Tofu puffs, Beans and Black Fungus Stir-fry – Vegetarian Dish

One of my favourite stalls at the wet markets in Hong Kong is the one selling soybean sprouts and other soy bean products such as bean curd, vegetarianchicken, gluten etc. Bean curd puffs or dauh-bôk 豆卜in Cantonese are those small yellow cubes.  Cantonese people love bean curd and you can find various forms of bean curds incorporated in their local dishes.

 

Top right angle:deep fried tofu (bean curd)

 

Grassroots Pantry

I would like to write a few words on a sweet and cosy restaurant, a place completely different than the dai pai dong I described in my previous post.

I visited Grassroots Pantry (GP) about two months ago but suddenly realised I had not yet recorded my experience there. GP is the 3^rd place I discovered via Table for Two - Hong Kong. I already wrote about my visit to Teakha (茶 - 家) and Light (both introduced by TFT last August.)

Wild Rice Shoots - Gâau-séun- 膠筍

One of the Chinese vegetables on my list that I wanted to try this year is wild rice shoot (also called water bamboo) or 膠筍 gâau-séun (glue/gum-shoot) in Cantonese or jiao1 bai2 茭白 in Mandarin.

Note: Wild rice shoot are different than bamboo shoots.

Fresh wild rice shoots

I tried wild rice shoots in restaurants but it is only recently, for the first time, that I selected wild rice shoots from a stall at the wet market to cook at home. It is not that I had never seen this plant before – on the contrary – but for no particular reason at all I had never purchased it. What a shame. I guess it is very simple to fall in the trap of buying the most common veggies, such as Chinese flowering cabbage - choi-sam (which I don’t particularly like) or Chinese white cabbage - baahk-choi.

Now that I know that wild rice shoots are very easy to cook and delicious I will no longer ignore them and they will be included in my menus.

The seller told me that I could either steam or stir-fry the young shoots with pork slices. However once at home I decided to sauté them without adding any meat. I wanted to make a very light dish so as to taste the true flavour of the veggie.

 

Stir-fried wild rice shoots

Stir-fried wild rice shoots

Ingredients:

• ~1 catty of wild rice shoots
• 1 slice ginger, crushed
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• 1 green chilli, chopped
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp water
• Ground white pepper
• 2 Tbsp spring onion, chopped (garnish)
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (grape seed)

Steps:

1. Prepare shoots. Remove outer layers (all the green part) leaving only the white flesh. Trim end. Wash, drain and cut in ½ cm lengths*.
2. Heat oil in wok and add ginger, red and green chilli. Stir for 1 minute over high heat.
3. Add veggie. Stir for a while, and add sauces mixed with water.
4. Stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes (or until tender).
5. Turn off heat. Add white pepper and chopped spring onion; mix well.
6. 
   

   Transfer veggie to a serving plate and serve very hot.

Wild rice shoots sprinkled with chopped spring onion

* I cut the stem in ½ cm lengths. In the dishes I tried before in restaurants the shoots were cut into large pieces and then in half – lengthwise – and finally sliced super thin.

I like the mild taste and the tender-crispy texture of the shoots. They are tender and blander than bamboo shoots. I have since stir-fried wild rice shoots with shredded pork. This was very tasty but I prefer the way I cooked them the first time (vegetarian style). I enjoy light dishes which get a flavour lift from chilli and ginger without overpowering the veggies.

Ah! For an even lighter dish I have yet to try to steam them!

Buddha’s Delight – Jâai - 斋

First of all, better late than never, I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year - Góng Hèi-Faat-Choi - 恭喜发财, and most of all to be in Good Health.

One week ago we celebrated the year of the dragon: we visited relatives, exchanged greetings (wishing everyone fortune and prosperity, and most importantly excellent health), gave lai see (red packets filled with money) to the young ones, and ate turnip pudding, new-year cake, candied fruits (lotus seeds, lotus roots, carrots, melon), watermelon seeds (gwâ-jí 瓜子), etc.

Daffodil in bloom

Candy box

Vegetarian Chicken & Cucumber Salad

A friend of mine introduced me to Syuh-Gei / 树记 a specialist shop in Sham Shui Po selling homemade soybean products.  I go to their shop and sometimes have to line up for 30 min or more (!) to buy fresh vegetarian chicken / sò-gâi as well as soybean sticks / fuh-jûk (presented in Glossary II of April 21, 2011).  

There are 2 kinds of sò-gâi: One type is bigger in size and costs $9. The other type is slightly smaller (~150g), is vacuum-packed and costs $7. The latter can be kept up to 3 weeks in the fridge, whereas the former only a few days. 

Vacuum packed sò-gâi

Sò-gâi / vegetarian chicken (2pcs - large size)

Vegetarian chicken can be sliced and cooked - sautéed - usually with vegetables and mushrooms in a vegetarian dish (see my recipe: Greens, Mushrooms and Vegetarian Chicken  as part of Menu 1 - post of March 16, 2011.  A few years ago the same friend told me that sò-gâi could also be eaten cold - straight from the fridge.  She also gave me her recipe which has now became one of my favourite starters.  Here is her recipe:

Ingredients: will make a mall size appetizer (2-3 persons)

• 1 vegetarian chicken, sliced and cut into half-moons
• 100g cucumber, cut into large chunks

Dressing:

• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed or  minced (I prefer crushed garlic as it has a stronger flavour)

Steps:

In a salad bowl mix all the dressing ingredients well together. Add the vegetarian chicken and cucumber into the bowl. Stir well. Leave to stand for at least 30 min in the fridge. Serve cold.

Vegetarian Chicken & Cucumber  Salad

Glossary - Chinese Ingredients - II

Name English/Romanization Chinese characters
lily buds/blooms (dried) gâm-jâm  金針
longan pulp yùhn-yuhk / lùhng-ngáahn-yuhk  圓肉/龍眼肉
lotus root (dried) lìhn-ngáuh gôn 蓮耦乾
lotus seeds lìhn-jí 蓮子
mushroom – dried winter mushrom dûng-gû 冬菇
mussel (dried) daahm-choi 淡菜
octopus (dried) jêung-yùh 章魚
oyster (dried) hòuh-sí 蠔豉
peanuts fâ sang 花生
pickled mustard root ja-choi 榨菜
preserved Chinese mustard / leaf mustard syut-choi / syut-lèih-hùhng / syut-léuih-hùnhg 雪菜/雪梨紅/雪裡紅
scallops (dried) gôn yìuh-chyúh 乾榣柱
sesame seeds (white) (baahk) jî-màh (白)芝麻
shrimps (dried) hâ-máih 蝦米
soybean milk sheets fuh-pèih soybean sticks fuh-jûk 腐竹
tangerine peel (dried) chàhn-pèih 陳皮
Tianjin preserved veg./cabbage dûng-choi 冬菜
vegetarian chicken jâai-gâi/ sò-gâi 齋雞/素鸡
wheat gluten (gluten meat) mihn-gân 麵根
wolfberries (dried) géi-jí 杞子

Additional items Feb 4, 2012
Deep gluten balls Sáang-gán 生根
Preserved duck gizzard Ngáap-jêun 鸭肾
Preserved mustard greens/leaves múi-choi 梅菜

Additional items Feb 7, 2012
dried Chinese white cabbage choi-gôn 菜亁
jujube hùhng-jóu 红枣
preserved Chinese sausage laahp-chéung 腊肠

Gingko baahk-gwó 白果