Daikon Beancurd Stew

A meat free dish. Flavourful, delicious!

It's easy to cook, goes well with rice.


I think I've cooked this 3 times, I think.. or at least twice :)
I slurp the gravy like soup

Thanks Peng for this recipe...

Tomato Cream

Ah.. tomato cream. Something that really caught my attention when I watched one of Anna Olson’s Fresh with Anna Olson. She just blitz cherry tomatoes with oil, season with salt and pepper.. voila!!

And I tried it… and talk about the taste. It’s like a very light tomato mayo…. For mayo lovers, you’ll be in heaven. But I’m not a mayo lover, but I love this.

I don’t mean that I hate regular mayo, but just that I’m not crazy to slather lots and lots of mayo over my sandwiches and burgers. I just put adequate amounts, and not too much, cos I hate anything to squish out from my sandwiches and burgers.

Tomato Cream (recipe adapted from Anna Olsen )

250gm yellow cherry tomatoes

75ml corn oil or any other neutral flavoured oils, put into a measuring cup or a pouring bottle or any container with a spout.

1/3 tsp salt and pepper to taste

1. Quarter yellow cherry tomatoes and put them into a blender. Put the lid on and blend until fine.
2. Loosen the lid and put the blender back on
3. When the blender is on, remove the lid carefully and put drizzle in the oil slowly in a steady steam.
4. When all the oil has been drizzled in, put in salt and pepper (place lid back on) and blend for another 30 seconds. Tomato cream is ready :).
5. You can sieve it if you want, but I don’t bother with it.

Few weeks later, I made another batch with red cherry tomatoes, and here it is. It tasted like a light thousand island sauce. But a lot lot healthier with minimal oil for emulsification.

Mushroom Pulav

Pilaf, Pulav, Polau , or Pulao. They are all the same.

Pulav is Hindi, Pulao is Tamil and Nepali, Polau is Bengali and Pilaf is what almost the rest of world calls it.

A simple Indian vegetarian dish. You can eat this on its own or with meat and vegetables, but my kids find this to be yummy enough to be on its own. The mushrooms are really flavourful and with all the spices, yum yum.
Mike asked me to cook this next time to go with curry or some spicy meat dishes. He finds it very delicious.

Try this if you love basmathi rice and mushrooms. I love mushrooms which was the reason I was attracted to this recipe. And sprinkle lots of flat leaf parsley to go with this, absolutely lovely!!!

Recipe adapted from Vazhayila

1 cup(250ml) basmathi rice, washed and drained
½ red onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
A small knob of ginger, about half a thumb, smashed
200gm fresh mushrooms (this is one punnet, and I used Swiss Browns), sliced about 5mm thickness
½ tsp meat curry powder
1 small cinnamon stick (Mike can take cinnamon with savoury dishes, but not sweet food)
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1 Tbsp butter
½ tsp salt
2 cups water

1. Heat pan on medium heat and put in butter, garlic, and onions. Fry until onions turn soft.
2. Put in ginger, cinnamon stick, cardamoms and cloves and fry until aromatic.
3. Put in sliced mushrooms and cook until it wilts and softens.
4. Put in curry powder and salt. Mix.
5. Put in rice and fry for a while, for about 30 seconds.
6. Transfer everything to your rice cooker, add in water and cook.

*I steamed my rice for 30 minutes.

See those reddish stuff I put beside my rice?? I’ll post that recipe after this.

Palak Tofu or Tofu in Spinach Gravy, and some Health Issues

I first tasted Palak Paneer or Cheese in Spinach Sauce more than 15 years ago in a Northern Indian restaurant. This is an Indian Vegetarian Dish. I fell in love with it. I don’t have Paneer at home, but I do have silken tofu. Why not substitute Paneer with tofu? They’re both white.   :)

I know it’s easy to make Paneer.  I saw Chef Michael Smith do that with milk and lemon juice. But 8 cups of milk for just that 1 small piece of cheese in return??? Nah, that’s too pricey. Tofu is much much cheaper. Chinese cheese that is, anyway. Cheapskate

At first glance, Mike said, what yuck is that??? But when he eats it…. Yummy.

So, do not judge this by it’s looks. It’s really good.

Palak Tofu (Serves 2-4)
150gm spinach (Por Choy not Yeen Choy(bayam), which is Amaranth), cut into 1 inch lengths.
1 smallish onion, about 30gm,
1 medium sized tomato
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup water
(omit both onion and garlic if Chinese Vegetarian)
Simmer onion, tomato, and garlic in water until soft. Remember to cut them smaller to reduce cooking time. Put in spinach. Cook until it wilts. It should only take less than 1 minute for that. Remove from heat. Puree until fine.

1 block silken tofu, cut into large pieces.
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, (Jintan Manis in Malay, do not leave this out, crucial, CRUCIAL!!!!)
Salt to taste, about 1/2 tsp.

Heat pan/wok on medium heat and put in butter. When butter has almost melted, put in cumin and fry until very fragrant. It should take u about 10 seconds. Put in prepared spinach gravy. Bring to a boil and season with salt. Put in tofu to warm up. Pour into a deep dish to serve.

***Do not prepare the spinach gravy too early, it turns brown in just 2 hours.

Health Issues
Oh yes, I've got some people telling me that spinach are not to be cooked together with tofu and some also  said they should not be consumed together on the same day. Ask them the reason, they do not know why.

So, I did some research on the internet,

Spinach contains oxalic acid and tofu (those made with gypsum, sek koh fun) contains a high calcium amount. Oxalic acid in spinach binds with the calcium in tofu and forms an insoluble oxalate that later will turn to kidney stones. Please read here, especially the part about "Calcium". Soy milk on the other hand does not contain much calcium that can be absorbed by the body, and so is safe to be consumed with spinach. So, the culprit here is the gypsum, not the bean.

So, should you try this dish out??? Yes, why not? It's the calcium from the gypsum that's the problem. Just buy those that are not made with calcium sulphate which is gypsum or sek koh fun. In Singapore it's not a problem because all tofu there are not made with gypsum, but in Malaysia, please read the labels and select tofu that does not contain  "calcium sulphate/gypsum/sek koh fun", and get those coagulated with GDL or magnesium sulphate. These types of tofu are easily available at supermarkets/hypermarkets. If you buy at the wet market, most probably they are made with gypsum.
But if to you, once in a while thing is not an issue, then let it be. Any tofu will do.




From Wikipedia "Oxalate occurs widely in the plant kingdom, e.g. fat hen (lamb's quarters), sorrel, and Oxalis species. The root and/or leaves of rhubarb and buckwheat are listed as being high in oxalic acid.It arises biosynthetically via the incomplete oxidation of carbohydrates.

Other edible plants that contain significant concentrations of oxalate include—in decreasing order—star fruit (carambola), black pepper, parsley, poppy seed, amaranth (bayam), spinach, chard, beets, cocoa, chocolate, most nuts, most berries, fishtail palms, New Zealand spinach (Tetragonia tetragonioides) and beans. The gritty “mouth feel” one experiences when drinking milk with a rhubarb dessert is caused by precipitation of calcium oxalate.[citation needed] The calcium is abstracted from the casein in dairy products.

Leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) contain among the greatest measured concentrations of oxalic acid relative to other plants. However the infusion beverage typically contains only low to moderate amounts of oxalic acid per serving, due to the small mass of leaves used for brewing. "



Read this too: Taken from here

The following are some examples of the most common sources of oxalates, arranged by food group. It is important to note that the leaves of a plant almost always contain higher oxalate levels than the roots, stems, and stalks.

Fruits
blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, kiwifruit, concord (purple) grapes, figs, tangerines, and plums

Vegetables (see Table 1 for additional information)
Most oxalate-dense vegetables: spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, collards, okra, parsley, leeks and quinoa
Moderately dense in oxalates : celery, green beans, rutabagas, and summer squash would be considered

Nuts and seeds
almonds, cashews, and peanuts

Legumes
soybeans, tofu and other soy products

Grains
wheat bran, wheat germ, quinoa (a vegetable often used like a grain)

Other
cocoa, chocolate, and black tea

So, after reading this,
Do you think it's only spinach that you should avoid with gypsum tofu or any other calcium rich foods???
No, it's like a whole list of food and tea

You can't eat your poppy seed cake, your summer fruit tart made with all sort of pretty berries, stir fried okra, your favourite bayam soup, or Chocolate cake, or even Milo when you are having Gypsum laden tofu that day. No nuts that day, no wine (they are made with grapes eh), no whole wheat stuff (cos they contain bran and germ), no teh tarik, no Ooloong... on the day you eat old fashioned tofu.

So whatcha gonna eat???
Just eat the tofu with plain rice and you'll be safe.
Or start buying tofu not made with Gypsum, then you can eat anything you like that day.

And it's not only old fashioned tofu, but any soluble, absorbable calcium rich foods that should be avoided with food that contains oxalic acid (which is like almost everything plant derived). Think about your calcium supplements, your favourite Hi-Calcium Milk, your yogurt, your cheese, your Hi-Calcium biscuits, your sardines, your ikan bilis. All these will react with the spinach, the star fruit, the grapefruit, the nuts, the berries and the chocolate you ate that day. And remember no Chinese tea or ice lemon tea after eating these.



How much can you avoid????

Better don't eat anything then.

Seaweed Beancurd Rolls with Ginger Sauce

This recipe caught my eye because I had extra seaweed from my Sushi dinner. I can’t finish the whole pack.

My first time doing real vegetarian stuff. Actually this is called mock fish. But I prefer to call this in its real state. For the first time, something in a local Chinese publication worked for me!!! Right up to the sauce.

Although the original recipe called for black vinegar and I don’t have that, I used Worcestershire which is sour as well. And it did just fine. I added the cornstarch solution at the end because I find the sauce too liquidy. The sauce is really good. Fragrantly ginger, but without the heat on your tongue. Light hint of sourness…just nice. Mother in law said she’ll use the sauce for real fish 

Actually, I only did half of the recipe in the book because the original called for 6 Tbsp of ginger juice. That’s really a lot. So I tried halving everything and see how much gravy I’ve got, and it was just nice. Well, I only doused 60% of the rolls in sauce, cos I left out the ends and some loosely wrapped ones to munch on cos they weren’t that pretty and can’t stand up straight on the plate. So, I f u want to sauce up all the rolls, use the full recipe.

What u will need

3 pieces of Seaweed sheets
Large beancurd sheet (this is pliable even when dry, not the totally dry type. I bought this at a sundry shop. I saw this at Jusco too. Tesco may have this)
cut into pieces slightly bigger than seaweed sheets. 1 large beancurd sheet can make 6 smaller pieces.
9 pieces of soft bean skin rolls (dou bao, 豆包),
Not to be washed, squeezed to remove excess water and marinated with 1 egg, ½ tsp salt, dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp milk powder. If vegan, omit the egg and milk powder and replace with 1 tsp cornstarch as binding agent.
Edible Glue,
½ Tbsp tapioca starch mixed with 2 tsp water. Bring 80ml water to a boil. Pour boiling water over starch. Mix and u will have edible glue.

How to roll??

1. Lay 1 piece of cut up beancurd sheet and brush all over with glue.
2. Paste seaweed sheet.
3. Arrange 3 pieces of marinated soft bean skin rolls onto seaweed.
4. Roll up tight and apply more glue on ends before finishing up the rolling.
5. Steam on medium heat for 5 minutes and reduce to low heat for 15 minutes. Leave to cool down before cutting up. (You can do until this step, one day in advance and chill in fridge.)
6. Cut rolls into inch long pieces and trim the ends.
7. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.
8. Arrange rolls on plate and prepare sauce. Pour sauce over and serve.

Ginger Sauce (full recipe)
6 Tbsp pure ginger juice
4 Tbsp sugar (Yes, u need this amount to tone down the heat of the ginger, but still leaving the ginger very fragrant)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil (original recipe was 2 Tbsp, but to me that seems too much. I used only this amount and it was just nice for me, but if you're using blended sesame oils like Ghee Hiang blue label or Deer brand, use the original amount)
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cooking oil
Mix together everything except cornstarch solution and cooking oil. Heat pan/wok and put in oil. Pour prepared sauce mixture into wok and bring to a boil. Lightly thicken with cornstarch solution.
Pour sauce over beancurd rolls.

Vegetarian Stuffed Crust Pizza 素食比萨

I was given a large oval aubergine/eggplant/brinjal on my trip to the Camerons the week before. My vegetarian colleague had earlier asked me whether I know how to make pizza, and, it had been ages since I last made pizza. So, I’ll make pizza with this aubergine.

Vegetarian Stuffed Crust Pizza Recipe (for two 12 inch pizzas)
Crust (for 2 12 inch pizzas)

Ingredients:
3 ¼ cups High Protein Flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 ½ tsp yeast
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix flour with salt. Pour in yeast mixture and olive oil. Knead until dough is no longer sticky. Leave to proof until double. Punch down and shape into pizza.
**
Well, I kept the dough overnight in the fridge after punching down (no shaping) because I wanted the pizza for lunch instead, and I’ll be waking up late.

Toppings (for 2 12 inch pizzas)

500 gm mozzarella cheese (some grated, some cut into strips)
1 cup tomato pasta sauce
1 red onion, sliced
1 green capsicum, sliced
1 yellow capsicum , sliced
1 big red tomato, sliced
1 big aubergine, sliced and pan fried with a bit of olive oil.
½ cup button mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Assembly.
1. Roll out dough, pulling the edges until it’s bigger than the pan.
2. Arrange mozzarella strips on the edges and wrap them up by folding in the edges. Place shaped dough into an oiled pan.

3. Spread 1 Tbsp olive oil onto dough surface evenly.

4. Spread 4 tbsp of pasta sauce onto dough.

5. Arrange toppings starting with the heaviest, aubergine, tomato, onions, capsicum and mushrooms.

6. Sprinkle salt and pepper over pizza. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 15 minutes or until the crust is slightly golden
7. Take out from oven and sprinkle on grated mozzarella. Bake for another 12 minutes or until the crust is golden and cheese all melted and golden.

8.Cut pizza while it’s still hot and enjoy the stringy cheese dripping from the sides of the pizza.

****
I made 1 for lunch, and baked another the next morning to bring to work.

****
Crust recipe and tips for baking adapted from annamariavolpi