MEATLESS DISH - STIR FRY KAILAN WITH BEANCURD AND MUSHROOMS

With the pandemic situation getting serious, affecting people all over the world in one way or other, there have been appeals for people to consider going on meatless diet.  Some international organizations have been stressing on this, too.  It is no harm to add more meatless dishes to your home cooked meals which are not difficult to create.

Most of the ingredients can be mixed and matched in whatever portions,  variations, flavor and tastes.  Basically, they are healthy and plant based, could be hearty, surprisingly delicious and tasty.  Each dish you create in your kitchen is unique because of your mix and match. Why not try some and share the ideas??? 

This dish is prepared with whatever ingredients [excluding meat] that I have in my kitchen.  Just this dish is sufficient to serve over rice in one plate for 2-3 paxs.

The picture of the ingredients is enough to cook for 2 paxs for 2 meals [serve with rice or used to prepare a noodle dish].  Is a dish suitable for the young and old.

Ingredients

[serves 2]

2 stalks of kailan - wash and cut, separate stems and leaves

1 piece firm beancurd [taukwa] - cut into 10-12 small pieces 

some dried mushrooms - soaked and sliced

some black fungus - soaked and break into small florets

some red carrots - peeled and sliced

some canned button mushrooms - sliced

some chopped ginger

some tofu puffs - cut [set aside for cooking a noodle dish]

1-2 cups water

1 tbsp cooking oil

some cornstarch water for thickening

some sesame seed oil [optional]

Seasoning

1 tbsp vegetarian mushrooms sauce

1/2 - 2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/4 tsp mushroom stock granules

1/4 tsp salt to taste

dashes of white pepper

1. Prepare the ingredients as abovementioned. Pan fry firm beancurd in a non stick wok until golden brown.  Dish up, set aside.
2. Using the same wok and oil, saute dried mushrooms until fragrant, then add in chopped ginger.  Fry until aromatic before adding carrots, button mushrooms and black fungus.  Stir fry for awhile before adding water [can be hot water].
3. Bring to boil, add in seasoning to taste.  Add in kailan stems to cook.
4. Then add in kailan leaves and fried firm beancurd.  Stir to mix and bring to boil.  Add more water if you want more gravy to spread over rice.  Lastly, thicken with cornstarch water.  Off heat.
5. Scoop rice onto serving plate, then scoop prepared dish over rice or serve separately.
6. Serve immediately with some cut chillies or vegetarian sambal paste with a squeeze of lime juice.  ENJOY!!!

MEATLESS STIR FRY CAULIFLOWER

Praise yourself if you can gradually switch to preparing more meatless dishes in your daily meals.  It is a great healthy step ahead especially if you are all along a 'carnivore'.  Not easy to change but gradually, I believe you can slowly reduce the your intake of meat, seafood etc. 

This is a cauliflower dish cooked with an assortment of other ingredients except meat or chicken and prawns.  Not necessary to follow exactly all the items and portion.  Just make use of what you have in your pantry, little bits of leftover ingredients can be used to prepare this healthy dish.   For example, if you don't have dried red chillies, use fresh ones or omit if you don't have any.  You can substitute the spiciness and heat with pepper.  No taufu puff, is alright to add fried firm beancurd or taufu etc.  Sweet beans can be substituted with celery stems.  There is nothing wrong at all.   This dish can be served as One Dish Meal with rice and it is a complete meal.

Adding dried chillies makes this dish a bit spicy and appetising.  

Ingredients

[serves 3]

100-150 gm cauliflower - washed cut into florets

30 gm red carrots - peeled and sliced

6-7 sweet beans - peel the sides and cut into half

2 dried mushroons - soak and plumb up

2 black fungus [boknee] - soak to plumb

4-5 taufu puff  

2-3 dried red chillies - cut into small sections, soaked and drained

some chopped ginger

1 tsp sesame seed oil

1 tbsp oil

some water

some cornstarch water for thickening

Seasoning

mushroom flavoured sauce, mushroom stock granules, salt and pepper to taste

1. Prepare the ingredients as stated above.
2. Add oil to a non stick wok, add in chopped ginger, dried chillies and mushrooms.  Stir fry over medium heat until aromatic. 
3. Add in carrots and taufu puffs.  Stir to mix well, add in water to braise ingredients.  Add in seasoning to taste.  Bring to boil for an extra minute.
4. Add in black fungus followed by cauliflower [you may blanch cauliflower, black fungus and carrots before frying ginger and dried chillies].
5. Cook until cauliflower is soft.  Add in sweet beans, stir fry until cooked through.  Thicken with cornstarch water.  Drizzle in sesame seed oil.
6. Dish up to serve with rice.

MALAYSIAN LOCKDOWN MEALS [9]

I was able to get a whole yam [about 800 grams] from the supermart for below RM10.00. This whole yam is enough to cook a few dishes such as Yam Rice, Yam Noodles, Stir Fry Yam with Chicken, Yam and Sago dessert etc. It is long list as yam for these dishes is not a main ingredient. Moreover, cut yam can be stored in the freezer and keeps well for sometime.

This Yam Rice recipe is an easy one to cook up as all the ingredients are mostly available in an oriental kitchen.

It is awesome, the rice is so tasty, while the yam pieces are soft and aromatic. Even better to serve with a bowl of vegetable soup.  You can either steam the rice or cook it in the rice cooker.

Dish 15 - EZ Steamed Yam Rice with Chinese Sausage [Lap Cheong]

Ingredients

[serves 2-3]

200 gm rice - washed and drained

150 gm yam - cut cubes

1 Chinese sausage [lap cheong] - wrapper removed and cut cubes

2 dried mushrooms - soaked and cut cubes

1 tbsp dried prawns - rinsed and coarsely chopped

4-5 shallots - peeled and sliced thinly

250 - 280 ml water [can add the water from soaking of the mushrooms]

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

spring onion - chopped

Seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar or 1-2 dashes of msg

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp each light soy sauce and oyster sauce

some dark soy sauce for colour

1. Heat oil in a wok, saute shallots until golden brown and crispy.  Remove the crispy shallots into a plate.  Set aside.
2. Using the same wok, add in mushrooms, dried prawns and lap cheong.  Stir fry until aromatic.  Add in yam cubes, continue to fry for several minutes.  Reduce heat to low.  Add in rice and seasoning ingredients.  
3. Continue to stir fry for several minutes to mix well and the rice is evenly coloured.
4. Dish up onto a steaming tray or rice cooker.  Add in water and some crispy shallots, stir to mix well.
5. Steam rice for 40-50 minutes [halfway, stir to ensure even cooking] or cook rice in the rice cooker as usual.
6. Off heat, leave for 5 -10 minutes before fluffing up to serve.
7. Garnish with spring onions and crispy shallots.

FRAGRANT TUMERIC COCONUT RICE WITH YAM

What a great idea to cook vegetarian coconut rice with tumeric and yam? Awesome combination of ingredients and it is so easy to prepare this vegetarian style coconut rice using the rice cooker. Everything is done in one pot. Just perfect for a One Dish Meal. Feel free to add any other ingredients if preferred but for vegetarian or meatless meal, the ingredients here are sufficient. 

The rice looks tempting with the bright yellow. Very aromatic, fragrant and tasty. The yam cubes are look whitish [Thai Yam] and every piece is tender and soft with its natural sweetness. The coconut milk, savoury flavoured rice blends well with the soft.

Ingredients

360 gm [120gm x 3 cups] white rice - washed and drained

200 gm yam - skinned and cut cubes

1/2 bowl frozen mixed vegetables

3 dried mushrooms - soaked and cut cubes

some vegetarian meat - cubed [optional]

1 tbsp chopped ginger

some chopped coriander leaves or Chinese celery

120-150 ml thick coconut milk + enough water to cook the rice

1 tsp tumeric powder

1/2 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt to taste

1. Prepare the ingredients for cooking the rice.
2. Heat up the rice cooker, add oil, saute ginger, then mushrooms, vegetarian meat [if using] and yam until aromatic.
3. Add in the rice with tumeric powder.  Stir to mix ingredients well for 1-2 minutes.  Then add in the salt and mixed vegetables.  Pour in coconut milk and stir to mix.
4. Add enough water to cook the rice.  Turn cooker to cook rice mode according to the rice cooker menu.  Halfway through cooking, open lid, stir to mix for even cooking. Cover lid and continue to cook the rice.
5. Rest for several minutes, then fluff up the rice with a pair of chopsticks.  Cover and leave cooker on keep warm mode.
6. Scoop up to serve, garnish with chopped coriander.  I serve this rice with a vegetarian black eyed peas soup.

KOCHA BEE STEAMED RICE [EU P'NG STYLE]

This recipe is for some who love eating Hokkien 'Eu P'ng' but are glutinous rice intolerance. Here, I used Embryo Rice. All rice in its natural form is gluten free. Rice is one of the most popular gluten-free grains for people with celiac disease.

Great One Dish Meal recipe for the busy people. Do refer to this post Kocha [Traditional] Steamed Glutinous Rice if you like to cook this dish using glutinous rice. The aroma of the fried ingredients like fried shallots and mushrooms make this rice salivating. 

Ingredients

[serve 4-5]

320 gm rice - washed, rinsed and drained [I used Embryo Rice]

Other Ingredients

6 dried mushrooms - soaked and cut strips

1-2 tbsp dried prawns - rinsed a few times and drained

150 gm pork belly or shoulder meat - cut thin strips

40 gm shallots - sliced

2 tsp sesame seed oil

2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning

3 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp wine

1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce [can omit if you like light coloured rice]

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt to taste

1 tsp pepper to taste

dash of chicken stock granules

1. Heat wok, add 2 tbsp oil, saute shallots until golden brown and crispy. Remove.
2. Using the same wok, add some chopped spring onions [white part] and pork belly meat strips. Continue to fry until fragrant and oil oozes out. Add in mushrooms and dried prawns, fry until aromatic. Add in seasoning and rice.
3. Continue to fry for 1-2 minutes. Add fried shallots, mix well. Dish up into steaming plate. Add about 640 ml water [2 times of rice].
4. Bring water in steamer to boil. Place rice in a steaming tray, cover with lid. Steamed rice in steamer for 30 -40 minutes or until rice is cooked and soft. Halfway while steaming, can give the rice a stir. Keep warm in steamer until required.
5. Fluff up rice, sprinkle with chopped spring onions or coriander and top up with extra crispy fried shallots.
6. Serve with cut chillies or sambal belacan [Malaysian chilli paste].