Vegetarian Dishes (2011.03.06)

What else is there to do on a rainy Sunday? It started as an early morning (despite sleeping 9pm, I didn't wake up until 7am, go figure) and the morning started with a breakfast of leftovers. Since I just stocked my fridge of vegggies, I began drawing recipes. I wasn't too inspired, but I had plenty of food and wanted to get some cooking done.

This pictures shows the 8 ingredients used for the 5 dishes just beneath it. (Oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper are not included in the count, clearly.)

From Left to Right, Up/Down:
1) Grilled White Asparagus with a Sliced Strawberry as the garnish
This was my first time eating white asparagus. Um, I don't like it. lol. It might taste a bit better when it is reheated, if not, I'll have to fix it so it tastes better!! It'd doubtful I will purchase it again. (I still have half a bunch in the fridge...) Steamed Asparagus tips are in the tiny container, they're good for being asparagus gum since they're rather stringy...
2) Miso Soup with celery bits
You can't see the celery, but they're in there! The celery was for garnish and I didn't really expect it to stand out much, but I have a ton of celery and just wanted to use it somehow!
3) Garlicky Young Napa
This was my least favorite dish of the 5 (asparagus in a close 4th). It was just boring and wasn't cooked right.
4) Steamed Young Napa Leaves in Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil
My mom seldomly makes this dish as it is very light and she normally prefers to saute vegetables instead. However, when I was at Hmart last night, I tried a dried veggies dish that instantly reminded me of this dish. You can use any green leafy veggies to obtain the same fragrant taste!
5) Tomato, Scrambled Eggs and Fresh Tofu
I've made this dish many times and even posted a version with frozen tofu before. (I still prefer fresh tofu than frozen tofu, texture is the difference between the two.)

A few interesting tidbits about these 5 dishes:
1) The entire prep and cooking time took about an hour. Please note: a good chunk of time was spent trying to find little bowls/containers to put my veggies and waiting for water to boil.
2) Math is in cooking too! (I admit all the items were either on sale or in my fridge)
1 bunch of Young Napa = $.34
1 container of 20 oz tofu = $.99
1/2 bunch of asparagus = $1.00
1 tomato = $.30
2 eggs = $.20
2 strawberries = $.10?
2 cloves of garlic = $.10?
My point is that the 5 dishes cost me about $4-5 in ingredients. Of course, I ate the food with brown rice (trying to cut down, so I only ate about 1/4 cup) but the cost of that is rather irrelevant, as are the spices and oils I used. There is enough food for about 3 meals. Cheap? Yes. Nutritious? Yes. Fun? Heck Yes! lol

And yes, I am eating vegetarian because I don't feel like buying meats. My freezer is cleaned out of meats other than salmon (which really isn't meat)!! Nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables! (And less rice...so sad!)

February 2011 dishes

Steamed Chinese Broccoli - 2011.02.01

Scallion Omelette - 2011.02.01

Carmelized Steak - 2011.02.08

Hakka Stir Fry - 2011.02.11
Radish Tofu Meatball Soup - 2011.02.11
Fried Butterfly Shrimp - 2011.02.12
Stir Fried Seasoned Tofu - 2011.02.12

Korean food vendor @Lotte Supermarket (2011.02.14)

After taking Mom to the doctor's for a checkup on her arthritis, we stopped to buy groceries and grab brunch. I've no clue what either of these dishes were called, but I'll give a short description of the ingredients.

Shredded Beef with plenty of spring onions and vermicelli in a spicy broth soup.

This dish was recommended by the cashier because the other dish we wanted was out of order. The dish was bland and there was too many spring onions!

Spicy seafood tofu hot pot with a raw egg (in the middle)

The seafood tofu hot pot could not be compared to the tofu hot pots from Vit Goel. This hot pot was similar to the spicy ramen soup we often eat at home.

In Korean grocery stores they typically have a few food vendors, each with their own unique dishes and are fast food versions of Korean food. Although this experience wasn't the most impressive, past experiences at other locations have been much better!

Sauteed Pan Fried Tofu

You can never have too many tofu recipes! Tofu is made from soy beans which contain plenty of protein making it a perfect meat substitute. Due to it's delicate texture, tofu can be limiting when it is eaten often. If it's not deep fried, it's in some kind of soup. An alternative is to freeze the tofu which will give it s sponge-like texture but it become more "durable" and flavorful! Here, instead of deep frying, this is a lightly pan fried tofu

(Serves 4-6)

6 pieces of Tofu, cut into 4 slices

1 stalk of Spring Onions cut into 2" lengths

1 bunch of Cilantro

Plenty of Hot Peppers

6 tsp of Soy Sauce

White Pepper

Oil

1) Lightly fry each side of the tofu until each side is brown. When done, remove the tofu from the oil. In a high heat, heat the oil and add the springs onions and hot peppers. When 80% cooked, add the tofu, cilantro and soy sauce. Lightly mix everything.

2) Your final dish will look something like this.

Note: You can adjust the amount of sauce since your tofu will be a bit bland with less sauce. Just keep in mind that tofu contains alot of water and releases water as it sits. You may want to make your sauce saltier than other dishes as the tofu will dilute the sauce.

Steamed Egg "Tofu"

This is a dish that is very light but flavorful. It provides a soft, soupy texture that is very simple to make and requires only 5 ingredients!

2 Eggs

2 cloves Minced Garlic

White and Black Pepper

1 tsp Soy Sauce

1 cup Hot Water

1) Mix the eggs in a large bowl. Add all the ingredients except the hot water.

2) Mix well. There will be plenty of bubbles.
3) Add the hot water slowly while beating the egg mixture. As you mix, plenty of bubble will form. (This is very much like beating egg whites for Angel Food Cake). Mix for at least 2 minutes, longer will making the "tofu" more successful!
4) A side view of the "diluted" egg mixture. Cover the bowl with saran wrap and place in the microwave. The first couple times making this will require monitoring because every microwave is different.
5) After 1 minute, the egg mixture is about 70% done.

6) Another 30 seconds and voila! Steamed Egg Tofu, very fragrant, very soft and a fun way to make eggs.

Note: Soy sauce is used for coloring purposes, you can lessen or add more depending on the darkness of your Soy Sauce and your preference.