a vegan dish
Following the ouster of all non-European teams from the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals season, I felt the need for a healthy distraction. What better way than cooking awesome vegan food?
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| Oyster Mushroom Stir-Fry with Asian Style Tomato Sauce on a Bed of Lamian Noodles |
If you follow this recipe strictly, granting that this is the only food item eaten for a meal (with your preferred carb staple, of course), you will be able to feed:
- 1 hungry person, or
- 2 not-very-hungry people
You will need:
For the Mushroom Stir-Fry
- 150 g of mushrooms (oyster, champignon or portobello), rough cut
- 1 teaspoon of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of scallions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce (more or less to taste because it depends on what kind and brand you use, I use Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce)
- 1 or 2 tablespoons of neutral-flavoured oil (vegetable or sunflower oil is ideal; pomace olive is acceptable; coconut oil is NOT OK as it's too overpowering)
For the Asian Style Tomato Sauce
- 4 fresh medium ripe roma tomatoes (or alicante tomatoes or whatever medium ripe tomatoes you have, but make sure they are all ripe and red, otherwise, you can forget about cooking this), quartered
- 1 teaspoon of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of scallions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon of ginger, grated
- 3 pieces of bird's eye chilli (more or less, depending on your heat tolerance; you can also use whatever spicy chilli you have), finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 or 2 tablespoons of neutral-flavoured oil
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Let's do this!
1. In a wok (or pan, if you're not Asian), heat 1 or 2 tablespoons of neutral-flavoured oil in high fire. DO NOT WAIT FOR SMOKE POINT, duh. As soon as it heats up, add scallions and stir for around 15 seconds. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds or until it turns a bit brown. Just a bit brown, not burnt! Add mushrooms and soy sauce. Stir. Cook until the mushrooms are done. Make sure there is still quite a bit of liquid (from the mushrooms). Don't let it dry up too much; that's not what we want. Turn off the heat. Remove everything from the wok. Transfer into a bowl and set aside.
2. In the same wok (no need to wash, don't be fussy), add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of neutral-flavoured oil. Throw in the chilli. Stir for 30 seconds and cover your mouth when you sneeze. Follow the same sequence of adding spices in. Add the ginger together with the garlic. Add the tomatoes in. Stir everything around in super high heat until the tomatoes are well softened. Rub the tomatoes on the sides, deglazing the caramelised bits from the mushroom thingy you just cooked. Press down on the tomatoes to release flavour and liquid. Reduce heat to low, but not super low. Simmer covered for 5 minutes. Now, I know woks don't normally have lids, so figure something out! Make sure the liquid doesn't dry up; it's a sauce, not a paste. Turn off the heat. Add the sesame oil and mix.
3. Mix everything together. Adjust the taste to your liking. You may use a bowl or just the wok. Simply add the mushrooms back in after turning off the heat.
Tip: This is best eaten with rice or pre-cooked plain lamian (ramen) noodles. You may eat it with other types of Asian noodles like saang mein, shahe fen, banh pho or khanom chin. You may also eat it with pasta. Heck, you may even eat it with bread if you feel that you must. However, you must resist the urge to eat it with mashed potatoes. Come on, have a little respect!
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