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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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!