To Cook
Heat wok over medium-high heat, and add oil and ginger and fry till fragrant.
Add the garlic, mushrooms, wood ear fungus, dried chestnuts, dried bean sticks, lotus root, gingko nuts into wok. Stir-fry for 1 min, then add half cup of water/vegetable stock into wok. Cover wok with lid and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Uncover wok, adjust heat to high and add wombok cabbage, snow peas and carrots. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine and the remaining water/vegetable stock. Stir everything together, cover wok and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
Uncover the wok and adjust heat to high. Add mung bean noodles, which would soak up most of the liquid.
Transfer Buddha’s Delight to a bowl or claypot and serve with steamed rice.
Vegetables
Black Pepper Tofu
To Cook
Start with the tofu. Pour enough oil into a large frying pan or wok that it reaches 5mm on the sides and heat.
Cut the tofu into large cubes, about 3 x 2cm. Toss them in some cornflour and shake off the excess before adding to the hot oil. (You’ll need to fry the tofu pieces in a few batches so they don’t stew in the pan).
Fry, turning them around as you go, until they are golden all over and have a thin crust. As they are cooked, transfer them onto kitchen paper.
Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan, then put the butter inside and melt it. Add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger. Sauté on low to medium heat for about 15 mins, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients have turned shiny and are totally soft. Next, add the soy sauces and sugar and stir, then add the crushed black pepper.
Add the tofu to warm it up in the sauce.
Nasi Goreng
To Cook
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook eggs in batches for 2-3 mins or until cooked to your liking. Set aside and keep warm.
Heat the remaining oil, add onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 mins. Add the rice, soy sauce, sesame oil, carrots and kecap manis and cook for 3-5 mins or until combined. Check for seasoning. If it’s not salty enough, just add a bit of salt or soy sauce.
Divide the rice between bowls, top with the egg, bean sprouts, chilli, coriander, basil and fried shallots. Serve with sliced cucumber and tomatoes.
Trio of Mushroom Sushi Burger with Lotus Chips Nori Salt
To Cook
Place sushi seasoning ingredients in a small pan and simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Rinse rice until the water runs clear and place in a saucepan with the water. Cover and let it simmer until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Set aside to cool for 5 mins.
Place rice in a glass bowl, add sushi seasoning and stir with a rice paddle, fanning until the rice is cool.
Put a cookie mould or egg ring on a tray lined with baking paper. Press the rice into the moulds to form 4 burger shapes, sprinkling black sesame seeds on two of the shapes. Chill until needed.
Mix the flours, baking powder, salt and water to make the fritter batter. Chill until needed.
Place the pickling ingredients in a small pan and let it simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let the mixture cool.
Finely julienne the carrot and thinly slice the radish before adding both to the pickling mixture. Drain before serving.
Trim the enoki mushrooms, to separate, chop the shiitake mushroom finely. Place 1 tbsp of flour (extra) in a freezer bag, toss the enoki mushrooms till coated, fold the shiitake mushrooms and coated enoki mushrooms into the prepared batter.
Heat oil in a heavy based frying pan and spoon batter in, forming 2 patties. Fry until golden and cooked through.
Mix the Kewpie Mayonnaise, Kewpie Dressing Roast Sesame and wasabi paste together and pour into a serving bowl.
Slice the lotus root thinly and place in a bowl of water while heating the oil. Drain, pat dry and fry the lotus root until crisp and golden.
Process the nori sheet until it forms small crumbs, add the ground salt and stir to combine.
To Serve
Place a sushi circle on the serving plate, top with lettuce, avocado, pickled carrot, garlic chives & cucumber, place a mushroom fritter on top, add the pickled radish and a few shimeji mushrooms. Drizzle with a little sesame and wasabi mayonnaise. Place the remaining sushi circle on the top to form the burger.
Sprinkle the lotus chips with nori salt and serve with the remaining sesame & wasabi mayonnaise to dip.
Vegie Inari Sushi
To Cook
Cut the 3 sheets of fried bean curd in half and very carefully open the two sides of the sheet from the site of the cut, to make it look like an envelope without separating at the sides. Be very careful not to make any holes and separate only slightly.
Put the sheets in a pot and bring to boil for 5 mins to extract excess oils.
Strain the pot and then add 1 cup of water, as well as the sake, soy sauce and the sugar. Simmer for 20 mins. Let the contents of the pot cool.
Wash the white rice and add the white and black rice to a rice cooker. Add one and a half cups of water to the rice and set to cook.
Once the rice is cooked, while still hot, add the sushi vinegar and mix well and let it cool.
Using the carrot, cut a few small flowers using a small knife. Do the same for the lotus root. Cut the cucumber to your liking and slice the radish thinly to garnish. Separate the edamame beans from the shell.
Squeeze the excess stock from the fried bean curd sheet once it has cooled down and gently open each of the half sheets that were separated prior to boiling. Open them further to create a bag or pocket shape. Spoon the rice into each of the bags that you have created.
Add the carrot, lotus root, scrambled egg, cucumber, edamame, and radish neatly across each of the parcels as you please. Additionally, use a teaspoon to add the desired amount of cod roe to the parcels.
Thai Vegetarian Yellow Curry
To Cook
Heat a wok over medium heat and add half a jar of the Valcom Yellow Curry Paste. When fragrant, add the carrot and cook for a further 2 mins.
Pour in coconut cream and stir to combine. Add the fish sauce and the palm sugar. Once bubbling, reduce to simmer for 5 mins.
Add puffed tofu and cook for a further 2 mins.
Add bok choy and serve on top of a bowl of rice.
Top with lemon wedges, a handful of coriander, pinch of chopped fresh chilli. Sprinkle with fried shallots for some extra crunch!
Crispy Sesame Tofu with Radish Salad & Yuzu Mayonnaise
To Cook
Finely shred the cabbage. Finely slice the radishes. Set aside. Combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar and toasted sesame seeds in a small screw top jar and shake to combine. Set aside.
Combine Kewpie mayonnaise and yuzu juice. Whisk to combine.
Place tofu pieces between two sheets of paper towel and press to remove excess moisture. Combine sesame seeds and panko crumbs. Take each tofu piece and coat in corn flour, then dip in the egg and finally the seed/crumb mixture.
Heat the oil and fry in two batches in a small frying pan for a couple of minutes each side (or until golden). Place on paper to drain.
Toss salad with the wafu dressing. Drizzle the yuzu mayonnaise over the tofu.
This dish can be served with steamed rice.
Sesame Soba Noodle Salad
To Cook
In a large pot, fill with enough water to cover the soba noodles and bring to a boil, then add the noodles. Cook the soba noodles according to the instructions on the package, generally this is approx. 5 mins. Drain and rinse immediately with cold tap water. Make sure you rinse them thoroughly, so they are not too starchy. Drain the cooled noodles and set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, mirin, lime juice, sesame oil, red chillies and sesame seeds. Whisk all ingredients together to combine well.
Now in a large salad bowl, add the soba noodles, spring onions, coriander, julienne carrots and asparagus ribbons and drizzle the dressing over the salad. Gently combine well, cover and chill down in the fridge before serving.
Teriyaki Tofu Sushi
To Cook
Cut tofu into long thin pieces and marinate in teriyaki sauce for 20 mins. (I left some tofu unmarinated for those in the family that did not like teriyaki)
Cook the sushi rice by following the packet instructions. Once cooked, fold through Obento seasoning and cool in fridge.
Lightly fry the tofu and place in the fridge to cool.
Prepare vegetables while the rice is cooling by slicing long thin pieces of avocado and cucumber.
Cover your sushi roller in plastic to keep it clean and begin by placing your sushi sheet (shiny side up) in the middle of the mat.
Push rice flat onto the sushi sheet taking up the bottom three indents on the sheet. Put a generous line of mayonnaise horizontally along the rice followed with a slice of tofu and vegetables. Be careful not to overfill.
From the bottom up, roll the sushi mat over the sushi to form a roll, making sure to tuck in the seaweed tightly as it folds over.
Repeat this for all sushi folds. Once the rolls have set for a minute, use a wet knife to cut into slices and serve with ginger and soy sauce. Enjoy!
Spicy Rainbow Soba Noodle Salad
To Cook
Prepare Obento Soba Noodles as per packet instructions, allowing to cool in the fridge while you prepare the other ingredients.
Prepare cherry tomatoes, carrot, cucumber and cabbage and roughly toss together in a bowl.
Make salad dressing by combining all salad dressing ingredients.
Serve salad by first placing the noodles, then the vegetable mix, then the dressing and garnish with fresh coriander and fried onion for that extra crunch.
Dumpling Laksa
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok and add laksa paste for a few minutes, then add coconut milk and 1 cup of water. After a few minutes, add the vegetarian dumplings and the tofu puffs.
Meanwhile, heat egg noodles in a bowl with hot water. Once both dishes are ready, transfer the egg noodles to bowls and pour in the laksa and dumplings. Garnish with bean sprouts and lime wedges.”
Toshikoshi Soba
To Cook
Make the dashi stock by combining 1.5L of water with 8 tbsp of dashi granules into a large saucepan.
Add the mirin to the dashi stock and bring to a gentle simmer, then add the tamari sauce.
Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and continue to simmer until the broth is ready to be served.
Cook the soba noodles by bringing a saucepan of water to boil and then adding the soba noodles.
Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the noodles to cook for approximately 4-5 mins.
While the soba noodles are cooking, add the asparagus and mushrooms to the dashi broth and cook in the simmering liquid.
Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water and set aside until ready to serve.
Scoop the asparagus and mushrooms from the broth and set aside.
To Serve
Pour the broth into bowls.
Add the noodles.
Add the tofu, asparagus and mushrooms.
Garnish with sliced chives and toasted nori flakes.