Quick Button Mushroom Clear Soup

This is an easy-to-prepare clear soup.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 4 white button mushrooms, sliced
° 8 slices carrot
° 8 snow peas, cut into small section
° 1 slice ginger
° 375ml water or vegetable stock
° salt and pepper to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste

Method
1. Place button mushrooms, carrot, ginger and water in a pot. Bring soup to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes
2. Add in the snow peas and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and serve.

QQ水晶果 and 可可榴香

QQ水晶果 (Chinese Crystal Ball Dessert)

可可榴香

I went to Friendly Vegetarian Food Supplier at AMK, to buy Vegetarian Siew Mai for my son school - Teachers’ Appreciation Party. Guess what I found, QQ水晶果 (Chinese Crystal Ball Dessert) and 可可榴香 (No English name for this product, it is filled with durian and yam paste).

For the QQ水晶果, you just need to defrost it and it can be served, no cooking required.

Whereas for the other product, just deep-fried prior to serve, you may bake it if you like for a healthier choice.

By the way, the Vegetarian Siew Mai is lovely. Just steam them and you can have some ready made party food.

Lemon and Passion Fruit Juice

A cool and refreshing drink! If you find dissolving sugar a bit different, add sugar to hot water and stir vigorously to dissolve it.

Preparation: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 lemon, freshly squeezed
° 1 passion fruit pulps
° 500ml water
° sugar, to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a glass and mix well. Chilled or serve with ice.

Toasted Sandwiches with Cinnamon Apple Filling

I love Apple Pie Filling very much and decided to use it to make sandwiches. In this recipe, I replace butter with olive oil. The amount of cinnamon powder can be adjusted to personal preference.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (makes 8)
° 8 slices bread

Cinnamon Apple Filling
° 400g green apples dices
° 2 tablespoons olive oil
° 2½ tablespoons sugar, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons cinnamon powder, or to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a non-stick work.
2. Add in the green apple, cinnamon powder and sugar. Stir fry for 10 minutes or until apple is soften. Leave to cool.
3. Place the cinnamon apple filling onto the bread and make toasted sandwiches according to the instruction of sandwiches makers.

Rice Cake with Gochujang (Ddeokbokki)

This is Ddeokbokki (炒年糕), a popular Korean street food. I did not use the Korean rice cake but used the white rice cake which is a product of China. Both the Korean rice cake and gochujang (hot pepper paste) can be purchased from Korean shop at Novena Square 2. Some recipes used small fish to make the stock and sugar too. For a vegan and healthier version, I omitted both ingredients and at the same time make this real simple.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 100g white rice cake, soaked overnight
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° ¾ tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), or to taste
° 250ml water or vegetable stock
° small handful of chopped spring onion or coriander (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the white rice cake, water and gochujang. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and the rice cake is soften.
3. Garnish with spring onion or coriander and serve immediately.

Stir-Fried Lo Shi Fun with Gochujang (Ddeokbokki)

An improvised dish from Korean street food - Ddeokbokki (炒年糕). I used Lo Shi Fun! Lo Shi Fun is a type of rice noodle that shaped like mice tails. Not many eateries sell lo shi fun dishes.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 3 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 400g Lo Shi Fun
° 1 clove garlic or 1 slice ginger, finely chopped
° ¾ tablespoon olive oil
° 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), or to taste
° 30ml water or vegetable stock
° small handful of chopped spring onion or coriander (optional), for garnish
° some toasted sesame seed (optional)

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the garlic or ginger and fry till fragrant.
2. Throw in the lo shi fun, water and gochujang. Stir fry until the sauce is thicken.
3. Garnish with spring onion or coriander and sesame seed.
4. Serve immediately.

Pineapple and Lemon Juice

If possible, use honey pineapple which is sweeter and add a pinch of salt if desired. Salt help to bring out the flavour in fruit; however our daily allowance of salt is 5 grams (one teaspoon). This juice is thick as all the fibre is retained, no wastage at all. This is just another way of eating fruit. Tracy Juice Culture (@ Vivocity, Fortune Centre) serves a much better pineapple and lemon juice – Pine Lemon, which is rich in vitamin C.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 400g ripe honey pineapple, peeled and chopped
° 1 lemon, peeled and chopped
° 125ml cold water
° sugar to taste
° few ice cubes or crushed ice

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Taste it, add more sugar, if necessary. Chilled or serve with ice.

Crystal’s Green Papaya Salad

Green Papaya Salad/ Limes / Candied Orange

This is a modified Thai Green Papaya Salad. I added preserved candied orange, which is available at the Traditional Chinese Medical shops. Garnish with sesame seed or grounded peanut, if desired.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g green papaya, peeled, finely shredded and chilled
° 1 (50g) preserved candied orange, finely chopped or shredded
° 1½-2 tablespoons (3-4 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 2 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Mix the lime juice and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
2. Place the papaya and preserved candied orange in a salad bowl and drizzled with the lime juice dressing. Toss well and serve.

Dang Gui Soup (Angelica Root Soup)

Red dates/wolfberries/angelica root & a glass of Angelica Root Soup

In fact, I wanted to have a bowl of Korean Ginseng Soup, but there is only 1 pack of fresh ginseng which is not so fresh at the supermarket. My ginseng soup becomes Dang Kui Soup!

I added fresh mushrooms which have the power of inhibiting tumor growth, lowering the cholesterol levels, boost the immune system as it stimulates the production of white blood cell and effective in fighting some types of cancer. It also has many important sources of nutrients.

Red dates helps to improve qi, boast blood circulation, calms the spirit and prevents pigmentation too.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 1-2 slices Dang Gui/angelica root
° 1 litre water
° 12 seedless red dates
° 10 fresh shitake mushrooms
° 1 tablespoon wolfberries
° salt, to taste
° a small handful fresh chopped spring onion or coriander leaves (optional), for garnish

Method
1. Place dang gui, red dates, mushrooms and water in a pot and continually boil for 25 minutes. Add in the wolfberries and boil for another 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
2. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls, garnish with spring onion or coriander leaves and serve hot.

Vegetarian Belacan Fried Rice

Belacan Fried Rice - you can simply do it yourself, no problem. I add tempeh and carrot to substitute prawn or shrimps which usually call for. Lots of lettuce and cucumber are used to garnish this fried rice and also to increase the fiber intake. If you love fried dried chilli, use more!

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 bowls cooked rice
° 15g-20g vegetarian belacan, chopped and mashed
° 2 dried chilli, chopped
° 2 pieces (100g) fresh tempeh, chopped
° 25g carrot, peeled and chopped
° 2½ -3 tablespoons olive oil
° some lettuces and cucumber slices, for garnish

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, fry the vegetarian belacan and dried chilli for 1 minute.
2. Add in the tempeh and fry for another 1 minute or until fragrant over medium heat.
3. Stir in the cooked rice and carrot. If it is too dry, sprinkle some water on it. Fry about 2-3 minutes or until rice is heated through. Serve hot.

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

A Hot Cup of Almond!

Almond Meal (100% natural, no sugar added, no preservative, no colouring), Sim Tech Hiang Almond Syrup, Almond Powder with Fritillaria Cirrhosa

A hot cup of Almond Drink! I remember when I had a bad night cough a decade ago, my ex-colleague advised me to take almond syrup and it worked. Well, if you have persistent cough, it is still better to consult the doctor but it is no harm drinking a hot cup of almond tea with Fritillaria Cirrhosa .

You can get this from the supermarket – Almond Powder with Fritillaria Cirrhosa. If you prefer it without added sugar, go for the Almond Meal which I got from a Vegetarian Shop.

This beverage is getting popular at Food Court, you can order a cup of hot almond where consist of Almond Powder with Fritillaria Cirrhosa and Almond Syrup.

Almonds is nutritious and almond milk is a good substitute for milk.

Green Mango

Another way to eat green mango.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 “half-ripe” green mango, peeled, stoned and cut into strips
° 1 teaspoon sweet prune powder
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° ½ -1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

Method
1. Arrange mango on a serving plate.
2. Mix the sweet prune powder, sugar and chilli flakes in a plate.
3. Serve the green mango with the mixed prune powder at the side.