Enoki and Shiitake Mushroom with Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

This delicious mushroom dish can be prepared quickly and easily. I added a small amount of dried lily buds which has lots of protein, irons, vitamin A and good for revitalizes the blood and strengthen brain function. Thin silken tofu shred can be added, if desired.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g enoki mushroom, base trimmed and cut into small section
° 2 (50g) fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 12 dried lily buds, trimmed, soaked and knotted
° some sea moss (optional)
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° some fresh coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, or taste
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° 1 tablespoon cooking rice wine (optional)
° 125ml water

Method
1. Place all the ingredients for the seasoning in a bowl, mix well and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Add the enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, dried lily buds and stir-fry for 1 minute. Pour in the seasoning, carrot and stir-fry for another 1 to 1½ minutes. Lastly add in the sea moss.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Honeydew Soy Milk Shake with Almond

I decided to make my soymilk shake more nutritious by adding almond powder to it. So that I can have my fruit, my soymilk and almond drink, all three in 1 to save time. The almond powder that I used here is a compound of sugar, malt, glucose, almond, almond essence, fruitillaria cirrhosa. I would think those pure almond powder is better.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 1-2)
° 200g honeydew, peeled and chopped
° 125ml fresh reduced sugar soy milk
° 1-1½ tablespoons almond powder, or to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Chilled or serve with ice.

Wakame Soup

I got a pack of dried wakame from Korea and decide to make this simple soup. Wakame is highly nutritious and calories free. In Korea, Wakame soup and oyster is traditionally eaten everyday to restore the health of women after childbirth. Replace oyster with soybean sprout and red dates can be added, if desired. You may increase the amount of ginger or sprinkle more pepper or sesame oil to mask the ‘fishy’ smell.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 25g dried wakame
° 100g soybean sprout
° 2-3 slices ginger
° 500ml water
° salt and pepper to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° a small handful fresh coriander leaves or spring onion, for garnish

Method
1. Place the dried wakame, ginger and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the beansprout with a slotted spoon and keep it for making seasoned soybean sprout.
2. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sesame oil.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with coriander leaves or spring onion and serve hot.

Stir-Fried Beijing Cabbage with Vegetarian Mock Abalone

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

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

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

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

“No Gongfu” Noodle

Gongfu (Chinese 功夫 ) means long, hard and skilful work. As the title suggests, the “No Gongfu noodle” needs ry little work, and requires absolutely no skill at all! This recipe does not need any stir-frying, so any kid can just whip up this dish and impress their friends/ parents, plus you don’t have spend so much time in cleaning up the kitchen.

You don’t have to worry about not having enough oil for the stir-fry, broccoli not cooked or not acting fast enough to ensure the noodle doesn’t stick to the wok. Relating yet again to the title “No Gongfu Noodle”. You can even omit the heating of the garlic or ginger in oil and replace with just olive oil, if desired. The reason for heating the garlic or ginger in oil is to have some aroma to the noodle.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g broccoli florets
° 25g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 400g fresh cooked noodle
° 1 litre water
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger
° some spring onion or coriander leaves for garnish

Seasoning
° 2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce, or to taste
° 4 tablespoons light soy sauce, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Combine all seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Place water in a pot and bring to a boil. Blanch the broccoli florets for ½ minute. Drain well and set aside.
3. Bring the pot of water to boil again. Blanch the fresh cooked noodles for 2-3 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
4. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the garlic or ginger for half a minute or until fragrant. Off heat.
5. Throw in the carrot, noodle, broccoli and seasoning. Toss well.
6. Garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Trishaw Noodle

Have you eaten Trishaw Noodle before? I am not too sure about the history of the Trishaw Noodle in Singapore. My guess is that it is an economical street food. It is a very simple soup noodle and we can hardly find this soup noodles nowadays. I replace Cai Xin with Shanghai Green and meat with Vegetarian Mock Abalone which I still have some left over from the previous dish.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 100g fresh cooked noodle, blanched
° 2 stalks shanghai green
° 2-3 slices carrot
° 1 slice ginger
° 6 vegetarian mock abalone with sauce
° 300ml water
° salt and pepper to taste
° light soy sauce to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° some spring onion (optional) for garnish

Method
1. Place the ginger, carrot, water in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Throw in the noodle, shanghai green, vegetarian mock abalone with sauce and bring to a boil for ½ a minute. Season to taste with salt, pepper, light soy sauce and sesame oil.
3. Garnish with spring onion and serve immediately.

Tofu Bibimbap

If you have a hectic lifestyle but still want to prepare nutritious and delectable meals in a short time, it’s not “Mission Impossible”. For this recipe, only 1/5 of the ingredients used needs simple cooking and the rest of them require no cooking at all. The carrot, zucchini and lily bulbs can be eaten raw. As for the tofu, I bought this instant Seaweed Tofu from the supermarket and skip the streaming. If you have the time, just pan-fried some slices of firm tofu.

What left is the soybean sprout that needs to be blanched in boiling water and mixed well with some seasoning. If you like to have a bowl of soup to go with this dish, keep the boiling water for blanching soybeans sprout, add a slice of ginger, red dates (optional) , wakame and bring to a boil. Then, season to taste with salt, pepper and sesame oil.

The ingredients used for Bimbibap is very versatile- feel free to use your imagination! Soybean Sprout is very nutritious and now you can easily get them from the supermarket. However, I prefer those sold in tub of water and that tastes better.

Don’t forget to add some sesame oil to the Bibimbap, to give it a wonderful aroma.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 bowls cooked rice
° 50g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 50g zucchini, peeled and shredded
° 100g instant seaweed tofu, sliced
° 25g fresh lily bulbs, peel off petals piece by piece
° some toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste), to serve

Seasoned Soybean Sprout
° 100g soybean sprout, trimmed and blanched
° ½ teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
Seasoning
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
° Korean chilli powder or dried red chilli flake, or coarse chilli, to taste
° salt to taste
° sugar to taste (optional)

Method
1. Seasoned Soybean Sprout: Transfer the soybean sprout to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, vinegar, salt, sugar, Korean chilli powder or dried red chilli flake and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.
2. To serve: Divide rice into individual serving bowls and garnish with sesame seeds. Arrange seasoned shredded carrot, shredded zucchini, seasoned soybean sprout, seaweed tofu and lily bulb on top or on another serving big bowl or plate. Serves with a plate of Gochujang.

Persimmon Punch (Sujeonggwa)

This Persimmon Punch Using known as Sujoenggwa in Korean is often served as a dessert. It calls for dried Persimmon, but I used frozen Persimmon. Lately, there is lots of Korean Persimmon in the supermarket selling as a very reasonable price – 5 for S$1.55. I bought some of them and frozen them for soymilk shake. So, I just use one of them to make this dessert. I added something extra lily bulb instead of pine nuts!

If you like it chilled, do refrigerate this dessert for few hours.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1-2 frozen persimmon, cut into chunks
° 25g ginger
° 1-2 cinnamon stick
° 25g fresh lily bulb, peel off petals piece by piece
° 75g rock sugar, or to taste
° 1 litre water

Method
1. Combine the ginger, cinnamon, and water and rock sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Throw in the lily bulb and bring to a boil.
2. Add persimmon and serve hot or chilled.

Pan-Fried Tofu with Enoki Mushroom

Simple isn’t it? You don’t need to know a lot to whip up a healthy simple home cooked meal, believe me. This is homestyle cooking, as long as it tastes yummy, who cares how it is been done. What you need to know is how to pan-fry the firm tofu, which is real simple.

As for the sauce, if you prefer a more robust sauce, you can heat some oil and stir-fry a clove of garlic or a slice of ginger till fragrant and then pour in the sauce. Otherwise, just mix all the sauce ingredients. A little bit of sugar or chilli flakes can be added, if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 firm beancurd/tofu, halved and pan-fried
° 50g enoki mushroom, base trimmed
° some toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° few shredded carrot (optional), for garnish
° few shredded spring onion (optional), for garnish
° few local lettuce leaves or pea shoots (optional), for garnish

Sauce
° 1½ tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce
° ¾ teaspoon sesame oil
° 3 tablespoons hot water

Method
1. To make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Place some lettuce or pea shoots on a serving plate. Top with enoki mushroom, shredded carrot, shredded spring onion and drizzle the sauce over the tofu.
3. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve with hot rice.

White Fungus with Lily Bulb, Dates and Wolfberries Dessert

Using all the nourishing herbs in this dessert, just enjoy it hot or chilled. Lily Bulb (Bai He) is often used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for deficient lung, coughs and soothes the nerves. And red dates, it improves qi, boosts blood circulation and calms the spirit.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 white fungus, soaked and trimmed
° 25g fresh lily bulb, peel off petals piece by piece
° 4-6 seedless red dates
° 1 teaspoon wolfberries, soaked
° 40g rock sugar, or to taste
° 625ml water
° 4 pandan leaves/screwpine (optional), tied into a knot

Method
1. Combine the white fungus, red dates, pandan leaves and rock sugar in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the wolfberries and lily bulb and bring to a boil.
2. Serve hot or chilled.

Curry Lo Shi Fun

Yesterday, I was trying to teach my boy how to cook a curry noodle. Since, this is his first try, I made the recipe real simple, no fuss and just a notch up from cooking instant noodle. Standing beside him, giving all the instructions and without a few minutes we have 2 bowls of piping hot Curry Lo Shi Fun.

Ha., boys can cook too! I remember teaching ‘Teach Me To Fish’ programme in Catholic High Primary, which was organized by the Parents Support Group. Look at the primary school boys, they love the cooking sessions so much. For 2008, the programme for P6, was teaching “How to fry an egg” and I brought something extra – noodle and veggies, just in case we have too much time left as the class only had 22 pupils.

So at the end, I got Gabriel and Felix do a simple Stir-fried Noodle with Veggies and the noodle was shared among their classmates. Brandon thought that the noodle was cooked by me and told me it was delicious. When I told him, it was done by his classmates, he just could not believe it! What I enjoy most was, how these young gentlemen do the cooking, so engrossed and dedicated … And they really enjoy what they had cooked.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 300g Lo Shi Fun, blanched
° 5-6 fried bean curds, blanched and sliced
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° 20 curry leaves (optional)
° 250ml water or vegetable stock
° 500ml unsweetened soy milk
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with 3 tablespoons of water to form curry paste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick wok. Add in the curry leave and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Pour in water, unsweetened soy milk, fried bean curds and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and granulated mushroom bouillon.
4. Divide Lo Shi Fun into individual serving bowls. Ladle the soup and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Curry Mock Abalone

In 1988, when my mother went vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar, we just followed her vegetarian diet. Sometimes, we will have vegetarian curry mock abalone as one of the vegetarian dishes. Back in the 80s, we could purchase canned curry vegetarian mock abalone from the supermarket.

I can’t remember when, when this canned food was no longer sold in the supermarket. I was searching for it for many years, one day I found one can of it exactly like what I had as a teenager in a local supermarket and after which no more. Weird things do happen to me sometimes which I can’t really explain how they happened.

Never had I thought of recreating this until few days back I was thinking what recipes I can derive using canned vegetarian food. After all, it is not difficult at all and I use unsweetened soy milk which I believe the canned curry vegetarian mock abalone doesn’t have. I omitted any seasoning, as the mock abalone is already tasty even discarding the liquid sauce.

The ingredients of canned Vegetarian Mock Abalone are Fried Gluten, Sugar, Salt and Soy Sauce. On a closer look on the can, it even states – “Good source of protein”. This is one of the foods that I stock up at home for any emergency.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 can vegetarian mock abalone, drained
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° 20 curry leaves (optional)
° 125ml unsweetened soy milk
° 1-1½ tablespoon olive oil

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with 3 tablespoons of water to form curry paste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick wok. Add in the curry leave and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Pour in unsweetened soy milk, vegetarian mock abalone and bring to a boil.
4. Serve immediately.

Sushi Wrap with Lettuce

I happened to read an old article on ‘Office pal-itics’ and surprise to read below:

“… But much like low-fat Vegetarian Food diet which is theoretically good for you, I can’t see much joy or laughter in such an existence. I would probably go mad.”

Well, Vegetarian Food is definitely good theoretically or not, and is getting interesting, fun and yummy as well. Now, the Vegetarian Food scene is going to be different from the past, it can storm the world if more energy has been channeled to explore in this area.

If you don’t believe me…., let take sushi for example! Must Sushi Rice be always wrapped with nori sheet, can’t it be eaten in another way. Now, you may even see more innovative ways in eating sushi – a bowl of sushi rice topped with some veggies, in some Sushi Cookbook.

My way of having sushi –a combination of Japanese Sushi and Korean Lettuce Wrap Rice. Just cook some rice and mix well vinegar, salt, sugar, mirin (optional) or get a pack of powdered sushi mix from the supermarket. Garnish with some toasted sesame seeds and finely chopped carrot (optional). Serve with some lettuce leaves and shredded nori.

To eat, just take a lettuce leaf, scoop some rice on it, top with shredded nori and wrap it up. Next just put it into your mouth! Fun and yummy!

Sweet Potatoes Fried Rice

I had Potatoes Fried Rice at Nature Vegetarian Delights @ Sin Ming Ave before. But using sweet potatoes to fry rice which I had in South Korea was something new to me. Anyway, I recreate it few days back, it would be more beautiful if I had use different colour sweet potatoes.

By the way, sweet potatoes contain a good source of vitamins C and E, folate and potassium.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° 100g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
° 50g-75g local lettuce leaves, torn into pieces
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt and pepper, to taste
° some shredded carrot, for garnish
° few baked cashew nuts (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and fry sweet potatoes until lightly brown.
2. Stir in the cooked rice and season with salt and pepper. Fry about 2-3 minutes or until rice is heated through. Add in the lettuce and mix well.
3. Garnish with shredded carrot and cashew nut and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Seasoned Enoki Mushroom

Nutritious, delectable and effortless! The beauty lies in the fact that no cooking is required, because I’m getting real lazy these days! I had Seasoned Fernbrake which was crunchy and tangy, I really like it. But I don’t think fresh Fernbrake is available here. Therefore, I am using Enoki mushroom to as a substitute Fernbrake.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g enoki mushroom, base trimmed and separated
° ½ teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
° some shredded carrot (optional), for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l teaspoon light soy sauce
° ¼ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° salt to taste

Method
1. Place enoki mushroom and seasoning in a bowl or plate. Toss well.
2. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and shredded carrot and serve.

Seaweeds Bibimbap

Well, I just don’t know how to name this Ocean Themed Bibimbap. Again, this is another no-cook dish. The funori and kelps required no cooking too, just soak and drained. This is to say, anyone can make this and the plus point is there is not much washing need to be done.

If you find that cutting carrot into shreds is troublesome, just replace with enoki mushroom. Anymore Bibimbap recipe, there is still one more in my mind – Singapore Variant Bibimbap - using cucumber, onion, satay rice and Stir-fried tempeh with Gochujang chilli paste.

Preparation: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 bowls hot steam rice
° 50g shredded carrot
° few local lettuce leaves
° some shredded nori
° sesame oil (optional), to serve.
° gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste), to serve

Seasoned Kelps
° 5g dried kelp shreds, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and drained
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° salt to taste
° ¼ teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Seasoned Funori
° 10g dried coralline algae or funori (jelly seaweed), washed, rinsed, soaked overnight and cut
° ½ tablespoon rice vinegar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil
° ¼ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° salt to taste

Method
1. To make Seasoned Kelp: Place all seasoned kelps ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. To make Seasoned Funori: Place all seasoned funori ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
3. Divide rice into individual serving bowls and garnish with sesame seeds. Arrange shredded carrot, lettuce, shredded nori, seasoned funori, and seasoned kelp in another serving bowls.
4. Serves with a plate of gochujang and sesame oil.

Vegetarian Stew Pork Bun (Kong Bak Bao)

Finally, I experimented with Monkey Head Mushroom, they look so lovely and nice to smell too. Special thanks to Veganic for the instructions on how to prepare the monkey head mushroom. He recommends that the mushroom to be soaked in water for 2 hours, then squeeze out the water and put in fresh water, let it absorb the fresh water and squeeze dry before cooking. Blanch the pre-soaked mushroom for a minute or 2 in boiling water to clean it.

Well, I skip the last step, too impatient of me! I used the monkey head mushroom to cook Stew Pork Bun Vegetarian version -五 香 扣 肉包. My first try was much simpler, no marinating and I didn’t simmer the spices plus I added too much sugar. So, I did another round and this was how I spent my whole day yesterday, playing with 200g of monkey head mushroom to get the recipe below.

Hmmm… it is not perfect yet, I should have added vegetarian oyster sauce and maybe I should have marinated the mushroom with Chinese five spice powder too. And I should use corn flour to thicken the sauce (I ran out of corn/tapioca flour and vegetarian oyster sauce, my manual Reorder Point System 2008 didn’t work!).

At the end of the day, I came to a conclusion!

Don’t ever try to make Vegetarian Stew Pork Bun again – its just too much work and time consuming. Just go dine at The Whole Earth Vegetarian Restaurant , their Kong Bak Bao is awesome and wholesome. The good quality winter mushroom used in that dish resembles the fatty layer of the pork belly meat. Perfect and delectable!

Preparation: 30 mins, plus 3 hours standing times
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 100g monkey-head mushrooms
° 2 star anise
° 1 cinnamon stick
° 2 slices ginger
° oil, for deep-frying
° 8-12 lettuce leaves
° 8-12 leaf buns

Marinade
° 2 pieces red fermented bean curd (2cm x 2cm cube), mashed with 1 tablespoon water

Seasoning
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
° 375ml water
° ½ teaspoon granulated mushroom bouillon
° 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. Soak the monkey head mushroom in a big bowl of water for 1½ -2 hours.
2. Squeeze out the water from the monkey head mushroom and soak in fresh water till it absorbs and plump up. Remove and squeeze out all the water. Repeat this for one more round.
3. Cut the mushroom into slices and marinade with the fermented bean curd for ½ hours.
4. Heat oil in a wok over high heat. Drop the marinade monkey head mushroom and fry in batches until lightly golden brown. Remove the monkey head mushroom with a slotted spoon. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
5. Mix all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
6. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok and stir-fry the ginger, star anise and cinnamon for 1 minute. Throw in the seasoning, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes till the spices release its aroma.
7. Add in the deep-fried monkey head monkey and cook till it absorbs all the sauce. Alternatively, thicken with corn flour.
8. Transfer to a serving dish and serve lettuce leaves and leaf buns.

Stir-Fried Tempeh with Gochujang Chilli Paste

Lately, I have been doing quite a lot of recipes related to Korean Cuisine. I am not affected by the Korean wave, its just that I find that some of the Korean dishes can be easily veganized and it is simple to cook. Only by experimenting and veganizing other cusines, that veg*n dishes portfolio will grow …

This recipe is inspired by the Korean dish – Stir-fried Gochujang chilli paste - also known as Yangnyum Gochujang which calls for beef and is used for traditional bibimbap. Instead of using beef, I used gochujang to stir-fry tempeh. Serves with plain cooked rice or cold noodle.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g fresh tempeh, cubes or diced
° 100g onion (optional), peeled and diced
° 1½ tablespoon olive oil
° 2 tablespoons gochujang chilli paste
° 60ml water
° ½ -1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° some toasted sesame seeds or spring onion, for garnish

Method
1. Place the gochujang, water and sugar in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Fry the tempeh and onion until fragrant.
3. Add in gochujang, toss well and stir fry for 1 minute. Sprinkle with sesame oil.
4. Garnish with sesame seeds or spring onion and serve immediately.

Froot Loops Cereal with Soymilk/Amond Milk

Froot Loops Cereal with Soymilk/Amond Milk

I have seen my boy’s classmate having Froot Loops with Milk for Lunch in school.

Usually, just pour cold milk on and it is ready to serve.

But must it be cold milk?

It tastes yummy with reduced sugar soymilk and almond milk too.

Vegetarian Kimchi Stew with Tofu and Enoki

A tangy quick and easy-to-prepare soup. For a robust flavour, add more kimchi juice, dried chilli flakes. Enoki mushroom can be added prior to serving, if desired.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g vegetarian kimchi,
° 100g silken tofu, diced
° 50g enoki mushroom, base trimmed
° 500ml water or vegetable stock
° 1 slice ginger
° 2-3 tablespoons vegetarian kimchi juice
° l tablespoon light soy sauce
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° salt to taste
° 1 tablespoon finely chopped spring onion or coriander leaves, for garnish
° dried chilli flake (optional), to taste

Method
1. Place ginger and water in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Add in the vegetarian kimchi, tofu, enoki mushroom, kimchi juice and bring to a boil. Season to taste with light soy sauce, sugar and salt.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves. Serve immediately.

Udon with Fried Bean Curd

Wow, a hot bowl of Udon with Fried Bean Curd that is simple enough for anyone to whip up. If you know how to cook a packet of Instant Noodle, I can assure you that it is not a problem at all. Simple and yet tasty – the secret – use good quality ingredients. I depend on the light soy sauce to bring some flavour to the soup and no salt is added. It will look beautiful if you add one small piece of Tang-O for garnishing.

As for the kelps, toss well with simple ingredient like sesame oil, sugar, salt and sesame seeds, you will have a nutritious side dish.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 pack (200g) udon noodle, cooked according to instructions on the packet
° 1-2 fried bean curds, blanched and sliced
° 10 dried kelps in knot
° 2 thin slices ginger
° 500ml water
° 2½ tablespoons light soy sauce, or to taste
° ¼ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
° finely shredded spring onion or coriander leaves, for garnish
° some roasted sesame seed (optional), to garnish

Method
1. Place the dried kelps, ginger and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with light soy sauce and sesame oil. Discard the kelps or use it to makes a seasoned kelps side dish.
2. Transfer the udon and fried bean curd in a bowl. Ladle the soup and sprinkle some spring onion or coriander leaves and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Seasoned Funori

Something simple and no cooking required. I used dried coralline algae (100g @ S$4.50) which I bought from Yes Natural Pte Ltd. This coralline algae is slightly different from the Funori that I used in another recipe. I discovered that it can’t be cooked, if it is heated, it melts. This is recommended for making salad. Using simple seasoning that I normally used for whipping up Korean Side Dishes, I have this seasoned funori that I can also add to my Ocean Themed Bibimbap.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 25g dried coralline algae or funori (jelly seaweed), washed, rinsed, soaked overnight and cut
° some roasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° some dried chilli flakes (optional), for garnish
° few lettuce leaves (optional) for garnish

Seasoning
° 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° ½ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° salt to taste

Method
1. Transfer the dried coralline algae or funori a big bowl or plate. Stir in the rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, salt and mix well.
2. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and dried chilli flakes and serves in lettuce leaves.

Stir-Fried Capsicum with King Oyster Mushroom

A simple colourful Stir-Fried dish! Stir-frying is a healthy cooking process that preserves vitamins and minerals and at the same time keeps the crunchy texture of the food.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g king oyster mushroom, sliced
° 50g red capsicum, seeded and diced
° 50g green capsicum, seeded and diced
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° salt and grounded black pepper, to taste

Method
1. Heat oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Add the king oyster mushroom and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Throw in the capsicum and stir-fry for another 1 minute. Season to taste with light soy sauce, salt and black pepper.
3. Transfer to a serving dish and serve immediately.

Simple Mushroom and Veggie Hotpot

Simple vegetable and mushroom hotpot that I had during a recent tour. I would never have thought of using cucumber in hotpot and in here, trying to recreate it. Add some light soy sauce or granulated mushroom bouillon, if desired. With steaming hot rice, you can enjoy a fuss free and healthy meal.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 50g cucumber, sliced
° 50g endives, cut into chunks
° 50g carrot, peeled and sliced
° 50g king oyster mushroom, sliced
° 50g enoki mushroom, based trimmed
° 50g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced
° 100g silken tofu, cubed
° 750ml water
° 1 slice ginger
° salt and pepper, to taste
° dash sesame oil (optional)

Method
1. Place the carrot, king oyster mushrooms, ginger and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Add in the enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, cucumber, endives, tofu and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt, pepper and sesame oil.
3. Serve immediately.

Seaweed Curry Rice Wrap

I saw the picture on the pack of Korean Seaweed. Why didn’t I think of eating sushi in that way? Making sushi can be time consuming with the rolling and so on. If we are not having any guests around, why not just spoon some rice and wrap with a rectangle piece of seaweed and that’s it.

It made me think further, must it be sushi rice, why can’t we have something else too. What I did use was improvised healthy curry flavour rice instead.

By stir-frying a tablespoon of curry powder paste (powder mixed with some water) and then adding to the rice with some of the water replaced with unsweetened soymilk instead of coconut milk and don’t forget the salt. After 15-20 minutes my curry flavour rice is ready in the electric rice cooker.

You can skip the stir-frying of curry powder if you want an even more simplified way of cooking curry flavour rice. Simple, not much work plus its more nutritious!

So going green, going vegetarian, and food need not be boring. There are thousands of innovative ways to add taste and colour to make them yummy and interesting.

Mushroom Bibimbap (Kids Version)

Mushroom Bibimbap (Kids Version) served with Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste), Shredded Nori and Crispy Wonton Strips

No wastage - Soup make from water blanching mushrooms with simple ingredients added!

This recipe is actually derived from Mushroom Bibimbap! As some kids do not like spicy food, I have replaced the Gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste) with Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste).

Kids love Deep-fried food which are crispy and produce a lovely sound when they munch on it. So, I added a little plate of Crispy Wonton Strips together with some Korean Seaweed. It can be eaten on its own or added to the rice.

Keep the water for blanching mushrooms, and by adding a little bit of salt, light soy sauce, before garnishing with chopped spring onions , coriander or enoki mushroom, you can enjoy a bowl of clear soup too!

Oh yeah, don’t forget to let the kids have some fun – use a BIGGER bowl, so that the kids can mix and toss all the ingredients without messing up the dinning table – learning how to “stir-fry” rice like a chef! Get the kid to wash the rice and cook it too, if they want to help out.

Preparation: 20 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
Millet Rice
° 150g rice, washed and drained
° 50g millet, washed and drained
° 400ml water

Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom
° 150g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced, blanched and drain well
Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Seasoned Eryngii Mushroom
° 150g fresh eryngii mushroom, diced, blanched and drain well
Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° ½ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Other
° 50g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 25g pea shoots (dow miao)
° some local lettuce
° 50g enoki mushroom, base trimmed
° some toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° Doenjang (Korean Soybean Paste), to serve

Method
1. Millet Rice: Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on. When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

2. Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom: Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.

3. Seasoned Eryngii Mushroom: Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.

4. To serve: Divide millet rice into individual serving bowls and garnish with sesame seeds. Arrange seasoned shiitake mushroom, seasoned eryngii mushroom, carrot, pea shoots, local lettuce and enoki mushroom on top or on another serving big bowl or plate. Serves with a plate of Doenjang.

Mushroom Bibimbap

No wastage - Soup make from water blanching mushrooms with simple ingredients added!

Crazy about Bibimbap!

For this Bibimbap dish, the main ingredients are mushrooms. And I added millet to cook the rice. Millet is nutritious. Just mix all the ingredients and toss well prior to eating. Ever wonder why Korean ladies are so slim, part of the answer is found in Korean Cuisine – Kimchi and the Korean Side Dishes.

Keep the water for blanching mushrooms, and by adding a little bit of salt, light soy sauce, before garnishing with chopped spring onions , coriander or enoki mushroom, you can enjoy a bowl of clear soup too!

Preparation: 20 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
Millet Rice
° 150g rice, washed and drained
° 50g millet, washed and drained
° 400ml water

Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom
° 150g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced, blanched and drain well
Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Seasoned Eryngii Mushroom
° 150g fresh eryngii mushroom, diced, blanched and drain well
Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° ½ teaspoon sugar or to taste
° some roasted sesame seeds

Other
° 50g carrot, peeled and shredded
° 25g pea shoots (dow miao)
° some local lettuce
° 50g enoki mushroom, base trimmed
° some toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
° Gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste), to serve

Method
1. Millet Rice: Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on. When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

2. Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom: Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.

3. Seasoned Eryngii Mushroom: Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and set aside.

4. To serve: Divide millet rice into individual serving bowls and garnish with sesame seeds. Arrange seasoned shiitake mushroom, seasoned eryngii mushroom, carrot, pea shoots, local lettuce and enoki mushroom on top or on another serving big bowl or plate. Serves with a plate of Gochujang.

Seasoned Korean Zucchini (Hobak Namool)

This is a Korean side dish. Simple and yet delicious. You can mix green and yellow zucchini for a more interesting presentation.

Wonder about the history of Namool or Namul? At the end of 7th century, Korea entered a long stable period based on Buddhist culture for few hundreds years. Diet changed with dramatic reduction in meat consumption and vegetables took a more significant role. Temple meals consisted of soup, rice and vegetables dishes and this influence omitting the strong-smelling ingredients is still apparent in Korean Side dishes. Marinating Vegetables in soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame seeds have barely changed.

Source: The Complete Book of Korean Cooking, Young Jin Song

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g zucchini, sliced or thin strips

Seasoning
° ¾ tablespoon sesame oil
° ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
° 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
° ½ -1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds

Method
1. Blanch the zucchini in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Drain well and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the zucchini to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, salt, sugar and mix well.
3. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and serve.

Mango Ice Lolly

Something simple, healthy and compassionate! When it starts to melt, it tastes like sorbet. Kids will love it, they have their fruit and at the same time stop their craving for ice cream.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 4)
° 2 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
° 125ml (1 orange) freshly squeezed orange juice or orange juice
° 2 tablespoons icing sugar or powder sugar, to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste it, add more sugar, if necessary and blend to mix well.
2. Pour into ice lolly mould and place in the freezer until frozen for at least 3 – 4 hours.

Seasoned Mushroom (Buhsut Namool)

Another Korean side dish. Simple and yet delicious. It can be added to Bibimbap too.

Preparation: 12 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced

Seasoning
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° l½ tablespoon light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
° ½ teaspoon roasted sesame seeds

Method
1. Blanch the mushroom in a pot of boiling water until cooked. Drain well and squeeze out any excess liquid. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the mushroom to a big bowl or plate. Stir in the sesame oil, light soy sauce, sugar and mix well.
3. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and serve.

Crispy Wonton Strip

I got this idea from the Minced Mushroom Rice @ Waterdrop Tea house in Punggol. So, I got a packet of wonton wrapper from the wet market and deep fried them. I added some of them to my Raw Veggies Bibimbap and it is awesome.

Cooking time: 10 mins, Total time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 24 pieces wonton wrapper, cut into 4 or 5 sections
° oil, for deep-frying

Method
1. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or wok and fry in batches until golden yellow.
2. Remove the wonton strip with a slotted spoon. Drain well on kitchen paper and serve as soon as possible to ensure they remain crispy.

Tip
1. Put wontons strip in oven or microwave for 1-2 minutes if they lose their crispiness.

Raw Veggies Bibimbap

Bibimbap mixed!

If you know nothing about cooking, or never whip up any dish before. With a given task to whip up a Korean Dish, do you think it is mission impossible? Well, nothing is impossible.

Here is the simple dish – Raw Veggie Bibimbap that you can churn out to impress anyone! Have a electric rice cooker at home to cook plain white rice? If not, just pack some steaming hot white rice from any rice stalls.

Next, get few veggies like carrot, Japanese cucumber, radish, lettuce, dow miao (pea shoots), sprouts, rocket leaves and the list goes on. For carrots, Japanese cucumber, radish and lettuce you just need to cut them into shreds.

And don’t forget you need to have the Gochujang (Korean Hot Bean Paste) where you can easily get them from any Korean Supermarkets in Singapore.

Now, you have rice, raw veggies and gochujang. Just scoop the cooked rice into individual big serving bowls and top with a portion of the raw veggies. Serve with a plate of gochujang on the side. Your guest could just mix them all well prior to eating.

You are going to impress them and it is sooo simple!

For my Raw Veggies Bibimbap, I have

* shredded Japanese cucumber

* shredded carrot

* shredded lettuce

* dow miao (pea shoots)

* enoki mushroom

* shredded nori

* cooked plain rice sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds

* tomato, for garnish

Mix all the ingredients well with gochujang and drizzle ½ teaspoon of sesame oil (optional). I also added some crispy wonton skin (which is not in the photograph), it is so lovely!

In fact, any Vegetarian Eateries can serve this Raw Veggies Bibimbap or Raw Veggies Bibimmyeon (noodles) at any time, as there isn’t much preparation required at all.

Hmm... A good dish for picnic, charity fair or lunch box. Just keep the cooked rice in a food warmer! And most importantly a perfect and fuss free lunch or dinner for a lazy me on some lazy days …

Silken Tofu with Spicy Soy Sauce

This is an eco-friendly ‘No Cook’ dish which anyone can do within 5 minutes. It is yummy! For a smoother texture, do steam or blanch the tofu for 5 minutes.

Preparation: 5 mins, Total time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 pack silken tofu (300g), cut into 8 cubes
° few slices spring onion (optional), for garnish

Sauce
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
° 1 teaspoon sugar
° ½ teaspoon sesame oil

Method
1. To make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Place the tofu on a serving plate and drizzle the spicy soy sauce over the tofu.
3. Garnish with spring onion and serve as an appetizer or side dish with hot rice.

Simple Vegetarian Kimchi Fried Rice

Is Vegetarian Food boring and limited? The answer is of course a big NO! In fact, lots of other cuisine, with some modifications, can be turned into vegetarian version easily. Simple Kimchi Fried Rice which usually calls for beef, but here I cook a meatless version and added king oyster mushroom just for fun! Light soy sauce can be used if desired. Sprinkle some toasted black sesame seeds and spring onion to garnish. With 2 to 3 Korean Side dishes added, it can be a simple meal by itself.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° 50g green capsicum, seeded and diced
° 75g king oyster mushroom, diced
° 150g vegetarian kimchi, chopped or diced
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° few fresh coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the green capsicum, mushroom and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in the cooked rice, kimchi and season with salt. Fry for 2-3 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry.
4. Add in the sesame oil and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Fried Rice with Zucchini and Carrot

I had a real tasty Ginseng Fried Rice with zucchini and carrot .

If I could get vacuum-packed white ginseng, I would use it to cook the rice. And with finely chopped ginseng, zucchini and carrot to fry the rice that had been cooked with ginseng. For our climate in Singapore, young ginseng might not be so suitable for us, unless we are staying in cold countries. So, for this recipe it is just zucchini and carrot being used.

To make it more interesting for kids, get some Korean seaweed (some small rectangle nori sheet) to wrap the rice to eat.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° 100g zucchini, finely chopped
° 25g carrot, peeled and finely chopped
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and pepper to taste
° 1 teaspoon sesame oil
° few fresh coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Heat the olive oil in a wok. Add the ginger or garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the zucchini and carrot and stir-fry for 1 minute.
3. Stir in the cooked rice and fry for 2-3 minutes or until rice is heated through. Sprinkle with some water if it is too dry. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add in the sesame oil and serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.

Kimchi Udon

A quick and simple recipe - Kimchi Udon ! In this recipe, I am using vegetarian kimchi (without fish sauce and garlic) and you can add in some kimchi juice if desired. As I am not using vegetable stock, I added some kelp for making the soup base and retained the kelp for making a side dish – seasoned kelp (Seaweed Salad).

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 packs (400g) udon noodle
° 150g vegetarian kimchi
° 5g dried shredded kelps
° 1 slice ginger
° 800ml water
° salt to taste
° sugar to taste (optional)
° 1½ tablespoons dried chilli flake (optional), to serve

Method
1. Place the dried kelps with water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Discard or retain the shredded kelps for other dishes.
2. Throw in the udon and kimchi. Bring to a boil and season to taste with salt and sugar.
3. To serve, ladle into a serving bowl. Sprinkle some dried chilli flakes and serve immediately

Vegetarian Kimchi Instant Noodle

Vegetarian Kimchi

If you have Vegetarian Kimchi, whipping up a bowl of Kimchi Instant Noodle is not a problem at all. I used Tung-1 Instant Vegetarian Noodle, half the sachet of the seasoning and added 25g of chopped kimchi to it. Add more dried chilli flakes if desired.

Lemon Grass Agar-Agar

Someone shared about a lovely Rice Pudding Dessert that uses lemongrass flavoured coconut milk and mint. That gave me the inspiration to come up with this agar agar for kids. Besides this, it also makes me think of using glutinous rice to cook with lemongrass serve with durian or banana and coconut milk!

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (Makes 32 pieces)
° 12g agar-agar powder
° 1.25l water
° 10-12 stalks fresh lemon grass
° 250ml fresh coconut milk
° 250g sugar or to taste
° food colouring (optional)

Method
1. Peel off the outer layers of the lemon grass stalks, leaving the tender whitish centre. Cut into 8cm pieces and bruised. Place the lemon grass and 1 litre water in a pot. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Discard the lemon grass.
2. Dissolve agar-agar powder in 250ml of water. Pour into the pot the pot, add sugar and bring to a boil.
3. Mix 250ml agar-agar mixture to 250ml coconut milk, let it cool into individual mould or serving glass.
4. Pour in the rest of agar-agar when the coconut layer starts to firm up. Leave it to cool and refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Mix and Match Recipes !

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

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

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

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

Lunch Box …

During August and September, I prepared lunch box for my son frequently. What I discovered that not all vegetables are suitable for lunch boxes.

Mushroom, tofu, cabbage, tomatoes, soybean sprout, celery, kelp salad, corn salad, mashed eggplants, cauliflower, pickled cabbage, pumpkin, curry dishes can be an ideal choice.

Soup is an excellent choice as you can put hot soup in a thermos flask (or those used for hot beverage).

Braised dishes, quick one-pot meal, sushi rice, cold soba are a good choice. Home-made rice seasoning and furikake can be packed separately and mix with the rice.

Note: Lunch Box needs to be prepared properly and put in suitable containers, else it can be hazardous to health. I purchased a Zojirushi brand thermos flask during a Sale, it was a steal.

Kindness Banana Salad

Why do I name this as Kindness Banana Salad?

Because this recipe was given to me via email by a Non-Vegetarian , Sous Chef – Mr Alfred Lee. I have used Vegetarian Mayo instead of Yogurt following the recipe (check out the recipe below). If Alfred had whip up this salad, I am very sure the presentation is very very much better than mine. Don’t believe me check out his blog at www.citi-monkey.blogspot.com, you will WOW.

Thank you very much Alfred, hope you could create more Vegetarian and Vegan Friendly delectable dishes for us :)

........................................................................

Hi Crystal,

I just read through your new recipe on banana so perhaps you would like to try this banana salad which is pretty simple and taste good to me.

Ingredients

Mango Puree - sweetPlain Yoghurt - I am not very sure do all vegetarian take yoghurt, if not substitute with vgt mayonnaise
Lemon Juice as desire
Mix well

Then add in the Banana slice about 2-3cm thick
Mint leaves slice
Garnish with wedges of strawberry and mint leaves

Good Day,
Alfred

Noodles with 'Feng Cheng Toon Vegetarian Chops’

HA! You don’t need any cooking skill to whip up this dish. Just blanched the yellow noodle in boiling water and drained. Next, add ‘Feng Cheng Toon Vegetarian Chops’ (香椿素食肉燥), no other seasoning or oil is required. Toss well and enjoy a simple bowl of noodle.

For garnishing, some toasted sesame seeds or freshly chopped spring onion or sliced Lady’s Finger (blanched).