Meal 3 Summary (Cabbage Salad, Chinese "Steamed" Buns)

Wowee. Lots of good food and unconventional to boot. We were not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be quite filling.

Cabbage Salad (Adam 3.5/5  Alex 3.5/5)
This recipe worked out well: not too much work and a ton of salad. We have a giant tupperware of leftovers for today. Although it must be admitted that we were initially wary of the notion of a cabbage salad, this dish brought an unexpected surprise. We added some extra filling from the Chinese "Steamed" Buns on top of the salad, which made the dish even tastier.

Chinese "Steamed" Buns (Adam 4/5 Alex 4/5)
I got the idea for these buns from a place I used to go in China Town in Victoria. They sold steamed buns filled with barbecued pork, so this is in essence a vegan adaptation of that. Though traditionally steamed, we baked the buns instead as a way to make the recipe easier. The first time making these was a bit chaotic and took a little long, but most of the time was spent trying to figure out what we were doing. We suggest using left over seitan if you have any from the mandarin seitan. The result was really really tasty.

Chinese "Steamed" Buns

Prep/cook time: 45 minutes

Makes: 8 buns

Buns:

1tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

2 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vegetable oil

Filling:

2tbsp vegetable oil

2tbsp sugar

2tbsp wine vinegar 

2tbsp soy sauce 

1tbsp grated ginger

1tsp cayenne

2 stalks celery, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

3 small carrots, diced

1 recipe seitan (optional)

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix in the other ingredients (I used a fork and then my hand; the original recipe called for an electric mixer). Knead. 

Leave dough for 5 minutes. Then roll it with a rolling pin (we used a bottle because we didn’t have one) on a lightly floured surface into 40cm by 25cm dimensions (you can role it to whatever dimensions you want, depending on how you want the buns to look). With your fingers, brush the surface lightly with water.

Prepare filling by frying the spices in a small pot along with the oil on medium. After 3 minutes, add remaining vegetables and cook over medium low for 10 minutes. 

Add the filling just far enough away from one of the longer edges so that you will be able to roll the dough over it. Roll the dough over the filling and continue to roll it into a log. Cut the log into eight even pieces. Close the ends of the cut pieces, so the filling wont fall out.

Let the pieces rise in a damp cloth for about 20 minutes (if you’re impatient, you can take them out after 10, but they may not rise quite as much).

Bake for 15 minutes at 350, or until slightly browned and have a firm, but not crispy outside. 

Let cool slightly and serve.

You can really add any filling you want to the buns; we just made one up. Dip in any applicable sauce you have lying around the house. For dessert, we suggest using the left over marmalade as a filling.


Adapted from this recipe.

Cabbage Salad

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8

1. 2 cups Cooked white rice
2. 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3. 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
4. 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
5. 1/2 head cabbage, shredded

Salad Dressing

1. 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2. 1/3 cup wine vinegar
3. 2 tablespoon soy sauce
4. 1 tablespoon sesame oil
5. 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

Fry nuts and sesame seeds over medium heat in the 1/4cup vegetable oil. After about 5 minutes, add the rice. While frying, shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Prepare the salad dressing in a separate small bowl and whisk together. Add the dressing to the cabbage along with the fried rice. Toss and serve! This was adapted from a recipe found here.

Meal 2 Summary (Sesame Tofu, Singapore Noodles)

Well, maybe we just love every kind of food, because I have a feeling we're going to rate these meals at the top of their class.

Sesame Tofu (Adam 4.5/5; Alex 4.5/5)

This was a lovely surprise. As authentic as it gets, this recipe held true to its promises! The sauce is a carbon copy of sesame sauce you would find in Chinese restaurants. While the flavour was untouchable, the tofu needs to be fried in a better manner- suggestions welcome!

Singapore Noodles (Adam 3.5/5; Alex 4/5)

What this recipe lacked in quality it made up in quantity... holy man. So many noodles. I am going to have trouble getting up after this serious amount of food. Fullness to a whole 'nother level. The flavour was unique, very gingery. Alex said it tasted like stuff he had in restaurants, but I've never had singapore noodles before, so I can't say. Chopping the veggies took awhile, but the cooking time itself was very short. Chickpeas were an unusual addition, but added some needed protein. All in all, a great cure for the mid-week blues. 

I would suggest cooking some steamed rice to serve over the sesame tofu. I just mixed it with the noodles, which was fine, but the noodles lost some of their own original flavour in the yumminess of the sesame sauce.

Singapore Noodles

Serves: 6-8
Cook/prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:


2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 mushrooms
1 package dry rice vermicelli
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
2 green onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
4 small carrots, diced
1/4 Package soft tofu, coarsely chopped
1 cup chickpeas, chopped
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

For sauce:

3tbsp Curry powder
1 tsp Thai Curry Paste (optional: can use any sort of curry paste or hot-sauce, but it will taste different depending on what you use)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil


1) Put the rice vermicelli in a large bowl and soak in boiling water. Drain noodles and set aside.
2) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add curry powder, ginger, and garlic. Add water, soy sauce, sugar, and curry paste. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan over medium. Add remaining garlic and ginger, and fry for a couple minutes. Add celery, carrots, onions, pepper, sprouts, green onions, and mushrooms. Fry for 2 minutes. Add tofu and chickpeas and fry an additional 3 minutes until vegetables soften.
4) Mix vegetables, noodles, and sauce, adding chopped peanuts on top.

Based on this recipe

Sesame Tofu

Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4


1 package firm tofu, cubed

Marinade

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon cooking wine

3 drops sesame oil

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Sauce

½ cup water

1 cup broth

¹¼ cup white vinegar 

¼ cup cornstarch

1 cup sugar 

2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon chili paste 

Prepare the marinade in a small bowl. Add the tofu, and let sit for 20 minutes, stirring once after about 10 minutes. 

Add all of the sauce incredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium for 5 minutes, and then turn the heat off, stirring frequently.

 Once the tofu has been marinated for 20 minutes, fry it in a large pan over medium in 3tbsp oil.

After the tofu is fried, add it to the sauce and serve over a bed of rice.

Recipe can be found here

Week 1: "Chinese"/"What We Think Chinese Food Is"

Ingredients we needed to buy*:
Apples, wine vinegar, corn starch, marmalade, carrots, orange juice concentrate, bok choy, green onion, garlic, celery, tofu (one firm, one soft), bean sprouts, 3 bell peppers, mushrooms, cabbage.
Cost: $37.53

So, here's on the hit list for the week:
-Mandarin Seitan
-Hot and Sour Soup
-Sesame Tofu
-Singapore Noodles
-Steamed Buns
-Cabbage Salad
-Fried Rice


*This assumes you own basic ingredients such as salt, soy sauce, sugar, rice etc...