Vegan Laing

a vegan adaptation of a traditionally non-vegan Bicolano (North-Eastern Philippines) dish

Savouring a spoonful of my most recent piece of art after it left the saucepan and moved to a serving bowl, I asked myself why I don't make it often. It's effing amazing, but the last time I cooked it was over a year ago. Then I looked at the wall clock and saw that it was 7:30pm--two hours after I had started cooking. I got my answer: It takes super long. And, on top of that, it could get very painful if you're not careful enough.

Taro, as a vegetable, can categorically be considered a risky ingredient. Unlike onions and garlic that will simply turn unpalatable if you mishandle them, this stuff could actually cause harm. Kind of like cassava. Why do we use these ingredients, you ask? Because if you pull things off, they are heavenly and irreplaceable! Also, we Filipinos are adrenaline junkies! We sweat and palpitate as we stir stews in a cauldron, awaiting the very moment when we need to take a sip of the broth during the seasoning process and ultimately find out whether we would be giggling at the dinner table afterwards or bleeding from the mouth in the ER.

So do yourself a favour if you decide to cook this dish and follow the full detoxification process. Don't take shortcuts. Maybe I overplayed its toxicity a bit in the previous paragraph. I hope that didn't put you off. If you, you daring kitchen diva you, still want to make this dish, read on.

Vegan Laing

If you follow this recipe strictly, granting that this is the only food item eaten for a meal (with rice, of course), you will be able to feed:

- 3 regular sized people,
- 2 large people, or
- 1 very hungry person of any size


You will need:

- 200 grams of fresh taro leaves (100 grams if dried), stalks and main rib chopped off 

- 6 cups of fresh coconut milk, ideally using the coconut water to extract it (use 1½ large coconut or 2 smaller coconuts; 3 cans if you don't have access to fresh ones)

- 4 large sheets of nori, roughly chopped or ripped to bits

- pieces of seriously spicy chilli, ideally 10 pieces of bird's eye or 12 pieces of siling labuyo or 1 ghost pepper, finely chopped and seeds included (you may use more or less depending on your tolerance for spicy food) 

- 1 large onion, very finely chopped 

- 9 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped 

- 3 tablespoons of finely grated ginger

- 2 teaspoons of salted black beans, also known as tau-si, douchi or tochi, mashed with a fork/spoon

- 1 cup of minced tofu adobo or minced vegemeat adobo, meaning marinated in garlic, vinegar and soy sauce, and fried (purely optional; I mean it's so optional that I didn't even use it) 

- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (ideally coconut oil; other neutral-tasting vegetable oils will do; avoid olive oil as it has a distinct taste)

- water as needed

- sea salt for seasoning

Traditionally, this dish is not vegan at all. Purist omnivores in northern Philippines would spit on the ground in front of me for forgoing shrimp paste and pork shoulder, but I don't really care.

To replace the oceany taste of shrimp paste, I use a combination of nori sheets and salted black beans. Married, they basically become vegan bagoong.

To replace pork, if one feels that they must, you can use minced vegemeat adobo or minced tofu adobo. I didn't, though. I didn't feel it was necessary.

For best taste, cook this dish in a pot/cauldron made of clay on top of actual wood instead of an LPG stove. Of course, not all of us have this option, so boo-hoo!


First of all, let's make sure the taro leaves are edible before we cook with them:

1.  Put all the leaves in a saucepan. 

2.  Push the leaves down and cover with water about 2 cm higher than the pile of leaves. 

3.  Close the saucepan with a lid and bring to the boil. 

4.  Simmer for 20 minutes. 

5.  Drain the water completely. Rinse the leaves and squeeze out remaining liquid. 

6.  Repeat this process two more times, reducing the simmer time to 10 minutes and 5 minutes, respectively.

7.  After squeezing for a final time, chop the leaves roughly. 

Now, let's make vegan laing:

1.  Heat your pan and pour in 2 tablespoons of oil. 

2.  Maintain medium heat, drop in your chopped onion and chillies together.
Saute until the onion softens. 

3.  Add the garlic and ginger and sautee for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Make sure nothing burns and sticks to the bottom of the pan because, god almighty, that would be a disaster!

4.  Pour in 2 cups of coconut milk. Drop a generous pinch of salt. Add the prepared taro leaves and stir to mix everything well. Bring to the boil.

5.  When it boils, stir in the nori and mashed salted black beans together. Add the rest of the coconut milk. If you elect to put tofu or vegemeat in your vegan laing, now would be the time to drop them in. Stir to mix everything.

6.  Bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce reduces and thickens. When I say "reduce," I don't mean dry up. I mean around the level of the solid ingredients when you can actually see the taro popping up, not swimming but still soaking.

7.  Season with more salt if necessary. Stir. Taste.

8.  Take off the heat and serve. 

Note:  Don't worry, you'll live.

Vegetable Red Curry

a vegan dish

I went to Siem Reap last year and bought a few spices for my kitchen.  There was this packet I picked up which said Red Curry and the shop keeper said it was the basic ingredient of Thai Red Curry Paste but that we needed to add garlic, onion, shrimp paste and fish sauce when the actual cooking happens.  It even came with instructions on a little piece of paper stuck on one side.  I asked if the thing I was holding was vegetarian.  She said, "yes because no shrimp, no fish yet."  She said the same thing for another packet labeled Amok Powder.  I couldn't have been happier putting the packets in my bag and paying a measly dollar for each.

It's now almost the end of February and the Red Curry powder is extinct.  Well, at least in my own kitchen.  I do, however, know how to make red curry without depending on a pre-mixed condiment so I did.  It's not quite as blissful as the real thing but it's pretty close.  Let me teach you how!

If you follow these instructions strictly, you will be able to serve:

- 3 people


You will need:

For the Curry Paste: 

- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled 

- 1 shallot or one medium red onion, chopped 

- 2 or more chilli peppers (depending on the size and how spicy you want the dish to be), chopped 

- 1 tablespoon of grated ginger 

- ½ teaspoon of salt 

- 1 teaspoon of lime or kalamansi zest 

- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander leaves (½ teaspoon if using coriander powder) 

- ½ teaspoon of cumin powder 

- ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper 

- 2 tablespoons of grated lemongrass bulb 

- ¼ cup of chopped peeled tomatoes 

- 1 tablespoon of chilli powder (or more if you want it extra spicy) 

- 1 tablespoon of raw muscovado sugar (or a vegan sweetener of your choice) 

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil 

- 2 tablespoons of fresh lime or kalamansi juice

For the rest of the curry: 

- 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks 

- 350-400 grams of an assortment of vegetables of your choice (in my case, aubergine and luffa) 

- 1 bay leaf (laurel leaf is another term for this)

- a handful of chopped fresh basil leaves 

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil 

- salt and pepper for seasoning 

- 1 cup of coconut milk or ½ cup of coconut cream 

- 1 tablespoon of mushroom sauce (optional)

Curry up:

1.  To make the curry paste: mix and bash all your paste ingredients using a mortar and pestle.  Spend at least 7 minutes doing this to make sure everything is crushed and ready.  Do it with love or don't do it at all. 

Of course, you may use a food processor or a coffee grinder if you're not skilled or courageous enough to use the traditional sacred tool or if you aren't in possession of it.  This is a quicker option because you only need a couple of pulses and you're done.  30 seconds, maybe.  Don't liquidise it, though.  You want a paste, NOT a purée.

2.  Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and sauté your vegetables along with the bay leaf for about 30 to 45 seconds. 

If you're a diva like me, use that pan skill to toss the vegetables without using a ladle and show off.  This is best done when people are watching you cook—especially a date you're trying to impress!  Just make sure you don't miss the veggies when they come down after airtime because you're in for a big clean up job that your audience won't likely be glad to help you with.

3.  Add the tomato chunks and sauté for a minute. 

4.  Pour in the red curry paste.  Add the coconut milk or cream to the pan, mix everything well and bring to the boil. 

5.  When it comes to the boil, you have an option to add 1 tablespoon of mushroom sauce.  Whether you add any or not, though, your next step is to pour in ½ cup of water. 

6.  Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 7 minutes or until the water has reduced considerably and the sauce is thick enough. 

7.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

8.  Turn off the heat, take out the bay leaf and mix in your fresh basil leaves.  If you don't have fresh basil leaves, don't even bother adding anything else.  Dried leaves are absolutely unacceptable!  You hear me?  UN-AC-CEP-TA-BLE!

9.  Serve by itself or with a staple carbohydrate-rich food of your choice:  rice, pasta, couscous, potatoes, chapati, pita, naan, tortilla or whatever else.

Deep-Fried Aubergines in Curry Batter

a vegan dish

I'm back after what felt like an eternity of not posting any recipes.  This particular dish is my own variation of a food item I had the pleasure of sinking my teeth into when I was in Cambodia.

Get this:  I was living in a hotel whose kitchen had very little knowledge of how to take care of vegetarians so the chef ended up cooking the same stuff over and over again.  We were four in the vegetarian table and what bothered us was that tofu fritters in mushroom sauce and this dish I'm about to show you how to make were their best items yet they only served them thrice for the entire time we were there.

Looking back at it makes me miss it so I decided to make my own version.  The thing about mine, though, is that it isn't quite the same as the ones they served at Monoreach Angkor Hotel.  Some of you would probably say it's better (if you love curry) but if not...  Oh well.  Not my problem.

If you follow this recipe strictly, you'll come up with a plate good for:

- 3 people


You will need:

- 2 medium-sized aubergines (about 350-400 grams total), sliced

For the marinade:

- 5:3:1 tablespoon ratio of soy sauce (or nama shoyu), pineapple juice and muscovado sugar 

OR 

- ½ cup of vegetarian oyster mushroom sauce

OR 

 - your own favourite vegan marinade... Do what you want, yo!

For the batter: 

- ½ cup of all-purpose flour 

- 1 tablespoon of corn starch 

- ½ teaspoon of turmeric 

- 1 teaspoon of curry powder 

- ⅓ cup of water, or more as needed

Let's make it:

1. Make thin slices out of the aubergines—about a third of an inch.  Crosswise, of course. 

2. Marinate them for about half an hour to an hour, squeezing and pressing occasionally to make sure the aubergines absorb the marinade. 

3. Mix your batter well.  Make sure to add just enough water to make the batter a little bit runny but not too runny 

4. Coat each marinated slice of aubergine well with the batter right before deep-frying. 

5. Deep fry them in batches for about 4 minutes or until golden—like the photo above.  Turn after 2 minutes if you think it's necessary.  Do not deep-fry individually, of course, but make sure you don't crowd them because they won't cook properly if you do that.  Duh!

6. Enjoy with teriyaki sauce or pineapple sauce or that awesome ubiquitous Indonesian condiment called kecap manis (sweet soy sauce).

P.S.  The bok choy in the photo is optional.  I just put it there because it makes things look pretty.  Deal with it.

Asparagus and Broccoli Curry

a vegan dish

It's a curry that involves asparagus and broccoli.  Best eaten with rice or soft potatoes.

You will find that the procedure involved in cooking this dish is quite cumbersome.  Processes such as boiling and simmering are repeated over and over again to ensure that the proper sauce consistency is achieved.

You must keep in mind that this is a type of stew and stewing always takes time even if it only involves vegetables.

If you follow the recipe strictly, you'll come up with a bowl that would serve:

- 3 people who really like curry
- 5 people who like curry but don't want to eat too much, or
- 7 to 10 people who don't like curry but are really hungry and have no choice but to eat it

You will need:

- 1 large potato, coarsely chopped 

- 1 medium sized carrot, halved lengthwise (leave one half intact & chop the other half) 

- 3 cloves of garlic, finely choppe 

- 1 medium sized onion, diced 

- 1 tablespoon of curry powder 

- 1 teaspoon of fresh dill leaves (1/4 teaspoon if dried) 

- 1 teaspoon of ginger paste or crushed ginger 

- 2 tablespoons of oil/butter/ghee 

- 1 tablespoon of plain flour dissolved in half a cup of water 

- 1 cup of asparagus 

- 1 cup of broccoli 

- 1 regular sized western tomato (or 2 medium sized Roma/Bangalore tomatoes), soaked in very hot water for five minutes and peeled 

- salt to taste 

- muscovado sugar or molasses to balance the flavour 

- chilli for an additional kick (optional)

Let's get cookin':

1. Heat two tablespoons of oil/butter/ghee in a sauce pan and drop in the onion and garlic together. 

2. Add in the carrot (both chopped and intact) and toss for about a minute. 

3. Pour in a cup of water, mix in your tablespoon of curry powder along with the ginger paste and bring to the boil. 

4. When it comes to the boil, add in the flour dissolved in a cup of water and stir to thicken. 

If you want to add in chilli, this would be the perfect time to do it. 

5. Drop in your chopped potatoes and bring again to the boil. 

6. When boiling, simmer gently for 30 minutes with occasional stirring. 

7. Remove the intact half of the carrot and blend it to purée.  Add the purée to the saucepan right after. 

8. Using your bare hands, squeeze the peeled tomato over the saucepan so that its juices fall onto your cooking.  Mince it using your hand, dropping each peace you pull right onto the saucepan. 

9. Drop in the dill along with your asparagus and broccoli and stir everything. 

10. Add salt and muscovado/molasses to your palate's delight. 

11. Bring to the boil and simmer for another 5-7 minutes before serving.