Vegetarian Bee Hoon with Mock Chicken

Vegetarian Bee Hoon with Mock Chicken
It was daunting to walk to the shop in the bitter cold but I was feeling peckish.
Hmmmmm, wondering what to eat next as my tummy was still rumbling after breakfast?.
Aha, there was half a can of mock chicken in the fridge and some dried vermicelli. That would do, simple comfort food and no time to prepare at all.

I do not usually follow a recipe so this is just an estimate, adjust according to your taste.
It takes less than ten minutes to cook, thus organise what you need before beginning to fry.

Ingredients
1. Half a pack of vermicelli (bee hoon). Soften in cold water for about 15-20 minutes. Drain in colander.
2. 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
3. Half can mock chicken sliced. Use juice from can too.
4. Mix 3 tablespoon light soya sauce, 2 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce and ¼ cup of warm water. Mix well.
5. A dash of white pepper (optional)
6. About 4 tablespoon EVO
7. Dash of sesame oil
8. Sprig of coriander, roughly sliced

Method
1. Heat wok.
It’s very important to add oil into a smoking wok to create the wok hei effect. See Note.
Do not add oil into a cold wok before heating.
2. When wok is smoking, add oil. When oil is hot, add garlic, quick stir, less than a second and push to side of wok.
3. Add bee hoon, leave it just for a second, flip and mix in the garlic.
If you cannot control the fire, lower the flame a bit. Action must be very quick.
4. Add dash of pepper if using. You can smell the aroma. Mix well with chopsticks for less than a minute.
5. Push bee hoon to a side, add mock chicken and cover completely with bee hoon.
This will give the mock chicken a chance to be heated through.
6. Flick/sprinkle warm stock at edges of bee hoon and mix well. Add stock bit at a time. Do not add the whole bowl at once to prevent bee hoon from breaking and mushy.
You may need to scrap bottom of wok.
7. Add dash of sesame oil , mix well and ensure mock chicken is heated through.
8. Adjust seasoning, add coriander and serve.

Note1: The meaning of Wok Hei - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wok_hei

Note2: It would be lovely with bean sprout and celery leaves.
Extremely versatile with other ingredients too.
Waste not what’s in your fridge. Let your imagination runs.

Vegetable Soup

Weather was cold thus I have decided to cook vegetable soup for dinner.

Have you seen purple sprouting broccoli spears?

It's delicious with a slightly nutty flavour.

It's so easy to cook vegetable soup. I am temporarily staying in England and am not buying unnecessary spices simply just to take the soup to another notch.

Save money by buying seasonal vegetables and sell by dates. They are absolute value for money.

Enjoy experimenting but do remember simplicity is best. Let the ingredients work for you. It is pointless buying expensive ingredients for the sake of it.

Ingredients

For the base ingredients

2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
One slice of fresh ginger (optional)

For the aromatics

1 bay leave if available
One tablespoon of dried mix herbs or fresh thyme or any available herbs you have in stock

For the main ingredients

6 potatoes, well scrubbed without peeling if possible and cut into chunks
2 carrots, cut into chunksOne stalk celery, leave and stem
¼ cup of barley pearls (soak in warm water, do not discard water, add into stock)

To be added in only during last five minutes of cooking
A stalk of spring onions, slice finely
Cabbage, tear leaves into bite size pieces but cut the core roughly
Broccoli, set florets aside but cut the stems roughly

For the Stock
Water about 3 inches above vegetables when simmering in pot

Seasonings

Two vegetable cubes

Salt
Freshly ground black pepper or ordinary white pepper

Method

Heat the oil gently in pot, add in onions and ginger.
When onions are soft without browning, add carrots, saute for about ten minutes.
Add all vegetables minus cabbage leaves and broccoli florets.
Continue sweating vegetables, add freshly ground black pepper, bay leaves and mixed herbs.
Mix well and continue to sweat for another five minutes.
Add barley pearls, vegetable cubes and water to vegetables and bring to a boil then simmer gently without lid on.
Cook vegetables to desired doneness.
Last five minutes before serving, bring stock to the boil, add spring onions, cabbage leaves and broccoli florets.
Check and adjust seasoning.
Garnish with fresh coriander before serving.
Delicious and hearty on its own or serve with garlic bread.