2023 Vegetarian Chinese New Year dishes notes by You Rui
1. Homemade Vegan Fish 年年有余
Comment from YR: I added 百页豆腐, about 90g to it. Also added a lot more starch was necessary. I also deep fried the taro in advance.
It’s because this recipe is combined with this one:
年年有余 Written Instructions
Ingredients:
2 Medium eggplant (long)
3 Milk Bok Choy 奶白菜 (cut in half)
Cilantro leaves (a handful – for garnish)
Carrot (a handful for garnish – julienne strips)
Macadamia nuts (a handful – for garnish)
Cucumber (cut into fins – see video)
Marmite Sauce:
600g water
30g marmite
150g ketchup
60g honey
40g soy sauce
40g dark soy sauce
35g maltose
200g rock sugar
Directions:
1. Cut criss-cross shape into eggplants (see video)
2. Fry eggplants in oil with low heat, turn regularly, oil just to ca. 1 inch (not deep fry), until slightly soft. Prepare marmite sauce in the meantime
3. If not enough, blanch / boil, turn until tender (check with fork/stick)
4. Pour marmite sauce into saucepan with eggplant, briefly fry
5. Place and arrange into platter with milk cabbage as tails, cucumber as fins, macadamia nuts as bubbles
6. Cook sauce until thicken, pour over fish, garnish with cilantro, carrot sticks
2. Stuffed Tofu 合家欢乐
3. Almond Flower
Dishes learnt from Tzu Chi
1. 杏福美满
Ingredients:
300g king oyster mushroom
100g enoki mushroom
200g lion mane’s mushroom (frozen）
200g broccoli
40g carrot slices
Seasoning: water, starch, mushroom seasoning, salt
For broth (boil and simmer for ca. 2 hours with 4 cups water beforehand):
10 pieces Chinese red dates 红枣
10 pieces 玉竹
A few goji berries
A few pieces 党参
Directions:
1. Cut all ingredients into slices
2. Blanch broccoli and carrots, set aside
3. Place broccoli in claypot
4. Stir fry king oyster mushroom with a little oil until the liquid is released and then dried, set aside
5. Bring herbal broth to boil, put in enoki mushroom, carrot dices, lion’s mane mushroom
6. Add salt + mushroom seasoning to taste
7. Reduce heat to low
8. Add potato starch (mixed with water) to desired thickness, stirring until thicken
9. Pour broth into claypot (holding some for the end）
10. Place king oyster mushroom on top
11. Pour rest of broth over the top
12. Cover claypot and bring to boil, then turn off heat and it is ready to serve
2. 迎春接福
Ingredients
50g lotus seeds (if dried, then ca. 20g – soak first, then bring to boil, turn off heat and let sit 20 mins until tender）
100g shiitake mushrooms (braised if fresh or if dried, soak then fry with soy sauce beforehand) – quartered
3 pieces of fried 豆包 （豆根)
50g shimeiji mushrooms
150g cauliflower – florets
5 stalks of baby bok choy (cut in half)
10 grapes
5 cherry tomatoes – halved
Seasoning:
1 cup water
1 Tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
Pinch of white pepper powder
Splash of sesame oil
1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning
Directions:
1. Blanch all ingredients separately (baby bok choy last – and optionally put into ice water after blanching）
2. Place into a bowl in the following order (from bottom layer) – see video:
– lotus seeds
– shiitake mushrooms
– 豆根
3. Stir fry cauliflower and shimeiji mushrooms
4. Place as last (middle) layer into the bowl
5. Upturn bowl onto plate
7. Place baby bok choy around the upturned bowl in diagonal manner, leaf facing towards bowl
8. Take away the bowl and adjust as necessary
9. Place cherry tomatoes and grapes around (see video)
10. Prep sauce: heat small amount of oil, fry vege oyster sauce briefly, add water, soysauce, pepper, sesame oil, mushroom seasoning to taste
11. Lower heat and add starch (mixed with water) to thicken
12. Pour over arranged platter with a ladle