Not your mom’s little brother but the chewy wheat gluten aka seitan.  I think all the modern seitans you get at health food stores these days that are braised in a soy-based sauce has its roots in this classic Shanghainese appetizer.

Chef’s tip:  To simplify the recipe, you may skip the deep fry (steps 3 and 4).  The deep frying lends a more complex flavor to the dish.  It also balances the sauce that is soaked in the gluten.  The gluten, as the most absorbent item, is intensely flavored.

2 pieces star anise
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup peanuts, peeled, raw
2 cups water

4 oz fresh wheat gluten, torn into bite size pieces
2 cups canola oil

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 cups wood ear mushrooms, reconstituted from 1/2 cup dry, trimmed of hard stems
1 cup lily buds, reconstituted from 1/2 cup dry, trimmed of hard stems, knotted
1 cup bamboo shoots, rinsed, sliced

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

1. Place star anise, soy sauce, sugar, water, peanuts and water in a pot and bring to boil.  Turn low to simmer 20 minutes.
2. In the meantime, soak what gluten in hot water, rinse.  Repeat.  Squeeze very dry between tea towels.
3. Bring oil to 350F.  Deep fry gluten pieces till golden brown.  Drain on a cookie rack on a sheet pan.
4. Plunge cooled gluten into a big bowl of room temperature water.  Give it a few good squeeze.  Squeeze dry.
5.  Add mushrooms, lily buds, bamboo shoots and gluten to the sauce mixture and bring to boil.  If the sauce does not cover the ingredients, add a little more water.  Turn heat to low and simmer till almost dry, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.
6. Drizzle with sesame oil.  Toss to mix.  Chill and serve cold.

Serves: 4

Tags: Chinese, Shanghainese, vegan, Vegetarian.

At our recent chefs meeting at Parties That Cook, our chef chief, Bibby, mentioned she read an article on how San Francisco’s vegetarians are turning vegan and restaurants are getting into offering vegan on the menu.  Here’s the SF Chronicle article.   Yesterday, as I drove down O’Farrell to get to Sur La Table, I noticed a big blinking neon sign outside a Chinese restaurant that spells VEGAN!  I can just imagine some dude out in Guangzhou feverishly making neon signs that no longer says Free Delivery or All You Can Eat Buffet but a simple Vegan instead!

The nice thing about a lot of Asian cuisine is that they are typically vegan.  I love toying with the different noodle types made out of various different grains – buckwheat soba, rice vermicelli sticks, glutinous rice disc, mung bean cellophane noodles and here, sweet potato starch noodles.

Chef’s tip:  You’ve gotta eat this dish immediately.  Chilling a starch noodle makes the noodles stiff.

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, sliced thinly, makes 1 cup
4 oz shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 carrot, julienned
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
2 red jalapeno, seeded, and julienned finely, optional
2 sprigs green onion/ scallions, julienned into 2 inch sprigs, makes about 2 cups
2 cups baby spinach

Sauce:
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup tamari/ light soy sauce
2 tablespoon water

Noodles:
3-4 tablespoons sesame oil
6 oz potato starch noodles, soaked in hot water 10 mins

1. In a small bowl, mix all sauce ingredients.  Set aside.
2. Boil noodles according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
3. Heat a wok over high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, add garlic, onions, mushrooms.  Stir fry for 1 minute, push to the side, or remove from pan.
4. Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, stir fry carrots, red pepper and jalapeno.  Fry till fragrant and vegetables are tender – about 2 minute.
5. Add sauce mixture to the wok, and bring to boil.
6. Add noodles and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed. Toss in mushroom and spinach.  Cover and steam for 1 minute.  Add a little more water if necessary.
7. Garnish with chopped green scallions.  Drizzle with more sesame oil and soy sauce if necessary.
8. Serve immediately.

Serves: 6

Tags: Korean, noodles, vegan, Vegetarian.

My family eats this dish for lunch on the first day of Chinese New Year for the “opening of the year” meal.  It’s all vegetarian, so I guess it’s to set us up for good karma for the year for not killing any animals, even if it’s only one meal a year.  Well, if that >1 billion Chinese all over the world skip meat for just one meal, that’s a lot of animals not killed.  In non-Asian places, the dish is aka Buddha’s Delight – although it really has nothing to do with the Buddha, but it sure is a delightful dish despite its somber colors!  Anyhoo, this chye choy is very delicious with a mix of mushrooms and soy derivatives, and makes a great vegan offering.

Chef’s tip:  The “fatt choy” are those little black strands you see in the picture.  (no worries, its not hair!  We do respect food safety standards.)  It’s a kind of seaweed.   But with a name like “fatt choy” like in Kong Hee Fatt Choy, eating it brings you good luck!  Happy year of the Tiger.

8 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced or halved
4 oz Nameko mushrooms, whole, trimmed
4 oz crimini, halved
1 cup cloud ears mushrooms, fresh or reconstitute ½ cup dried
1 cup tiger lily buds, fresh or reconstitute ½ cup dried
1 cup enoki mushrooms

3 Tablespoon canola oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups Napa cabbage, sliced

8 cubes fermented bean curd
3 Tablespoon canola oil
1 cup water

2 cups fried tofu puffs
1 large piece yuba, fresh or reconstituted, cut into 2 inch strips
2 oz gingko nuts, shelled
2 Tablespoon soy sauce
2 oz mung bean noodles, soaked
1/2 cup “fatt choy” seaweed

1. Soak dried mushrooms (if not using fresh) and lily buds in hot water for 15 minutes.  Trim hard ends off lilies.  Tie a knot through each bud.
2. Thinly slice shiitake and cloud ears.
3. Slice napa cabbage.
4. Heat a large wok.  Add 1 Tablespoon oil and 1/3 of the minced garlic and fry till it sizzles.  Add cabbage, fry for a minute until wilted.  Remove and set aside.
5. Add 1 Tablespoon and remaining garlic and fry till it sizzles.  Add fermented bean curd.  Add the shiitake, and the remaining mushrooms, except for the enoki.  Saute until mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add water and bring to boil.
6. Add tofu puffs and yuba and gingko nuts.  Cook 1 minute.  Add soy sauce to taste.
7. Add mung bean noodles and seaweed, bring to boil, or until noodles are translucent.

Serves: 6

Tags: Chinese, Mushrooms, vegan, Vegetarian.