Mushroom Stir-Fry with Asian Style Tomato Sauce

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?

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!

Champignon Mushroom Stir-Fry with Asian Style Tomato Sauce

Hummus

a vegan sauce

To be completely honest, although I do consume a fair amount of Tahini, I'm not a huge fan of it on its own.  The real reason I make it is so I could then proceed to making hummus—an awesome Middle Eastern food item that requires it.

Hummus is actually the Arabic term for chickpeas.  What we're dealing with here is called ḥummuṣ bi ṭaḥīna in Arabic—meaning hummus with tahini.  It is the non-sweet cousin of peanut butter that is commonly consumed in the region where Jesus Christ and Mohammed lived.  Whether or not you adhere to an Abrahamic religion, you'll probably love this.

Following this recipe will fill up a standard peanut butter jar or, in my case, again, a plastic container.

You will need:

- 2 cups of cooked chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, as they are otherwise called) 

- 2 tablespoons of tahini 

- 1 clove or garlic (or 2, depending on the kick you want in it) 

- ½ cup of the stock from cooking the chickpeas 

- 4 tablespoons of lemon juice (or lime juice) 

- 1 teaspoon of salt (or ½, depending on the strength of your salt) 

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

To make it, just blend all the ingredients in a food processor until you come up with a smooth paste.

Serve with a light sprinkle of ground black pepper and paprika and a good drizzle of olive oil.

Tahini

a vegan sauce

I've been playing with Middle Eastern vegan food over the last couple of days and, really, one can't function well in such a field without Tahini.  It's actually Tahina, if you're gonna be strict about its Arabic pronunciation, by the way.

Following this recipe will fill up a small jar or, in my case, plastic container.

You will need:

- 2 cups of sesame seeds 

- 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil (preferably extra virgin olive oil because it is cold pressed and raw) 

- water if necessary

There are two ways to go about this:  Raw or roasted.  I personally prefer raw because I think it's healthier but roasting is traditional so I'm not adverse to it.  There are two attitudes you receive this food item with—you either like it or you don't—and raw or roasted won't make much of a difference.  Either way, you'll be needing a good food processor or high speed blender (Vitamix or Blendtec are the best brands).


Let's make Tahini:

1.  (For raw)  Soak your sesame seeds in water overnight.  This is done so the seeds become easier to digest in their raw state.  Drain afterwards. 

or 

1.  (For traditional)  Roast your dry sesame seeds in a pan, just long enough for oil to start coming out of them.  Toss or stir the seeds continuously to make sure they are evenly heated.  Make sure they do not turn brown.  They may turn yellow—even goldish—but never darker than that.  Dark seeds will give you a very bitter tahini and, properly made, this food item is already slightly bitter to begin with. 

2.  Blend or process the seeds with the oil until it turns into a smooth paste.  Add a bit of water—a tablespoon at a time—if you find it difficult to blend.  Don't add too much, though, as you don't want it to become too fluid.  You want considerable viscosity in your final product.

Note:  The extra water is not necessary if your blender or food processor is powerful enough or if you have the patience to smoosh it down every five seconds.  You may even forgo the oil if you feel you don't need it.  The sesame seeds are rich in oil so all that the extra oil really does is help with the fluidity but it's not absolutely necessary.

Refried Beans

a vegan sauce

I made bean stew and soaked way too much beans for the folks in the house to consume in a single sitting.  They were beginning to sprout in the bowl so I had to do something with them and I didn't want to make the same dish again.  I remember my vegan friend, Chef Marla (who now resides in Bali), brought refried beans at a dinner party we were in.  I particularly relished that stuff so I made some myself!

It kind of looks like peanut butter, doesn't it?  If you make it without the spices, reduce the salt and use a sweetener (e.g. honey or agave nectar), it's actually going to taste a lot like peanut butter.

This recipe makes a bowl good for I don't know how many people.

You will need:

- 1 cup of dried beans 

- 3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped 

- ½ medium sized onion, coarsely chopped 

- ½ teaspoon of marjoram (dried or fresh) 

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil 

- salt and pepper for seasoning 

- water

To make it:

1-3.  Soak the beans on 4 cups of water overnight.  

or   

1.  Add beans to 4 cups of boiling water.  

2.  Bring back to the boil and boil for 5 minutes.  

3.  After 5 minutes, turn the heat off; put the lid on and leave for 2 hours to cool.  

4.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  

5.  Put the beans back in a pan and cover it well with water.  Make sure the water lever is about an inch above the beans. 

6.  Add garlic, onion, marjoram and 2 pinches of salt and a pinch of pepper and bring to the boil.  

7.  When it comes to the boil, bring the heat to low.  Cover with a lid and simmer for 2 hours to tenderise the beans.  Check periodically to make sure the water does not dry up. 

8.  Drain the water out. 

9.  Heat your olive oil in a pan over low heat. 

10.  Drop in a cup of beans at a time and mash it with a masher. 

11.  Add water to increase fluidity--about ¼ cup or more based on your judgement--just not too much. 

or 

9-11.  Put beans with olive oil and ¼ cup of water in a food processor and blend away. 

12.  When all the beans have been mashed to perfection, check seasoning and serve.

Mango Chutney (or Achar or Whatever)

a vegan sauce

I wanted to make mango chutney but I didn't have all the right spices so I thought I'd simplify it and make achār instead.  Then again, I wanted it to be sweet, so I decided to improvise using simple ingredients.  If Mango chutney and mango achār were to make love and have babies, at least one of them would probably taste like this.

If any Indians are reading this, please don't get mad.  I love you!

If you follow this recipe strictly, you'll come up with about half a small jar of whatever this thing is.


You will need:

- 1 large mango (flesh only), roughly chopped 

- 2 teaspoons of ginger paste or shredded ginger * If you don't like ginger, reduce it to 1 teaspoon.  Remember that a little ginger goes a long way.

- ½ teaspoon of turmeric (paste or powder) * This is for colour. 

- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar 

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil 

- 1 tablespoon of agave nectar (or honey if you're not opposed to the idea)

- ⅓ cup of water 

- ¼ teaspoon of salt (or a little less)

mango

shredded ginger

turmeric powder

To make it:

1.  Sauté the ginger paste in olive oil over low heat for a few seconds. 

2.  Add in your mango and sauté for about a minute. 

3.  Add in the turmeric and sauté for 2 minutes. 

4.  Stir the salt, vinegar and sweetener in. 

5.  Stir in water and simmer over very low heat (with occasional stirring) until thick.

Vegan Egg Substitute for Not-So-Sweet Breads and Cakes

a vegan sauce

This is the second of two vegan egg substitute recipes I'm sharing.  While the first one was for sweet things, this one is for not-so-sweet things like simple breads and the like.

You must bear in mind, though, that neither of the two sauces will enable you to make sunny-side-up or scrambled eggs--not even mayonnaise.  I already said in the previous recipe that these are only good for breads and cakes, remember?


Flax Seed-Based Egg Substitute

The Finished Product

Raw Flax Seeds

Flax seed can be found in most grocery stores and health shops.  It is considered a health food item since it happens to be very rich in omega-3 fatty acids.  I bought mine at Healthy Options, SM City Cebu.  There are brown seeds and golden yellow seeds like in the picture above.  Both are equally good for making egg substitute--it just depends on whether or not you like your food to be dark.


You will need:

- 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed (grind it using a coffee grinder)
- 3 tablespoons of water

To make it:

1. Simmer the ground flax seeds and water in a small pan or metallic cup for 5 minutes until you achieve a consistency similar to an egg white's. 

2. Put it on a cup and let it cool completely before you use it.

NOTE:  This amount is equivalent to one egg but you may easily make more using a ratio of 1 part ground flax seed to 3 parts water.

Vegan Egg Substitute for Sweet Breads and Cakes

a vegan sauce

The most difficult part of making vegan versions of breads and cakes is coming up with an egg substitute.

Let me teach you how to make them.  If you're a vegan yourself, this is something to live by.  If you're not a vegan, then perhaps you could purposely learn how to do this and brag about it to your vegan friends so they'll be more gracious to your future dinner invitations.  HAH!

This is the first of two recipes of vegan egg substitutes I'll be sharing.  This one is for sweet things like cakes and pastries.


Banana-Based Egg Substitute

Mashed

Puréed

You will need:

- 1 large ripe banana
- 1/2 (half) teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of corn flour (corn starch)

To make it:

There are two ways to make it.

1st Method:  If you want it chunky, put all the ingredients in a bowl and use a hand masher or a fork to mash it thoroughly until it becomes like the picture above.  Leave it to rest in a cool dry place (such as your fridge) for 30-60 minutes before using so the pectin could activate. 

2nd Method:  Drop all the ingredients in a food processor and whiz it until it turns into a purée. Leave it to rest in your fridge for 30-60 minutes before using it.

NOTE:  ¼ (a quarter) of a cup of this substitute is equivalent to one egg.

Guacamole

a vegan sauce

A Mexican dip best paired with tortilla crisps and flat bread like tortillas, roti, chapati, naan, or pita.

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

- 4 pieces of flat bread, or
- 1 regular bag of unflavoured tortilla chips

You will need:

- 2 ripe avocados 

- 3 tablespoons of lime or kalamansi juice 

- 2 medium sized tomatoes (or one large western tomato) peeled, de-seeded and finely chopped 

- 2 tablespoons of coarsely chopped/diced onion 

- 1 tablespoon of coriander (also known in some places as cilantro) 

- Your choice of hot pepper (jalapeño, bird's eye, tabasco, espada) de-seeded and very finely chopped (add according to heat tolerance with a minimum of one teaspoon) 

- salt for seasoning

- 1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder (optional) 

- 1/4 teaspoon of cumin powder (optional)

To make it:

1. Put the lime/kalamansi juice in a bowl. 

2. Scoop out the flesh of the avocados and chop coarsely. 

3. Add the avocado to the lime/kalamansi juice in the bowl. 

4. Coarsely mash the avocado using a fork or a potato masher until it becomes a bit smooth and creamy.  It's okay to have little lumps here and there.  NEVER EVER BLEND IT. 

5. If you don't like the onions to crunch in your mouth, you could crush it using a mortar and pestle.  If you're okay with crunchy onions, skip this step. 

6. Add all other ingredients into the bowl with the avocado and mix well. 

7. Season with salt to your taste buds' delight. 

8. Chill in the fridge for one hour before serving.