1 bowl
Chinese chives, 1 bunch, cut into 1 " length
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
Vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add both Chinese chives and bean sprouts. Fry for a short while. Add salt to taste. Put in a little water if the dish is too dry. Serve with steamed rice while still hot.

Vegetarian Spicy Tapioca Shoots Recipe - Simple and Nice

2011-07-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

Young tapioca leaves can be boiled and eaten with sambal. Another way of cooking it, is fried with chilly. However, the tapioca leaves must be boiled in hot water first to remove the sap. The taste of this vegetarian spicy tapioca shoots is really unique! yum yum!

Ingredients

Young Tapioca leaves, one bunch, remove stalks

Fresh Chilly, 3 pcs, blend coarsely

Tomato, 1 pc, blend with chilly

Garlic, 2 cloves, chopped finely

Shallots, 3 pcs, chopped finely

Salt to taste

Boil tapioca leaves until they turned soft and the sap are removed. Remove tapioca leaves and drain away excess water. Heat up wok and add in a little oil. Saute garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add in the pre boiled tapioca leaves. Stir fry for a short while. Add a little water and salt to taste. Taste good with steamed rice!

Vegetarian Tomyam French Bean Recipe

2011-07-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

This recipe is almost like a paprik style dish. It has a nice aroma of kaffir lime leaves, spicy and sour with a little tinge of sweetness in it. Unlike tomyam which has soup, I fry this french beans with just a little gravy.
Check out this vegetarian tomyam French beans recipe.

Ingredients
French beans, 10 pcs, cut into 1" length
Chili powder, 1 tablespoon
Kaffir Lime (daun limau purut) leaves, 5 pcs, cut into thin strips
Light soya sauce, 1 tablespoon
Tamarind juice, from 1 table spoon of tamarind pulp
Serai (lemon grass), 2 pcs, smashed
Onions, 1 pc, cut into small pieces
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste

Put around 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into the wok. Put in the onions, chilli powder and serai. Sauteed until fragrant. Add in the French beans. Fry until it is almost cooked (change into darker green in colour than the original). Add kaffir lime leaves, tamarind juice, light soya sauce, salt and sugar to taste. Serve with steamed rice while still hot.

Chinese Vegetarian Bak Chang (粽子, Chung, Glutinous rice wrapped in Bamboo Leaves)

2011-05-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

My neighbour gave me the above Vegetarian Bak Chang (粽子, Chung, Glutinous rice wrapped in Bamboo Leaves) that Buddhist Tzu Zhi Association sells for charity. This is the first time I ate vegetarian bak chang. Actually it tastes quite good, minus to oil from pork lard. LOL!

These are the ingredients that are used to make vegetarian bak chang.
Organic unpolished glutinous rice
Vegetarian mock pork meat
Beans
Chestnut
Chinese dried mushroom
Five spice powder
Dark soya sauce
Salt and sugar

All these are wrapped in bamboo leaves and boiled for more than an hour until the glutinous rice softhen. Best eaten when still warm.

Chinese Vegan Char Siew Recipe (Mock Roasted Sweet Pork)

2011-05-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

You can cook many types of dishes with taukan (wet beancurd strips). Char siew is a dish that every kids love and adults too. LOL!
There are many versions of vegetarian Char Siew. Here is my simplified Chinese Vegan Char Siew Recipe.

Ingredients
Taukan, 1 block
Five Spice powder, 1/2 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Sugar, 3 tablespoons
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Marinade the taukan with all the ingredients. Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Slowly put in the taukan pieces one by one. Taukan cooked easily, so you just have to fry it until they turned golden brown in colour. Take out the taukan and drain away excess oil. Cut the taukan into strips.
Use the leftover marinade as the sauce. Cook it in the frying pan and bring to a boil. Pour a little of the sauce into the fried taukan before serving.

Vegetarian Dragon Fruit Jelly (Agar Agar) Recipe

2011-05-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

Dragon fruits have lots of Vitamin C and loaded with antioxidant. I would normally remove the seeds by filtering the bright red juice to make agar-agar (jelly) but this time around, I decided to make it with the seeds altogether. This wonderful dragon fruit jelly taste really delicious when chilled especially nowadays when the weather is very hot.

Ingredients

Agar - Agar powder or strips, 1.5 oz

Water, 1400ml or more if you want the jelly to be soft

Dragon fruit, 1 fruit, blended

Sugar to taste

Pour water in pot and bring to a boil. Add in the agar-agar strips. Keep on stiring the mixture until the strips melt. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves. Put in the blended Dragron Fruit. Pour the mixture in agar-agar mould. Let it cool down. Chill before serving.

Braised Bell Pepper with Carrot and Cabbage

2011-05-25T23:33:00.000-07:00

I love the freshly cooked aroma of bell pepper (capsicum). I decided to be a little adventurous and cooked it with other vegetables. This is a very simple vegetarian dish and I am sure everyone in the family would love it. The kids can pour the gravy in their rice so that you don't have to cook soup! LOL!

Ingredients
Bell Pepper, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Cabbage, 4 leaves, cut small
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into slices
Corn flour with water mixture
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Onion, 1 pc, cut into four
Light soya sauce, 2 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Add garlic and onions. Stir fry for a short while. Add in the cabbage, carrot and bell pepper. Stir fry for a short while under high heat. Lower the temperature a little and add in some water. Bring to a boil and pour in the corn flour and water mixture to thicken the gravy. Add light soya sauce and salt to taste.

Note : You might notice that there are prawns in the photo which I added for my kids. You can omit the prawn for vegetarian version. I have used this similar photo in my none vegetarian blog, Peteformation.

Namyee (Fermented Bean Curd) with Romaine Lettuce (Yau Mak)

2011-05-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

My late grandma loves to eat nam yee (fermented bean curd, tau joo) and this is one of the must have for during the Nine Emperor God Festival. The pungent Nam Yee is salty with a slight creamy taste. During this festival, devotees would eat only vegetarian meal for nine days. As a young kid, I would accompany my grandma in observing 9 days of strict vegetarian diet.
Here is my recipe for vegetarian stir fried Romaine lettuce with Nam Yee.

Ingredients
Romaine Lettuce, 4 bunches, cleaned
Nam Yee, 1 pc
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely (Note: Some Nine Emperor Gods devotees don't eat garlic)
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Add in the garlic and stir fry for a short while. Add in the nam yee and break it up using the spatula. Add in the romaine lettuce and fry for a short while only. Pour in a little water. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Note : You don't have to add water because, nam yee is very salty.

Fried Vegetarian Tau Kan (wet beancurd sheets) with Onions

2011-05-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

I love to use taukan (wet bean curd sheets) in my vegetarian dishes. Taukan is easy to handle and you can cook it in many ways.

I tried frying it with onions and the result turned out quite good! My kids love this vegetarian onion taukan dish, especially my little daughter!

Here is my recipe for Fried Vegetarian Tau Kan.

Ingredients

Taukan, 8 pcs, cut into strips

Light Soya sauce, 2 tablespoons

Sugar, 1 teaspoon

Onion, 1 large, chopped finely

Chilly powder, 1/2 teaspoon

Vegetable oil, 1 tablspoon

Salt to taste

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Saute onion and chilly powder until fragrant. Add sugar and light soya sauce. Put in the taukan and fry until it is cooked. Add salt to taste. Serve with steamed rice while still hot.

Vegetarian Potato Bread Recipe

2011-03-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing beats the smell of freshly baked bread hot out from the oven. I have been trying out many types of recipes using normal wheat flour. Of course for best result, it is advisable to use high protein flour with a little wheat flour added for elasticity type of texture.

Here is my potato bread recipe

Ingredients

Flour, 4 cups

Vegetable shorthening, 3 tablespoons

Salt, 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar, 3 tablespoons

Dry yeast, 1 teaspoon, add into warm water and flour to wake them up!

Potato, 1 pc, boiled and mashed

Slowly add the yeast water to the flour until you have the right bread dough mix.Add in the vegetable shorthening, salt, sugar and potato. Add yeast water and knead the dough for around 20 minutes. Put the dough in a bread pan and cover the dough with a towel. Let the dough rise for around 2 hours. Bake in preheated oven at 200 Deg C for 20 minutes. Serve while still warm.

Vegetarian Vegeroni Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Paprika Recipe

2010-12-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Vegetarian Bell Pepper, Pineapple and Apple Salad

2010-12-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

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.

Vegetarian Cream Cheese Mushroom Soup Recipe

2010-12-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

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!

Vegetarian Begedil (Deep Fried Potato Patty) Recipe

2010-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

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.

Vegetarian Stir Fried Baby Asparagus

2010-11-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Fried Brinjals (Eggplant) with Long Beans

2010-11-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-11-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Crispy Fried Tempeh with Flour Recipe

2010-10-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-10-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-09-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

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.

Young Tapioca Shoots with Sambal

2010-09-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

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).

Jawa Vegetarian Chap Chai Recipe

2010-08-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Stir Fried Crab Mushroom with Bok Choy Recipe

2010-08-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Smoked Tofu Recipe

2010-08-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-25T00:46:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-08-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Simple Chinese Vegetarian Spinach Soup Recipe

2010-08-10T07:08:00.001-07:00

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.

Deep Fried Vegetarian Vegetable Fritters Recipe

2010-07-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Chinese Herbal Soup Recipe

2010-07-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Mee (Noodles) Mamak Spaghetti Recipe

2010-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegan Deep Fried Tofu with Carrot and Leeks Recipe

2010-07-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

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.

Fried Wet Twisted Tau Kee with Cinnamon Stick Recipe – Vegetarian

2010-07-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Sambal (chilli) Tofu with Okra Recipe

2010-06-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

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).

Vegetarian Paprika Potato Stew Recipe

2010-06-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Simple Vegetarian Steam Soft Tofu with Spring Onions and Shallots Recipe

2010-06-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Sesame Seed Tofu with French Beans and Basil Recipe

2010-06-19T07:51:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-06-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Baked Brinjal (Egg plant) with Tomato Recipe

2010-06-09T01:51:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-06-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-05-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-04-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

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!

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

2010-04-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2010-04-09T00:53:00.000-07:00

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).

The Making of Mock Cod Fish using Tofu

2010-04-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Baked White Crab Mushroom with Cheese – A Fusion Dish

2010-03-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

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)

2010-03-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Simple Deep Fried Bitter Gourd Recipe -Vegetarian

2010-03-25T10:51:00.001-07:00

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.

Vegetarian Fried Tomato Organic Bihun (Rice Vermicelli) Recipe

2010-03-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

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!

Vegetarian Braised Tofu Stew with Chinese Lettuce (Sang Choy, Sheng Cai, Pek Chai)

2010-03-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

I was cracking my head thinking of a suitable dish to cook for my little toddler to eat the other day when I came up with this recipe. I wanted something soft and with a little gravy. Tofu and stew fits the dish that I am looking for. I have added an egg when cooking for him so you can opt out from this ingredients if you don’t take eggs. Anyway, I like to use Chinese Lettuce (sang choy, sheng cai, pek chai) in stew because it will not get too soggy easily. For a little flavouring, I used vegetarian oyster sauce, sesame oil and light soya sauce.

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block, 3”x3”x3”, cut into 1 cm square blocks
Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 1 table spoon
Olive oil, 1 table spoon
Chinese Lettuce, 10 leaves, cut into 1” length
Vegetarian oyster sauce, 1 table spoon (optional)
Salt to taste
A little water
Corn flour and water mixture
Egg (optional), 1 pc, slightly beaten

Heat up pan and add in a little olive oil. You can also use any vegetable oil. Put in the tofu and fry it slightly. Add in the Chinese Lettuce. Fry for a short while. Stir the mixture gently so that you will not break the tofu into small piece. Add sesame oil, light soya sauce, salt, vegetarian oyster sauce and a little water to make a stew. Bring to a boil and thicken the stew with cornflower and water mixture. If you take eggs, then slowly pour in the beaten egg while stirring the stew.

Chinese Style Vegetarian Corn Soup Recipe

2010-03-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

I like to use corn to add a little sweet natural flavour to my soup. For best result, use fresh whole corn. But then, fresh corn cannot last very long in the fridge and it will lose its’ sweetness if kept too long. To save all the hassle, I bought a packet of frozen froze corn from the hypermarket, so that I can use them whenever I want to!
This is a very light soup and my kids love to drink this soup whenever they are having a steamed rice meal. For extra sweetness, I used carrots and also onions. If you are a full time vegan and don’t take onions, you can give this ingredient a pass.

Ingredients
Corn, 1 cup
Water, 4 bowls
Carrot, 1 medium, diced
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
A little light soya sauce
Olive oil, 1 table spoon

Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Put in the carrot and corn. Boil until the carrot turned soft. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Your simple Chinese style corn soup is ready!

Vegetarian Watercress Red Dates Longan Soup

2010-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

Watercress (Nasturtium officinale) grows well in water and are widely cultivated throughout Asia. Old water cress plant that have produced flowers are bitter, so it is wise to choose young plants for your cooking. Watercress is rich in iodine, iron, calcium, folic acid, Vitamin C and A. Apart from that watercress is known to prevent lung cancer, aid digestion and prevent thyroid problem.
I normally use watercress to cook soup. I have added some Chinese Red dates (ang cho) which is good in improving Chi. For some additional sweetness, I also put in some dried longan which is effective in warming up our body! Check out this clear watercress soup with longan and Chinese red dates (ang cho) recipe.

Ingredients
Watercress, 1 bunch
Water, 5 rice bowls
Dried Longan, 5 pcs
Chinese Red Dates, 5 pcs
Salt to taste
A little soya sauce
Olive Oil, 1 tablespoon

Bring water to a boil. Add in the longan and Red dates. Let it simmer for a while. Then put in the watercress, salt, soya sauce and olive oil. Boil until the watercress turn a little yellowish. Serve hot!

Simple Stir Fried Choy Tam (Brussel Sprouts Leaves) with Garlic

2010-03-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

I love the crunchy texture of Choy Tam (Brussel Sprouts) leaves. It tastes real good if it is plainly stir fried with garlic. Some vegetarian do not take garlic but some do. Anyway if you don’t take garlic, then you can omit this ingredient when stir frying the Choy Tam.
My family normally eats this dish with steamed rice. It is very simple to prepare and probably takes you around 5 minutes! The secret to preparing a good and nice is that your wok must be very hot. If you fry it at high temperature for a short period, there will be a very nice ‘wok hei’ (wok burn) aroma.

Ingredients
Choy Tam, cleaned
Garlic, 3 cloves, chopped finely
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon

Heat up wok and add in some vegetable oil. Adjust the heat to high and put in the choy tam. Fry for a short while and add little water. Add salt to taste. Quickly take out the choy tam from the wok to prevent further cooking.

Quickie Vegan Paprika Potato Soup Recipe

2010-03-13T09:35:00.000-08:00

This recipe is a bit similar to tomato soup. For the tomato taste, you can either use tomato ketchup or canned tomato paste. Tomato ketchup normally has sugar added in to it but canned tomato paste does not. Therefore it you use canned tomato paste; you will need to balance the sour taste with a little sugar.
I used paprika to spice up the soup a little and it resulted in a totally new flavours! I love the aroma of toasted bell peppers, which is actually the ingredient used to make paprika. I have also added garlic to this dish but it you do not take garlic, it is ok to exclude it. For the creamy taste, you can use either cream or vegan cheese. If you like the soup to be smooth and without any chunky ingredients in it, then you can blend it. Feel free to add vegetable like celery or lettuce for additional flavour and fibres!

Ingredients
Potato, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Tomato, 1 pc, minced
Tomato Ketchup, 10 table spoons (or one small can of tomato paste, add a little sugar)
Vegan cheese (or normal cheese if you are not a full time vegan), 3 table spoons
Corn, ½ cup
Garlic (optional), 2 cloves, minced
Olive oil, 2 table spoons
Water, 2 rice bowls
Salt to taste
Paprika powder, 1 teaspoon
Bay leaf, 1 pc
Oregano, a dash
Thyme (dried), ½ teaspoon
Pepper, a dash
Soya sauce (optional), 1 teaspoon

Put water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add in the ingredients. Lower down the heat and let it boil for around 20 minutes. Serve with toast or crackers!

Vegetarian Tau Kan with Toasted Peanut Recipe – Nasi Lemak Sambal (Chilly)

2010-03-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

I have posted many dishes using Tau kan which is a wet type of bean curd sheet that many vegetarian ingredients vendor have in stock. It is normally kept frozen because the quality would deteriorate rapidly if kept at room temperature and mould would form in not time at all. Tau kan by itself is actually tasteless but it soak up gravies and flavours quite well.
In this recipe I used tau kan as a vegetarian replacement for anchovies which is a vital ingredients in making sambal for nasi lemak (coconut milk rice).
Nasi lemak is one a popular Malaysian food which is normally eaten during breakfast. But then, there a also many outlets serving this wonderful dish at any time of the day!

Ingredients
Taukan, 3 blocks, cut into strips
Onions, 1 pc, slice thinly
Chilly paste, 2 table spoons
Lime Juice, from 3 limes
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Peanut, toasted (or you can buy from the local kacang putih man), ½ cup

Deep fry tau kan until crispy and put aside to drain away any excess oil. Heat up frying pan and add in around 3 table spoons of vegetable oil. Sautéed onions and chilly paste until you can smell nice aroma coming out from these ingredients. Add in lime juice, salt and sugar to taste. Add in peanuts and taukan. Sever with nasi lemak (coconut milk rice)

Vegetarian Potato with Thyme and Tomato Recipe – Hailam Style

2010-03-08T08:15:00.000-08:00

I used Hailam style (a Chinese Clan) chicken chop gravy for this potato recipe. I could not use Worcestershire sauce because it is non vegetarian therefore I just have to use a little vinegar and Chinese soya sauce as substitutes.
However this is not a fully Vegan dish because I used normal butter. I wonder if this would be a good side dish to tofu steak. LOL!

Ingredients
Potato, 3 pcs
Tomato, 1 pc, cut into four
Thyme, ½ teaspoon (dried)
Vinegar, 1 teaspoon
Chinese light soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Sugar, ½ teaspoon
Butter, 1 tablespoon
Pepper, a dash or more
Bbq sauce, 1 tablespoon
Corn flour mix with little water to thicken gravy
Salt to taste

Boil potato until it turn soft. Remove skin and cut into bite sizes. Then put the potato aside.
Heat up pan and put in the butter. Add a little water, thyme, vinegar, light soya sauce, sugar, pepper, barbecue sauce and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and add in the tomato. Thicken the gravy with the corn flour and water mixture. Pour it over the potato! Bon Appétit!

Vegetarian Sambal (Chilly) Tofu with Cauliflower for Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice)

2010-03-08T07:47:00.000-08:00

The best thing about deep fried tofu is that it will soak up all the tasty gravy in a dish. In this recipe I sautéed the sambal (chilly) gravy then add in the deep fried tofu and cauliflower. This spicy dish is a real good companion for Malaysian famous nasi lemak (coconut milk rice).
I also added more chillies in to it for extra kick.

Ingredients
Chilly, 5 pcs
Ginger, 1 inch length, remove skin
Serai (lemongrass), 2 pcs
Shallots, 5 pcs
Tamarind juice, from 2 tablespoons of tamarind
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Tofu, 3”x3”x3”, cut into small cubes
Cauliflower, 1 rice bowl
Vegetable oil 4 table spoons

Blend chilly, ginger, serai and shallots until fine. You can also use a pestle and mortar to do this. Somehow, most Asians prefer to use the second method because they claim that the dish would turn out tastier this way!
Deep fry the tofu until golden brown and put aside. Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Then, sautéed the blended ingredients until fragrant. Add in the tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste. Put in the cauliflower and fry until it is cook. Lastly, add in the deep fried tofu. Dish up and serve with the nasi lemak rice!

Vegetarian Fried Porridge Recipe – Nibong Tebal Style

2010-02-26T22:44:00.000-08:00

Nibong Tebal and Serdang (not KL Serdang) in Northern Malaysia is famous for its’ fried porridge. They don’t actually fry the rice or porridge but they pre fried the ingredients before adding them to the porridge. I tried to come up with a vegetarian version using fu chuk as substitute for meat.
It turns out quite nice!

Ingredients
Rice, ½ bowl, rinse and cook into porridge
Garlic, 5 cloves, chopped finely
Fu chuk(fried beancurd sheets), 3 pcs, cut into strips
Marmite, 1 teaspoon
Dark Soya Sauce, ½ teaspoon
Light Soya Sauce, 2 table spoon
Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Cilantro and spring onions for garnishing

Sautéed garlic in hot vegetable oil until fragrant. Add in the fu chuck, marmite, dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, sesame oil and salt to taste. Fry for a short while until a nice aroma permeates the air. Pour all the ingredients into the cooked porridge. Garnish with cilantro or Chinese parsley and spring onions before serving.

Vegetarian Penang Fried Kueh Teow (Flat rice noodles) Recipe - 2nd Version

2010-02-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of The Pearl of Orient, Penang famous hawker food. The fried kueh teow sold by Penang hawkers are normally non-vegetarian type as they have cockles, lard and prawns in it. So, for a vegetarian version, it is not possible to get the same taste as the non vegetarian ones. Penang Char Keuh Teow is lighter in colour and drier than southern version. However, taste wise, it is actually up to the person’s preference!

Ingredients
Kueh Teow (Flat noodles), 1 rice bowl
Soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Dark Soya Sauce, ½ teaspoon
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon
Egg, 1 pc
Salt to taste
Chilli Paste to taste
Fu Chuk, 2 pcs, cut into small slices
Vegetable oil, 2 table spoons
Pepper, a dash
Garlic (optional), 1 table spoon
Bean sprout (taugeh), ½ bowl

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Sautéed garlic until fragrant and add in the kueh teow. Fry for a short while then add in the soya sauce, dark soya sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, salt, chili and pepper. Fry thoroughly then add in the eggs and fu chuk. Lastly, put in the bean sprout and stir until it is cook a little so that it will remain crunchy.

Vegetarian Chap Choi (Chap Suet, Mixed Leftovers Vegetables) Soup Recipe

2010-02-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

Normally the Chinese descendents in Malaysia would cook this soup whenever they have lots of leftover dishes especially during Chinese New Year. Instead of using leftover dishes I used all the leftover vegetables that were not used up for my family reunion dinner. There are many versions but I would like to separate it into two types; thick and thin soup variety!
The thick soup variety is packed with flavours and is very sour. The thin soup ones are a little milder. Which types is better? It actually depends on your preference and taste buds!

Ingredients
Chinese mustard (Gai Choy), portion up to your preference
Carrots, 2 pcs, cut into chunks
Assam Keping (Assam Fruit slice), 2 pcs
Tomato, 3 pcs, cut into four
Salted Plums, 3 pcs
Pepper corns, 1 teaspoon
Dried chilies, 5 stalks
Vegetable oil or olive oil, 2 table spoons
Salt to taste
A little sugar
Put water in to a pot and bring to a boil. Add in the ingredients and cook until the mustard turn a little brownish in colour. Add salt and sugar to taste. You can balance the sourness by adding more sugar to your preference. Serve with white rice.

Vegetarian Organic Bihun (Rice Vermicelli) in Fragrant Gravy Recipe

2010-02-26T19:59:00.001-08:00

This is a very versatile recipe and it is a very suitable meal at anytime, no matter if it is a hot or cold day! I never grew tired of eating bihun (rice vermicelli) and organic bihun is full of natural fibers. No bleach is used to in organic bihun, which explain its brown appearance. Stay healthy and eat nutritious organic bihun!

Ingredients
Organic Bihun (Rice Vermicelli), 1 rice bowl, soak in water until soft
Soya Sauce, 2 table spoons
Dark Soya Sauce, ½ teaspoon
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 table spoon
Shallots (optional), 3 pcs, slice and deep fried until crispy
Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
A little corn starch mix with water
Vegetable oil, 1 table spoon
Eggs (optional), 1 pc
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and add in a little vegetable oil. Put in the bihun, soya sauce, dark soya sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce. Fry until it has nice aroma, then add in the eggs and sesame oil. Stir fry for a short while or until egg is cooked. Add a little water, enough to cover all the bihun. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste and thicken the gravy with corn starch water mixture. Garnish with lettuce and crispy shallots before serving!

Baked Vegetarian Sweet Potato with Vegeroni Pasta Recipe

2010-02-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

I love this recipe because it is very simple to prepare and everyone in my family likes it. Since it is a vegetarian dish, I used sweet potato to give an extra natural sweetness. For the cheese I just use normal one but if you are a full time Vegan, you can opt for Vegan cheese. I choosed multicolored sweet potato, so the dish turned out to be very colourful!

Ingredients
Sweet potato, boiled until soft, cut into chucks, 1 bowl
Onions (optional), 1 pc, cut into small pieces
Oregano, 1 teaspoon
Hickory Barbecue Sauce, 5 table spoons
Cheese, or Vegan Cheese, to taste
Vegeroni, 1 bowl, boil in hot water until soft
Corn, green beans and carrot frozen mix, ½ bowl
Capsicum, 1 pc, cut into small pieces
Salt to taste
Olive oil, 2 table spoons

Put all the ingredients in a baking tray. I normally put the vegeroni pasta at the bottom so that it will not dry out during baking. Arrange the cheese on top of all the ingredients. Cook the dish in preheated oven at 200 Dec C for 25 minutes. Serve while still hot!

Simple Chinese Style Stir Fried Broccoli with Snow Peas Vegan Recipe

2010-02-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

My kids love broccoli and it is a very easy dish to prepare. Simple stir frying gives the dish a nice aroma and it can be considered a healthy meal too.
I have added garlic and Chinese Wine to this recipe, so if you don’t take these two ingredients, you can exclude them.

Ingredients
Broccoli, portion around 1 rice bowl
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into bite size
Snow peas, ½ rice bowl
Ginger, 4 to 5 slices
Garlic, 3 cloves, minced (OPTIONAL)
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce, 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Corn flour mixed with a little water
Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
Chinese Shao Shing Chiew (cooking wine, OPTIONAL), 1 table spoon

Heat up wok and put in a little vegetable oil. Sautéed garlic and ginger until fragrant. Put in the carrot, broccoli and snow peas. Stir fry for a while. Add the vegetarian oyster sauce, salt, sesame oil and Chinese Cooking wine. Add a little water and then thicken the gravy with corn flour water mixture. Serve with white rice.

Quickie Baked Vegan Tofu with Cheese and Thyme Recipe

2010-02-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

I love the aroma of freshly baked cheese. In order to create an East meets West recipe, I used tofu with cheese and western popular herb such as thyme. Baking saves me some time when I am preparing dinner for my family. I just need to set the timer in the oven and the dish would be ready by the time I finish cooking other things else. This dish would make a complete meal for the family because it loaded in protein and greens as well. For carbohydrate, you can eat these tofu dish with steam unpolished rice.
Check out my Quickie Vegan Tofu Cheese and Thyme Recipe.

Ingredients
Soft Tofu, 1 large piece
Vegan Cheese (you can use normal cheese, if you are not a full vegan), enough to cover the tofu
Thyme, 1 teaspoon
Celery, cut into 3” length
Tomato, 1 pc, cut onto four
Soya sauce, 1 table spoon

Arrange all the ingredients in the baking tray. Add a little water. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes at 200 Deg C. Serve with steamed rice.

Vegeroni Pasta in Tomato Soup

2010-01-25T23:54:00.000-08:00

I love to use Vegeroni pasta in my recipe. It is a good way to get my kids to eat some greens. The green coloured vegeroni has spinach powder in it and the red ones have carrot powder. Therefore these Vegeroni are naturally coloured using plants produce!
This recipe goes down well with our appetite especially on cool rainy or snowy days.
Here is my recipe for Vegeroni Pasta in Tomato Soup

Ingredients
Vegeroni, any desired amount, put in boiling water and cook until it turns soft. Drain away excess water

Tomato Soup
Tomato paste, 1 small tin
Fresh tomato, 2pcs
Garlic, 3pcs
Onions, 2 pcs
Celery, 2 stalks
Cream, ½ cup
Bay Leaves, 1 pc
Thyme, 1 teaspoon
Oregano, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
A little olive oil

Put water in pot and bring to a boil. Add in all the ingredients and cook until soft. Take out the bay leaves. Take out all the solid ingredients from the soup using a sieve. Put the solid ingredients in a blender and blend until the texture turns smooth. Put it back into the soup. Pour the soup over the vegeroni and serve. You can garnish it with parmesan cheese. Happy Cooking!

Vegan Steam Taukan with Wolfberries (Kei Chi, Lycium Barbarum) –Simple Vegan Recipe

2009-11-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

Taukan is wet bean curd that is available in most vegetarian food outlet. There are many ways to cook this versatile bean curd and it has a nice texture too. I tried this steam taukan dish which is rather easy and quick to prepare. Wolfberry has antioxidant properties and is known to be beneficial to the eyesight.
Here is my simple Steam Taukan with Wolfberries recipe.

Ingredients
Taukan, 5 to 6 pcs
Chinese Rice wine, 1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Kei Chi (wolf berries), 1 table spoon

Arrange taukan in a steaming tray or plate. Add Chinese Rice wine, light soya sauce and kei chi. Steam in high heat for 20 minutes. Serve with steamed rice.

Vegan Luohankuo (momordica fruit), Longan (Euphoria Longan), Pear and Pong Tai Hai (Kembang Semankuk, Scaphium Macropodum) Dessert Recipe

2009-10-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

This Chinese style dessert is good to balance the yin and yang energy in our body. Longan can help our body to relax, luohankuo & pear is good for the respiratory system and Pong Tai Hai is good to cool down our body!
Anyway, the drink tastes great too!

Ingredients
Luohankuo, 1 fruit, smashed
Pear, cut into thin strips
Longan, 1 cup
Pong Tai Hai, 10 pcs, soak in water and remove seed plus fibre
Brown sugar to taste
Water, 4 bowls

Bring water to a boil and add in all the ingredients. Boil for around one hour. Best eaten if served chilled!

Vegan Baked Potato with Oregano and Cheese Recipe

2009-10-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

I love the smell of freshly baked potato with herbs hot out from the oven. The earthiness oregano flavour really brings out the taste of the potatoes and the cheesy taste blended well with the other ingredients used in the dish.
I tried this recipe at home and my kids love it so much. It is healthy and very simple to prepare.

Ingredients
Pototo, 4 pcs, boil until they turn soft and cut into small chunks
Oregano, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, a dash
Tomato sauce, 5 table spoons or more
Frozen mixed vegetables (carrot, peas and corn), 1 cup
Onions, 1 pc, cut into small pieces
Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, ½ cup to ¾ cup

Put the potato in the baking tray. Fill the top with frozen vegetable mix and onions. Add a dash of pepper and sprinkle the oregano on the dish. Pour tomato sauce over it and cover the top with the cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes at 180 Deg C.
Serve while it is hot!

Vegetarian Halal Chinese Char Siew (Mock BBQ Pork, resipi char siew) Recipe using Tau kan (Wet Bean Curd Blocks)

2009-10-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

The normal vegetarian char siew that you often seen being sold at shops are made from flour. I tried to experiment making Char Siew from tau kan (wet beancurd blocks) and the result turns out great. I managed to make the aroma and texture of the taukan same are the flour vegan char siew. You can buy tau kan from any vegetarian food vendor.
Below is my recipe for vegan char siew using taukan as the main ingredient.

Ingredients
Tau kan, 6 pcs
Five Spiced Powder, 1 teaspoon
Soya sauce, 3 table spoon
Sugar, 3 table spoon
Dark Soya sauce, ½ teaspoon
Chinese Red rose wine, 1 teaspoon (optional, not halal)
Corn flour, 3 teaspoons
Salt to taste

Marinate the taukan (wet beancurd blocks) with all the other ingredients. Keep aside for at least 20 minutes. You can deep fry these char siew or barbecue them. I deep fried the char siew until they turn golden brown. Cut into slices and serve with white steamed rice.

Vegetarian Stir Fried Lotus Roots with Celery and Cauliflower Recipe- Chinese Style

2009-10-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

The crunchy texture of young lotus roots is simply amazing. Lotus roots with celery and cauliflower make a good mix in any dishes. I combine these wonderful vegetables and made a vegetarian dish out of them. Here is my Vegetarian Stir Fried Lotus Roots with Celery and Cauliflower recipe.

Ingredients
Young Lotus roots, 6 inches in length, cut vertically
Celery, 2 stalks, cut into thick slices
Cauliflowers, about the size of a fist, clean and cut into bite sizes
Carrot, 10 to 15 slices
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Sesame oil, ½ teaspoon
Vegetarian oyster sauce, 1 table spoon
Soya sauce, 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Corn flour mix with a little water to thicken the gravy
Shou shing chiew, (Chinese cooking wine, optional), 1 teaspoon

Heat up wok and put in 2 teaspoon of vegetable oil and sauteed garlic until fragrant. Put in the lotus roots, carrots and cauliflower. Add in sesame oil, vegetarian oyster sauce, and soya sauce and shou shing chiew. Put in the celery and a little water. Add corn flour mixed with water to thicken the gravy. Add salt to taste. Serve with steamed rice.

Chinese Vegetarian Fried Tofu with Long Beans and Celery

2009-10-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Actually I wanted to cook fried tofu with celery only but since I have got some long beans that have been sitting in my fridge for quite some time, I decided to add this into the dish. Fried tofu itself is already very tasty but then if it is cooked with celery it taste even better.
Here is the recipe for vegetarian fried tofu with long beans and celery

Ingredients
Tofu, 1 block, 3”x3”x3”, cut into 1”x1”x1” cubes
Celery, 2 stalks, cut into thick slices
Long beans, 3 pcs, cut into 1 inch length
Salt to taste
Soya sauce, 1 teaspoon
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Onions, 1pc, cut into four
Vegetable oil

Deep fry the tofu in hot vegetable oil until crispy. Drain away excess oil from the fried tofu and put aside.
Heat up wok and add in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Sautéed onions and garlic until fragrant. Add in the celery and long beans. Fry for a short while. Add some water, soya sauce, tofu and salt to taste.

Simple Vegetarian Stir Fried French Beans Recipe – Chinese Style

2009-10-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

My kids love to eat French Beans (Scientific Name, Phaseolus Vulgaris) which is relatively easy to cook. Somehow, it is easier to get kids to eat French Beans compared to other type of green vegetables. Green French beans are full of vitamin C.
I normally stir fried them in Chinese wok.
Here is my simple stir fried French Beans recipe.

Ingredients
French Beans, 10 pcs, cut into thin strips or one inch length
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 table spoon

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Add in the garlic and fry until fragrant. Increase heat of the wok; be careful not to burn your garlic. Quickly put in the French Beans and fry until you see there is a change in the green colour (from light green to a darker shade). Add a little water and salt to taste. Serve with steamed rice and other Chinese vegetarian dishes.

Romaine Lettuce and Bell Pepper with Cheese and Orange Juice Dressing – Vegetarian

2009-10-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

I love the crunchiness of the bell peppers (capsicum) and Romaine lettuce salad. I decided to use orange juice as one of the ingredients for my salad dressing instead of the usual lemon juice.
Mozzarella cheese added a little body to my salad mix. I used minced garlic for this recipe, so if you don’t take garlic you can actually exclude it.

Ingredients
Romaine Lettuce, 3 bunches, washed and cleaned
Bell pepper (capsicum), 1 pc, cut into thick strips

For Salad Dressing
Extra virgin olive oil, 5 table spoons
Garlic, 1 pc, chopped finely (optional)
Mozzarella Cheese, 2”x2”x2” block, break into small pieces
Salt, a dash or to taste
Orange juice, ½ orange
Pepper, a dash

Mix all the salad vegetables with the dressing. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Great for roast chicken side dish!

Chinese Vegetarian Clear Tofu Celery with Tomato Soup Recipe

2009-09-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Celery (Scientific name, Apium graveolens) is the most common vegetable that is used as a base for soup or stock. The leafy stalk and taproot of celery can be eaten. Celery is a great source of Calcium. In this recipe I used Pascal celery from North America, which has a ‘U’ shaped stem.

Ingredients
Celery, 3 stalks, cut into slices
Tomato, 3 pcs, cut into four
Carrot, 2 pcs
Pepper, a dash
Soya sauce, 3 table spoons
Onions, 2 pcs, cut into four
Thyme, 3 sprigs
Hard tofu, 2pcs, cut into four
Salt, to taste
Vegetarian Oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon
Olive oil, 1 teaspoon

Pour 4 bowls of water in to pot and bring to a boil. Add carrot and onions. Boil for 15 minutes. Put in the rest of the ingredient and boil for another 15 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with steamed rice.

Clear Vegetarian Chinese Cabbage Soup Recipe

2009-09-22T08:22:00.001-07:00

Clear soup is one of the essential dishes whenever my family ate steamed rice. Chinese style soup is normally clear and watery.
The nice sweet cabbage soup compliment many other dishes and it also helps smoothen the rice grains so that they are easier to be swallowed.

Ingredients
Water, 4 bowls
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into cubes
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut into slices and fried until crispy
Cabbage, 1 small, tear out the leaves and cut into 3”x3”x3” size
Corn, 1pc, to make sweet soup stock

Boil water in pot and add in the corn. Boil for half and hour. Add carrot and cabbage. Boil for another 20 minutes. Add in dash pepper and the fried shallots. Add salt to taste.

Authentic Nyonya Onde-Onde Recipe

2009-09-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone in my family, being a Penang Baba and Nyonya descendents loves to eat onde onde.
Onde –onde is one of the local Malaysian foods that the Baba and Nyonya descendents adopted. These gluey and chewy balls coated with grated coconut make a very nice dessert. There is another shortcut method of making onde onde, which all the flour are mixed together but the kuih will be springy!

Ingredients
Skin
Glutinous Rice Flour, 350 gms
Corn Flour or Tapioca Flour, 100 gms
Sugar, 30gms
Salt, ½ teaspoon
Pandan (screwpine) Juice Concentrate, ½ cup
Oil, 1 teaspoon
Water, enough for the dough, to be added slowly

Coating
Coconut, grated, 1 coconut, add a litte salt

Fillings
Gula Melaka (or palm sugar), 150gms
Brown Sugar, 50 gms
Mix both fillings together.

Mix tapioca flour, oil, sugar and salt in 250ml of water. Bring to a boil to make a gluey mixture. Stir this often so that clumps will not form. Pour this over the glutinous rice flour and stir the mixture quickly. Add pandan juice. Make sure the dough is well mix. If it is to sticky to work on; add some more glutinous rice flour. Make the dough into ball around 3cm in diameter and then put in the fillings. Roll the ball until it is round and smooth. Put the onde onde ball in boiling water for around 1 minute. When the ball floats up, remove it and coat with the grated coconut. The onde onde is ready.

Vegetarian Avocado with Sweetened Condensed Milk Dessert

2009-09-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

The Avocado (Scientific name, Persea Americana) is a native of South and Central America. It was also originally found in the Carribean. Sometimes avocado is also known as Aligator or butter pear. Some of avocado extract can be used as antibacterial chemical.
Apart from being a little creamy, the avocado is rather tasteless. I made this easy and simple avocado with sweetened condensed milk dessert. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
Avocado, 1 pc
Sweetened Condensed milk. 2 table spoons
A little brown sugar

Cut avocado into halves and remove the hard seed. Use a spoon to scrape the flesh out. Put the thin avocado strips into a mixing bowl, add the sweetened condensed milk and brown sugar. Mix well and serve chilled.

Vegetarian Nyonya Pulut Inti (Glutinous rice with Grated Coconut in Palm Sugar)

2009-09-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Ever since my daughter watched The Little Nyonya serial drama in Astro, she has been bugging me to make Nyonya delicacies for her to eat. She is even more excited when I told her that she is a fifth generation Straits Born and her Great Grandmother is a Nyonya.
Well, here is one of the popular evergreen Nyonya kuih (dessert) recipe that was adopted by the Straits Born Chinese in Malaysia from the original Malay Pulut Inti kuih.

Ingredients
Glutinous Rice, 200 gms, soaked for 5 hours to soften
Pandan leaves, 3 pcs
Coconut Milk (Santan), from ½ coconut
Grated coconut, from ½ coconut
Palm Sugar (Gula Melaka), 2”x2”x2”, melted with a little hot water
Sugar, ½ cup
Banana leaves, cut into 6”x6”x6” to be used as wrapper (I could not find banana leaves in my neighborhood, so I just used clear plastic)
A little salt

Add salt and pandan leaves to glutinous rice and steam for 15 minutes or until the rice are cooked. Add coconut milk to the rice and steam for another 10 minutes. To make the Inti (toppings), mix the grated coconut with palm sugar and sugar. Stir until they are well mixed. Put around one small hand grip of glutinous rice on the banana leaves and then put a spoonful of Inti (toppings) on it. Wrap the banana leave into a pyramid shape and fold both ends of the leaves below it to hold the wrapping together.

Vegetarian Dragon Fruit Agar-Agar (Gelatinous Seaweed Jelly)

2009-09-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

Agar-agar is a product of gelatinous seaweed and it is available in dried form. For health reason, instead of using artificial colouring, I used the juice from a red dragon fruit (pitaya). The final colour of my agar-agar jelly is deep pink. Actually it looks quite nice and tasty!

Ingredients
Dried Agar-agar strips, 1 packet, 1.5 oz
Water, 1400ml
Sugar to taste
Dragon fruit juice, sieved, ½ cup

Bring water to a boil. Add agar-agar strips and keep on stirring the mixture until all agar-agar strips are dissolved. Add sugar and dragon fruit juice. When the sugar dissolves, pour the mixture into a mould. Let it cool down to room temperature and then put it in the fridge. Serve this wonderful dessert chilled!

Chinese Vegetarian Mock Pork Trotter Recipe

2009-08-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Chinese Vegetarian Mock Pork Trotters

During my childhood days, I always look forward to eat vegetarian pork trotters whenever I follow my late grandma in observing 9 days of strict vegetarian diet during the Nine Emperor God Festival. I can still remember vividly the taste of the ready made vegan pork trotters that my grandma used to buy in Butterworth. It consist of bean curd sheets, like the one that they use for lobak (five spice meat rolls), with spice added and rolled tightly. I used taukan (wet bean curd blocks) as the internal part of the vegan pork trotters.
Here is the recipe

Ingredients
Taukan, 1 packet
Bean curd sheet, 1’x’x1’
Five spice powder, 1 teaspoon
Dark soya sauce, ½ teaspoon
Light soya sauce, 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cotton string to tie the vegan pork trotter

Taukan in spices

Vegan pork trotters all wrapped up and ready
for deep frying

Marinade the taukan with five spice powder, dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, salt and pepper. Use the bean curd sheet to wrap the taukan and shape it like an actual pork trotter. Then tie it up with the string and let it to rest in the fridge. Deep fry the vegan taukan in hot oil. Remove string and cut into slices. Serve with steamed rice or fried bihun (vermicelli).

Vegetarian Steamed Stuffed Tofu Pok Balls

2009-07-16T00:49:00.000-07:00

I like to cook tofu pok by turning it inside out and then stuff fillings in it. Steamed tofu is indeed a healthy meal. The ones that you normally eat at restaurants are fried and it actually soaked up a large quantity of oil. But then of course it is tastier if fried.

Ingredients
Tofu Pok, 8 pcs, turned it inside out. See my post in Peteformtion blog on how to turn the tofu pok inside out via this link, http://peteformation.blogspot.com/search/label/Tofu%20Pok

Fillings
French beans, 5 pcs, cut into small strips
Turnips, 1/2 , but onto small pieces
Sesame oil, 1 table spoon
Corn flour; add with water until the filling mixture thickens
Salt to taste
Soya sauce, 1 table spoon

Fill up the tofu pok with the fillings. Steam the tofu pok balls in high heat for 20 minutes. Your stuffed tofu pok balls are ready!

Simple Chinese Stir Fried Choy Sum Vegetable- Vegetarian

2009-07-16T00:32:00.000-07:00

The secret to cooking this simple Chinese dish is the ‘fire control’, ie how you control the heat of your wok and how fast you can fry it under the high heat. You will have to get all the ingredients ready before you start cooking because you will need to put in one after another ingredients real fast.

Ingredients
Choy Sum Vegetable, 1 bunch, cut into 1 ½ “ size
Garlic, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Light soya sauce, 1 table spoon
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil, 1 table spoon
Vegetarian Prawns, 3 pcs (optional, I did not use in this dish)

Heat up wok and put in the vegetable oil. Turn up the heat and then put in the garlic. Quickly add the vegetable before the garlic burn and turned into charcoal. Add salt to taste and soya sauce. Put in a little water and take the dish out from the wok. Serve with steamed rice.

Vegetarian Taukan (Wet Bean Curd Blocks) With Rosemary Sauce

2009-06-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

I love cooking with Taukan (wet bean curd block). It is great replacement for meat and the texture is similar to lean meat. I tried to use western herbs in this recipe. The result turns out ok.

Ingredients
Taukan, 6 pcs (you can also use dried bean curd but you must first soak it in water)
Rosemary, 1 table spoon
Lemon juice, from half lemon
Tomato sauce, 2 table spoon
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Garlic, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Corn flour, 1 table spoon

Heat up two table spoon of vegetable oil in wok and stir fry the garlic until golden brown. Add some water, lemon juice, tomato sauce, sugar and salt to taste. Put in the tau kan and stir fry it until it is cook. Add a little water if it is too dry. Add some corn flour mixed in water to thicken the gravy. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Spicy Thin Crust Vegetarian Tom yam Pizza Recipe

2009-06-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

I tried out this recipe out of curiosity. The pizza turned out quite nice and have a very unique taste of its’ own. Just like east meet west, the taste of cheese and Thai tom yam smell is rather special and one of its’ kind.
Check out this recipe!

Pizza Dough Ingredients
250 gms of flour½ teaspoon of dried yeast mixed with warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugarSalt to taste

Toppings
Fresh Chili, 2 pcs, cut and removes seeds (You can use bird eye chili if you want this pizza to be real spicy!)
Onions, 1 large pc, cut into rings
Cheese, 3 table spoons
Kaffir Lime leaves, 5 pcs, cut into small strips
Lime juice from 1 large lime
Salt taste
Sugar to taste

To get thin crust pizza, make the dough as thin as possible. Then arrange all the toppings ingredients on the dough, with the cheese lining on the top layer. Bake in preheated oven at 180 Deg C for 15 minutes.

Vegetarian Angel Hair Spaghetti Recipe

2009-06-14T23:13:00.001-07:00

My son loves spaghetti very much. Instead of using the usual minced meat as a base for the spaghetti sauce, I tried using dried bean curd strips and corn for some natural sweetness. The recipe turns out ok, and my son ate his entire portion of vegetarian spaghetti.

IngredientsAngel Hair Spaghetti, 250 gms, blanched in boiling water until soft

SauceTomato Puree, 1 can
Onions, 3 pcs, chopped finely
Garlic, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Bean curd strips, 5 pcs, soak in water until soft, cut into small strips
Frozen corn, green beans and carrot, 1 bowl
Salt to taste
Sugar 1 tablespoon
Oregano, 1/2 teaspoon (dried)
Vegetarian oyster sauce (optional), 1 tablespoon
Mozzarella cheese, for garnishing

Heat up 2 table spoons of vegetable or olive oil in wok, then sautéed the onions, garlic and bean curd strips until fragrant. Add in the tomato puree, corn, green beans and carrot. Bring to a boil and then add sugar, vegetarian oyster sauce and salt to taste.
Put the sauce on the angel hair spaghetti and garnish with mozzarella cheese.

Vegetarian Tomato Sauce Fried Bihun (Rice Vermicelli)

2009-06-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

I like to cook this dish for supper and it takes only a short time to prepare. I used tomato sauce for this dish instead of tomato puree because tomato sauce is not that sour and taste better with bihun. Here is my recipe for Vegetarian Tomato Sauce Bihun.

Ingredients
Rice Vermicelli, ¼ packet, soaked in water to soften
Shallots, 3 pcs, cut thinly and fry until golden brown
Tomato sauce, 6 table spoons
Chili sauce, 2 table spoons (optional)
Light Soya Sauce, 1 table spoons
Cabbage, 3 leaves, cut into find strips
Bean curd strips, 2 pcs, soak in water until soft and cut into small strips
Eggs, 1 pc (optional)
Salt to taste

Put 2 table spoons of vegetable oil in a hot non-stick wok. Stir fry egg and bean curd strips. Put in the cabbage. Add in the soya sauce. Put the bihun in the wok and fry until it is cooked. Add tomato sauce, chilli sauce and salt to taste. Add a litte water and bring to a boil. The tomato bihun is ready. Garnish with fried shallots before serving.

Vegetarian Sambal Goreng (Fried Chilli) Taukan (Wet bean curd blocks) with Celery

2009-06-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

I love cooking with taukan (wet bean curd blocks). It goes down well with many types of ingredients and it is a great replacement for meat. I decided to add in some leeks to give the dish some crunchy green vegetable.

Ingredients
Tau kan, 1 block, cut into small strips
Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely
Celery, 2 stalks, cut into bite sizes
Tamarind juice, from 1 table spoon of tamarind paste
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Chilli paste (or powder), 3 table spoons

Sauteed onions and chilli paste in hot oil until fragrant. Add tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste. Add a little water and bring to a boil. Add taukan and celery. Serve with steamed rice or nasi lemak (coconut milk rice)

Related post using Tau Kan
1) http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2008/11/simple-recipe-vegetarian-tomato-sauce.html
2) http://veganformation.blogspot.com/2008/09/simple-recipe-vegan-sambal-petai-tau.html

Vegetarian Sambal (Fried Chilli) For Nasi Lemak (Coconut milk Steamed Rice)

2009-06-14T05:23:00.000-07:00

I made this vegetarian sambal for my vegetarian friends recently. It uses the same ingredients as normal nasi lemak sambal except that I did not use belachan (shrimp paste) in it. Nasi lemak is a local Malaysian all time favourite food. It is actually steamed rice with coconut milk and screw pine leaves.
Here is my vegetarian version of sambal for nasi lemak.

Ingredients
Shallots, 5 pcs
Chilli paste, 5 table spoon
Tamarind juice to taste
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Vegetable oil, 3 table spoon

Heat up wok and add in the vegetable oil. Stir fry the shallots until fragrant. Add tamarind juice, salt and sugar to taste. Serve with coconut milk rice.

Stir Fry Crisp-head (Green ice) Lettuce with Nutmeg Powder and Butter

2009-06-14T05:08:00.000-07:00

Leafy lettuces are a great source of folate, vitamin A and vitamin C.
Got some left over lettuce from a party in my house and I decided to stir fried it using the recipe that I learned from Chef Michael Smith of Chef at Home show in Asian Food Channel. He used spinach for this recipe but I decided to go ahead with the leftover Crisp-Head Lettuce.

Ingredients
Lettuce, 10 leaves
Butter, 1 table spoon
Pepper, to taste
Salt to taste
Nutmeg powder, ½ teaspoon

Heat up wok and put in the butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Put in the nutmeg powder and lettuce. Switch off the heat and stir the lettuce for a short while in the wok. I sprinkled some crispy fried garlic on the lettuce before serving!

Stir Fried Bell Pepper with Preserved Bean Paste, Chinese Style (Vegetarian)

2009-06-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

Bell peppers or capsicums which are available in many colors are normally used to brighten up a dish. They are available in red, orange, green and yellow. The name ‘pepper’ was mistakenly given by Christopher Columbus when he brought it back to Europe from one of his voyage. He must have thought it to be the fruit of the highly prized during his era, the peppercorns. In order to taste the natural sweetness of bell pepper, I just stir fry it with preserved soya beans. This simple dish is very tasty and goes down well with steamed rice.

Ingredients
Bell Peppers, 2 pcs, cut into small pieces
Preserved Bean Paste (Tauchu), 1 table spoon
Garlic, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Vegetable oil, 1 table spoon

Heat up wok; put the vegetable oil and sautéed the garlic until fragrant. Put in the preserved bean paste. Stir fry for a while. Add in the bell peppers and a little water.

Vegetarian Tomato Soup Recipe

2009-06-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

I love to cook tomato soup for supper, especially during rainy days. Nothing beats a good hot soup during the downpour and when the weather is cold. I guess, tomato soup is everyone’s favourite and my kids love it very much.
This is my version of tomato soup.

Ingredients
Potato, 2 pcs, boiled and smashed into puree
Tomato Puree, 1 small tin
Tomato, 2pcs, blended finely
Onions, 2 pcs, chopped finely
Butter, 1x1x1 square inch
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Oregano, ½ teaspoon
5 cups of water

Add some oil in pot and sautéed onions until fragrant. Add water and bring to a boil. Put in the potato, tomato puree, onions, butter, salt and sugar to taste. Add the oregano. Bring to a boil. You can blend the soup in the blender if you want too if you don’t like chunks of ingredients floating in your soup. Bon Appetite!

Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Tofu Recipe

2009-06-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sweet and sour dishes are quite popular in many Chinese restaurants.
Instead of using meat to cook this meal, I tried it using deep fried tofu. Well, it actually turns out to be quite delicious. I have also added more vegetable to the dish.
Due to the dish sweet and sours taste, kids would love it.

Ingredients
Tofu, cut into 1x1x1 inch squares, 20 pcs
Cucumber, cut into round slices or any shape you like
Pineapple, 1 slice cut into small pieces
Tomato, 1pc, cut into 4
Tomato Sauce, 5 table spoons
Plum sauce, 1 table spoon
Sugar to taste
Salt to taste
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four

Deep fry tofu in hot vegetable oil until it turns golden brown. Put the tofu aside. Add 2 table spoons of vegetable oil in hot wok and sautéed the onions until fragrant. Add the tomato sauce, plum sauce, sugar, a little water and salt to taste. Put the pineapple, cucumber, tomato and fried tofu into the sauce. Serve the dish with steamed rice.

Vegetarian Tofu with Thousand Island Salad Dressing Recipe

2009-06-07T09:45:00.000-07:00

I like to make tofu salad, especially the ones that have been deep fried. The crunchiness of the fried tofu skin and the soft part inside with the taste of Thousand Island salad dressing is simply delicious.
I used spring onions to garnish this dish and also to add some greens to it. The spring onions also added some extra flavour to this dish.

Ingredients
Tofu, cut into 1/2x2x1 inch size
Thousand Island Salad Dressing
Spring onions, 3 stalks
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Deep fry the tofu in vegetable oil and put them aside. Pour the Thousand Island Salad dressing on to the tofu and garnish with spring onions. Great party food!

Vegetarian Stir Fry Tofu with Leeks Recipe

2009-06-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Tofu and leeks make very good combination. This is my wife’s favourite food. The tofu absorbs the natural sweetness of the leeks. I manage to get my kids to eat some green vegetable this way. The simply love the tofu fried with leeks.

Ingredients,
Tofu, 3x3x3 inches block, cut into 1/2x1/2x1/2 inch size
Leeks, 5 stalks, cut into large pieces as in the picture
Garlic, 5pcs, chopped finely
Vegetable oil, 2 table spoon
Salt to taste

Deep fry the tofu until golden brown and put aside.
Stir fry the garlic in hot oil until golden brown. Add in the leeks and salt to taste. Stir fry for a short while and add a little water. Add salt to taste. Put the fried leek over the tofu. Serve with steamed rice.

Vegetarian Sui Kow (Fried Wanton) Recipe

2009-06-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Sui Kow is a great finger food for parties. It is rather easy to prepare and the taste normally suits most people taste buds! Well, I tried to make vegetarian version of sui kow (fried wontan) over the weekend and the taste turned out to be as good as the ones that use meat or prawns.

Ingredients
Water Chestnuts, 5 pcs, remove skin and chopped finely
Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely
Corn Flour, 5 teaspoons
Sesame oil, 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste

Wantan skins for wrapping, 50 pcs
Mix the water chestnuts, onions, corn flour, sesame oil and salt in a bowl. Take a wanton skin and add in about ½ teaspoon of the mixed ingredients and then fold the skins into a triangular shape. Deep fry the wanton in hot oil until golden brown. Served while it is hot and crispy! .

Chinese Stir Fry Scrambled Eggs with French Beans

2009-06-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

This is a very easy dish to prepare and kids are sure to love it. A good way to get kids to eat French beans. The taste of fried eggs with a little garlic chilli sauce is nice. My kids love to eat the eggs with tomato sauce!

Ingredients
Eggs, 3 pcs, beaten slightly
Onions, 1 pc, chopped finely
French beans, 7 pcs, cut into small strips
Light Soya Sauce, 2 table spoons
Cilantro for garnishing

Heat up 2 table spoons of vegetable oil in wok. Stir fry the onions until fragrant. Add in the French beans. Fry until the beans are cooked. Add the eggs and then the soya sauce. Remove the cooked dish from the wok and put in a bowl. Turn it over and put it onto a plate, so that the dish will take the shape of the bowl. Garnish with cilantro and serve with white rice.

Vegetarian Fried Spaghetti with Soya Sauce

2009-06-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

I ran out of Chinese wet egg noodles, so I used spaghetti instead to cook fried mee for my kids’ supper meal. The fried spaghetti turns out to be the same taste as the original fried yellow noodles but the spaghetti has a slightly tougher texture.

Ingredients
Spaghetti, 250gms, blanched in boiling water until soft
Light Soya Sauce, 3 table spoons
Dark Soya Sauce, 1 teaspoon
Pepper, ½ teaspoon
Egg (optional), 1pc
Bean curd strips, 2pcs, cut into small strips (optional)
Cabbage, 8 leaves, cut into strips (or you can use bean sprout)
Garlic, 5 pcs, finely chopped

Heat up wok; add 2 table spoons of vegetable oil and sautéed garlic until golden brown. Fry the cabbage until it turns soft. Add in bean curd strips and eggs. Fry for a short while. Put the spaghetti in to the wok and fry for around 3 minutes. Add light soya sauce, dark soya sauce and pepper. Taste good if eaten with pickled green chillies!