All posts tagged: vegetarian

white bean salad recipe

Holiday White Bean Salad

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It’s certainly been a while! How have you all been? My family and I travelled to France at the end of June for two weeks and after we came back to Berlin, I still felt like I needed a little bit more time to settle into our new way of life, so I took another three weeks off, hardly any activity on social media either. I am feeling great after this long break and am immensely grateful that we could get out of our apartment after being ‘home-bounded’ for many months, a change of scenery surely helped us eliminated some of the anxiety and uncertainty that were built up in the past few months. We feel a lot better than a month ago and we certainly have found a new rhythm for our everyday life. Although our lives will still be affected by Coronavirus for some times to come, but we are learning everyday to better adapt to this unfortunate situation, hopefully to restore some sort of normalities. That said, our lives will never be the same …

Vegetarian Singapore Noodles recipe

Vegetarian Singapore Noodles with BBQ Mushroom

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If you are familiar with Chinese food and you might have already heard of (or even had) a noodle dish called Singapore noodles. Despite the name, it is not of Singapore origin. In fact, it is a very popular Cantonese dish created by Chinese cook! It has a very different taste than most of the usual Chinese noodles, because its main seasoning is curry powder! Traditionally, Singapore noodles is made with very thin rice noodles, barbecue pork, prawns, onions and bean sprouts. Stir-fried in a hot wok until every strand of noodle is coated with the warm spice and the noodles has a wonderful slightly springy texture. The main seasoning is curry powder and soy sauce, some add chili to achieve extra heat. It is one of the most famous dishes in Cantonese cuisine, every cook has his or her own version of this noodle dish, and I have my own version too – I use the ingredients I have in hands to create a vegetarian version which I am sharing here with you. The noodles …

creamy mushroom and asparagus with wild rice recipe

Creamy Mushrooms and Asparagus served with Wild Rice

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It is not difficult at all to make mushroom taste delicious or even addictive, one needs to get to know the difference between each kind, and to learn the right way to cook with them. Some mushrooms have more moisture than the others, which makes it preform better in a sauce, such as cremini, button and shiitake. King oyster is my favourite, it has a sturdier (meaty) texture than other mushroom, so apart from cooking them in a stew or sauce, it can also be simply pan-fried, grilled with salt and pepper or deep-fried in batter/panko, or shredded and baked in the oven to mimic pulled pork; all of these method produce absolutely delicious results (for example this recipe). Once you master all the different ways of cooking mushroom, you will understand why a bowl of luscious mushroom is hard to resist. Since mushroom and cream are the best of friends, and creamy sauce and rice is a heavenly combination, hence today’s recipe! Apart from serving this velvety sauce on rice, I can highly recommend to …

Paneer Korma with Cauliflower and rice recipe

Paneer Korma with Cauliflower and Chickpea, served with Cardamon Rice

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Everyone loves a good curry! I make curry often and it is one of the staples in our kitchen. I usually cook Thai curry (massaman being my favourite, green curry or red curry with peanut butter) or just a simple one with mild curry powder, cumin, garam masala, tomato paste and coconut milk. But I do love a good Indian curry like Korma, Tikka Masala or Jalfrezi. I had one of these at least once a month when I was living in London -in case you don’t know, there are ridiculous amount of amazing Indian restaurants in London, in fact, there is one street (Brick Lane in East London) filled with only Indian restaurants, like little India. One can find different regional curry one can ever imagine – Although after I moved to Berlin, I seldom go out for curry as I still haven’t found an Indian restaurant that I really like. I know your question will be: Why don’t you make your own? Well, to be honest, I found it hard to make my …

Spicy Mushroom and Kale Stir-Fry recipe

20 Minutes Spicy Mushroom and Kale Stir-Fry

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This mushroom stir-fry will only take you 20 minutes to make, a perfect week night meal which is not only full of flavours: smoky, spicy with a wonderful umami taste, but also packed with nutrients: both vegetables are low in calories and two very good sources of various vitamins. It is so easy to make and so delicious that there is no more excuse not to include more mushroom and kale in your diet. It can also be easily made vegan. This recipe makes more than enough for two, it tastes even better the next day. I will double the recipe amount next time so that I can enjoy it throughout the week. I serve it with rice here but other fantastic alternatives will be quinoa, noodles, pasta, creamy polenta or even in tortilla for tacos! Note: you don’t have to be too specified with the amount of water which is added into the dish during cooking, some mushrooms release more water than others so water should be added gradually, 100ml at a time. If …

Roasted Beetroot Blood Orange and Feta Cheese Salad recipe

Roasted Beetroot, Blood Orange, Snow Pea Shoots and Feta Cheese Salad

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I am always fond of beetroot, one of the few root vegetables I cook regularly. I don’t like so much the ready cooked type which mostly wrapped in plastic vacuum bag, although my first taste of beetroot was one of those cooked one soaked in vinegar, packed in plastic; laying somewhat out of place among other fresh vegetables on the supermarket shelves. But in the past years I have learned how to cook it from raw and I have never looked back since. I prefer to buy the one that still has its greens intact as it is more flavourful (usually can be found in farmer market). The beet greens are surprisingly delicious and only requires minimum cooking. My favourite way to cook them is add them to a skillet with crispy chorizo, fry for a few minutes and then drench the mixture with beaten egg, good pinch of salt and pepper then baked in the oven until the egg is set. Serve the frittata with crumbled feta and chopped fresh parsley, an amazingly tasty …

Roasted Butternut Squash, Chestnut Miso Soup recipe

Roasted Butternut Squash, Chestnut Miso Soup served with Crispy Sage

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I do love a heart warming bowl of soup seasoned with warm spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg, tastes festive like Christmas in a cold winter night. I know everyone has at least one winter squash soup recipe up their sleeves, but this one I made is a little different from the others – with a subtle umami flavour. The addition of dashi stock and miso paste which not only gives the soup another layer of flavour but also balances out the sweetness of butternut and chestnut. You can of course replace dashi stock with water or vegetable stock if you want to make it vegetarian. Note: If you don’t have the time to roast the butternut squash, you can skip the roasting bit and just peel and chop the squash and add to the onion fennel mixture and pour enough stock to just cover the vegetables. I love the nutty and intense flavour of the squash after roasting though, so give it a try if you have some spare times in hand. But I …

Braised Yuba with Mixed Mushrooms and Asparagus recipe

Braised Yuba with Mixed Mushrooms and Asparagus

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The other day when I was writing a family story about how my father mastered cooking after my mother passed away, there I mentioned his specialty dish – ‘buddha vegetables’ –  a vegetarian dish that was made with at least seven different types of fresh and dried vegetables and mung bean noodles braised in a fermented beancurd sauce.  I realised while going through my notes that I had forgotten to include one particular ingredient in the description – Yuba – is also known as ‘tofu skin’, a very popular ingredient in Chinese cooking.  It is a food product made from soy beans, as a result, it shares a similar taste with soy milk and tofu.  But unlike tofu, it doesn’t made with added coagulant.  While soy milk is being boiled, a film is formed on the surface of the liquid, and the film will then be collected and dried in sheet or stick form.  Since Yuba retains its shape and texture after cooking, therefore it is widely used for stir-fried, as a wrapper for dim sum, for braising or for slow-cooked dishes.  Yuba is easily found in …

teriyaki king oyster mushroom recipe

Teriyaki King Oyster Mushroom with Snow Peas

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This wonderful teriyaki sauce is one of the easiest sauces to make, it is deliciously piquant and so versatile that it can be used on nearly anything: meat, vegetables, noodles or grains. I always turn to this sauce when I am not sure what to cook. My favourite one is teriyaki salmon or chicken served on steamy hot rice with a side of nori seaweed and green leafy vegetables. But today, I opt for a vegetarian version with my new found favourite king oyster mushroom. This mushroom has the most meaty texture with the least water content compares to all of its other contemporaries. It holds its shape beautifully when cooked which makes it a brilliant replacement for meat. In this dish, the powerful flavour of the teriyaki sauce is complimented with refreshing and naturally sweet snow peas. The snow peas are barely cooked to retain its freshness and crunchiness, it goes perfectly well with the piquant teriyaki sauce and add a lovely contrast to the tender velvety mushroom. Serve with pipping hot rice as a comforting and satisfying meal. …

baba-ganoush recipe

Baba Ganoush with Pink Peppercorns

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I didn’t intend to be absent from the blog for so long, I had planned for a mere three weeks break but it turned out to be an ongoing journey of self- (re)discovery, and somehow I didn’t want it to stop. During the break, I returned to my drawing board, literally, and my sketch book, doing sketches of all kinds; things that surround me, people who passing by, or even just ideas in my head. And I realised that I have forgotten how much I enjoyed drawing when I was growing up. I also spent a lot of the time reading novels and writing short stories, and I met some amazing people through a fiction writing class. I hope I can share some of the stories with you soon. I haven’t stopped cooking though, as you know if you are following my Instagram account, and can’t wait to share the recipes that I have created during the break. All in all, it has been a relax and inspiring time for me and I am glad that I had made this decision. …