Napa Cabbage, Bok Choy with Mushrooms, Tofu 大白菜焖蘑菇豆腐

Is this a vegetable stir-fry or a vegetable braise? This dish leans towards quick and simple braising (in this context which means frying it quickly then simmering in a covered pot with a small amount of liquid) of  Napa cabbage with mushrooms and tofu.

Unlike Napa Cabbage, Mushrooms and Tofu Stew which can afford a little more cooking/simmering time, this vegetable dish should not be overcooked due to the presence of other vegetables particularly leafy greens.


If there are leftover vegetables such as Bok Choy, cauliflower in the fridge, they can be added to this dish and it will make quite a substantial dish; a dish that can be good enough to go solo or to pair with rice. With the addition of four varieties of mushrooms - oyster mushrooms, beech mushrooms, crimini mushrooms and enoki mushrooms, a vegetarian dish can be made very wholesome, nutritious, healthy and delicious.

The fancy name, often used in some Chinese restaurants, is Buddha's Delight 罗汉斋; otherwise it is also known as Combination Vegetarian Stir-Fry 什锦炒菜.

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Krill Cabbage Rice, Daikon Omelette & Kale

Sometimes it is congee with side-dishes and other times, it might be steamed rice in place of the rice porridge/congee. Such a meal is quite commonly Asian, or perhaps just typical in my home. We grew up with such meals back in Asia.

Today let us have a bowl of rice with side-dishes.


Dried Krill and Cabbage Rice, together with Green Onion, Daikon Omelette and Kale Stir-Fry is a tasty homey meal that can be easily put together.

Some meal examples that comes with side-dishes:
Steamed Rice with steamed or blanched side-dishes
Vegetable Couscous with Teriyaki Chicken, and Seaweed Soup
Steamed Rice with Grilled Mackerel, Garlic Spinach, Steamed Beets

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Tag: krill rice, garlic kale

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Cabbage, Mushrooms, Tofu Stew 香菇豆腐烩白菜

Both braising and stewing are moist-heat, slow-cooking methods that develop flavors over time. Most often, meat such as beef or lamb are braised or stewed as moist-heat over time tenderizes the meat by breaking down the muscle fibers and connective tissues. Then what is the difference between braising and stewing? When referring to meats, braising cooks large cuts of meat vs stewing that uses small uniform meat pieces.


Technically, this homemade Chap Chye should be considered Mixed Vegetable Stew as it consists of relatively-small, uniform vegetable pieces (mainly Napa cabbage), mushrooms and tofu. Though its name means vegetable stew, Chap Chye may not be vegetarian all the time when some Chap Chye may contain dried shrimps as one of the "flavor" ingredients, and often uses oyster sauce as seasoning. Today's Chap Chye version - Mixed Vegetable Stew, however, is vegetarian.

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Brussel Sprouts, Broccoli, Cabbage Pasta Soup 甘蓝,西兰花,高丽菜汤

This bowl of soup is all part of the Brassica oleracea family which includes cabbage, brussel sprouts and broccoli (broccolini to be exact).

If there is only one essential tip to share for making this soup a success, it is to not over-cook the brussel sprouts and baby broccoli when they are added into the soup.

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Cabbage with Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms 高丽菜炒鲜香菇

Similar to carrots, cabbage is available year-round. However, in the cooler fall/autumn months, the cabbage harvest is a much sweeter batch with the light frost concentrating the sugars in this vegetable.

This is yet another easy and quick stir-fry for stir-fry lovers. Visualize and imagine this dish being paired with rice or noodles, and  voila! - carbs, fiber, proteins all in one single dish that can be proudly made a meal.


I have been getting fresh shiitake mushrooms quite regularly ever since Mitsuwa Supermarket (Bay Area location) started stocking up on these Californian-grown mushrooms. Though they are not cheap (range between $6.99-$8.99/lb) compared to the China-import fresh shiitake mushrooms usually available in 99Ranch Asian supermarket, I do try to make it a point to get the local domestic California-grown mushrooms; and especially when shiitakes mushrooms are high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, it is worth spending a few more bucks on this nutritious and healthy ingredient.

Mushrooms Tips: Compared to those dried shiitake mushrooms that hail longer shelf life, fresh shiitakes do not keep for too long in the refrigerator, at most 3 weeks if stored well. Usually, I will remove the fresh mushrooms from their transparent plastic packaging, then place them in a kitchen-paper-towel-lined container with a slightly damped kitchen-paper-towel to loosely cover over the mushrooms, for storage in the fridge. The mushrooms need to "breathe"!

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Cabbage, Krill and Mushroom Mixed-Grain Rice 五穀杂菜饭

Following this Krill (Dried Shrimps) Cabbage Rice, here comes the amp-up version with more ingredients. I love this combo.


The mixed-grain rice (五谷米）used here consists of brown rice, oat, barley, buckwheat, red lentils and more. What else is mixed into the "rice" ?

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Krill (Dried Shrimps) Cabbage Rice 磷虾/虾皮菜饭

How does this bowl of rice look?


Basic? Simple? Strange? Unfamiliar? Well...

Fragrant, delicious, homey, easy to prepare and cook.  LOVEeeee!

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Lemongrass Chicken Curry Assam, Cabbage with Eggs, Kale with Mushrooms

That's our dinner!

What's for your dinner today?

Previously, I have shared a typical weekly meal routine with you. Today is not the day for one-dish noodle stir-fry. Rather, a day for side dishes with steamed plain rice or porridge. It begins with my old-time favorite - greens with mushrooms; specifically Kale with Oyster Mushrooms Stir-Fry.


Then branching from my Spiced Cabbage Stir-Fry with Hard-boiled Eggs dish, this Cabbage with Eggs dish was inspired from one of my favorite food blogs - Noobcook.

Finally, meat and spice is my other half's favorite. So here it is, Lemongrass Chicken Curry Assam. Yes, this dish has elements of lemongrass and tamarind in the chicken curry base.


Enjoy!

Tag: kale, mushrooms, cabbage

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Napa Cabbage with Mushrooms and Carrots

My friend always makes vegetarian Chinese spring rolls using this veggie combination (Napa cabbage, carrots, mushrooms - can be shiitake mushrooms, woodear mushrooms or even crimini  mushrooms) as the filling. Today, I am simply going to use this veggie mixture for a stir-fry side dish


Napa Cabbage with Mushrooms and Carrots
Sweat some onions and ginger till onions are soft. Add finely diced carrots then 6 baby bella mushrooms finely sliced previously seasoned with soy sauce and cooking wine (Note: the baby bella mushrooms are relatively bigger than brown crimini, so if using brown crimini mushrooms, double the quantity of mushrooms used. You can also use fresh shiitake mushrooms. Cook for about 15 mins. Add Napa cabbage and fry on medium-heat for about 10 mins till all the veggies are cooked. Salt and ground white pepper to taste.


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Tag: cabbage, mixed vegetables stir-fry

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Trio of Vegetables Stir-Fry - a battle of veggies!

This is a trio of stir-fry vegetables (organic baby spinach, baby bok choy and cabbage). No, I did not fry them altogether in the same wok at the same time. Rather, the vegetables were stir-fried separately - first the baby bok choy with garlic and ginger (without the mushrooms and carrots this time); then the baby spinach with garlic, finally cabbage with green onions, garlic and ginger.


Being the only vegetable that deserves some caramelization, the cabbage was cooked last and via a slightly different frying technique (also a longer cooking time) compared to the other two more gently sauteed vegetables.

The cooking is usually the easy task. It's the prep. (cleaning, cutting, chopping etc.) that takes time. Do you have this habit of mise en place (making sure everything is in order) when you cook?

Mise en place

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Abalone, Cabbage, Chicken Noodle Soup鲍鱼白菜鸡丝面汤

Three simple ingredients - chicken, carrots and cabbage can make great tasting soup. Such is a soup that says home, comfort and warmth. As I have been cooking more chicken soups/broths more recently (for recovery/healing, for nourishment, as winter food, for boosting immunity), this regular soup base makes it easy for me to put together a flavorsome noodle soup like this Napa Cabbage and Carrot Noodle Soup with Abalone and Shredded Chicken 白菜鲍鱼鸡丝面汤


Abalone 鲍鱼 (Bao Yu) is another ingredient, popularly seen to be enjoyed during Chinese New Year as with its auspicious symbolism to prosperity. 鲍鱼 (Bao Yu) has the same pronunciation as 包 余 meaning abundance, having excess of good tidings such as happiness, prosperity, money.

Starting with an already cooked chicken stock/broth, carrots are added and when the soup is simmering, add the whitish firm parts of the napa cabbage. If you do not want the leaves of the napa cabbage to be overcooked, add them 15-20 minutes prior to finally turning off the heat before serving. Salt and white pepper to taste and garnish generously with finely chopped green onions and cilantro.

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Cabbage Stir-Fry HardBoiled Eggs

One of my favorite Nasi Padang (Indonesian cuisine comprising of rice with various sides of meat and vegetable) dishes is a non-spicy cabbage stir-fry with hard-boiled egg bits. I don't know the name of this dish till today (if you know, kindly let me know) but I totally enjoy the simplicity of the dish esp. when you have the other spicy dishes such as chicken/beef rendang, sambal prawns with steamed rice - this cabbage dish brings such a nice complementary balance to the heat from the other dishes.


As I was not having other spicy dishes one day, I decided to make this cabbage dish slightly spicier. So my own rendition of "I-don't-know-what-it-is-called" but one of my favorite vegetable (Nasi Padang) side-dishes.

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Mixed Beans Cabbage Soup

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was spent at a friend's place - enjoying duck, two-ways (half roasted, another half braised with chestnuts) and other home-cooked dishes. Delicious! Thanks, friend.

Well. Ok. Thanksgiving is over. No more hard work in the kitchen for a while (at least in the next two days). But eating out 3 meals a day is not an option. A well-accepted idea for busy cooks is to cook one big pot of food and have leftovers for the next 1-2 meals. Sure beats eating out.

Me included. The same but for a different reason.I am the lazy cook.

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Roasted Kabocha Squash Stuffed Green Beans Quinoa - Autumn in a Squash Bowl

In short, this is my recent creation - Autumn in a Squash Bowl; or more exactly - Pomegranate Seeds on Roasted Kabocha Squash Stuffed with Quinoa, Roasted Cabbage, Green Beans, Carrots.


No new recipes are involved. Basically, it's a combination of dishes I have done recently: Roasted Green Beans in Turmeric-Infused Quinoa and Spicy Roasted Cabbage, with an attempt to make it more "fall-like" and more wholesomeness by adding spicy roasted cabbage to toss into the "already vegetabley" quinoa mix.

Tip: This is a good way to freshen up leftovers (the veggie-quinoa mix was cooked in huge batch the previous day, and the remainder was chilled in the fridge)

Come today, prepare the fresh ingredients: (1) get ready the roasted cabbage; (2) a half-size kabocha squash (Note: thank goodness the grocery store already slice it into half and I bought that half with no intention of chopping/slicing); finally, don't forget some (3) fresh pomegranate seeds


Looks good to wow your guests, is it not?

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Sardine and Roasted Cabbage Pizza

How does Sardine and Cabbage pizza sound? Unheard of?

How about pita bread as the pizza base, with homemade sardine-tomato sauce using Wild Caught Brisling Sardines in Spring Water...


...baked in the oven (375F abt 15 mins till pita bread crisp up), then topped with roasted cabbage and before serving, add some fresh taste with arugula.



Woo la la!

These Sardine and Roasted Cabbage Pizza and Roasted Cauliflower Pizza are my favorite pizza creations to-date.

I have said it many times. Crown Prince Wild Caught  Brisling Sardines in Spring Water is my favorite canned sardines (in fact, canned fish). Recently I make my first food (grocery) purchase from Amazon and you are right, I got them in pack of 12 and each can rounds up to about $2.60 (much cheaper than retail price at natural health stores - usually about $3.50/can) ! Really a good deal. And these sardines are so tasty, fit to be consumed straight from the can (no cooking required).


Tag: brisling sardines, pizza, roasted cabbage

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Steamed and Roasted Cabbage Two-Ways

Do food bloggers have bad days? YES YES YES. When a dish you made for the first time don't turn out as expected. When the day is dark and gloomy to take a decent photo (hey, I'm still using a point-and-shoot!, heavily depend on nature to help me).

Steamed Cabbage

For once, I am going to say - DON"T STEAM cabbage (steaming Napa cabbage is ok; but steaming cabbage does not work for me). The "grassy-chlorophyll" raw smell and taste is hard to rid of; and the sweetness of cabbage is not extracted to the fullest.

Thinly julienne cabbage to almost a slaw - steam or blanch till cabbage turns tender and are cooked through - drizzle miso + sesame oil + white pepper dressing over ==> Can't seem to get rid of the raw "grassy-chlorophyll" taste.

Stir-frying works better.

Hmmm....why. What does frying do? But coleslaw don't taste like that. Hmmm....


Roasted Cabbage

So....do food bloggers have good days?

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Vegetables Simmered Somen Noodles

Due to Blogger.com issues, I lost my original post. Hope all the precious comments can be recovered  :(

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I thought somen noodles only work well in soups, as noodle soups. Not so. I tried simmering them with Laticino (Dino) kale, cabbage, carrots in a wok of wet "stir-fry" and this Vegetables Simmered Somen Noodles kinda work!


The key step is to pre-fry the onions till they are slightly charred and caramelized; then add the ginger, carrots, garlic and fry to combine. When carrots slightly softened, add the cabbage, combine well with mixture, add 1-2cups water/broth and let it simmer low-medium heat for about 15 minutes or more till flavors develop. Finally add the thin shreds of kale (Note: Use the technique similar to Collard Greens). When kale turn tender, season with sea salt and ground white pepper.

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Napa Cabbage Hulled Barley Soup

Currently, we are experiencing wintry weather as a way to welcome Spring. What a damper!

And staying home to cook a hearty soup is my way to welcome the rain, winds and Spring. I am using these YIFON mushrooms in this everyday home-cooked fare. To have a little spice factor - I combined some Spicy Bailing Mushrooms - 白灵菇 and some Assorted Mushrooms-三味菇 in a vegetables and barley soup.

Practice makes perfect. I think I am getting better at creating tasty vegetarian dishes. Nah, vegetarian dishes are not bland. In fact, they can be flavorsome and delicious...ahem...speaking from this non-vegetarian here. And seriously, it is not difficult to develop flavors in vegetarian dishes. It is not the (huge) amount of oil you have to use. And you don't have to over-depend on excessively-rich, heavy hot sauces.

How then?

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Cabbage Chayote Stir-Fry

Once in a while, we have those "clearing out the fridge" days. Before leaving for a short vacation. Too bored with what's in the fridge. A fridge in need of a makeover. To find new inspiration.

How often do you have THOSE days?

I made this by clearing out the cabbage and chayote in my fridge. It is not hard to guess why Cabbage and Chayote. They are relatively hardy vegetables that keep longer in the fridge, so naturally when it is clearing out time, there they are!

Food taste different with tomatoes. Food taste different when you add tomatoes first. Food taste different when you add tomatoes last. Sorry for my stupid talk. Sorry for my monologue.

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Collard Greens Stir-Fry with Cabbage and Carrot

Ventured out to Collard Greens only recently, after dealing with kale (recipes include Stir-Fry Kale, Kale Pasta, Kale and Potato Soup and even Kale Ice Popsicles!) a couple of times.

So, what can I do with collard greens? Chinese home-cooking is my comfort zone, so I fall back to stir-fry, in this first attempt on collard greens. At home, I don't control a high-heat wok like in a professional kitchen, thus I am usually into low-medium-temperature cooking, to minimize the destruction of nutrition faced in the process of high-heat cooking. There are also a couple of techniques used in food prep. to ensure even cooking of the ingredients especially for winter greens such as kale and collard greens.

Stems and leaves separated, is the way to go. Rather, thin shreds of stems and leaves, separated. Cooking Tip: Fry the stems first and when they are half-cooked, add the leaves, then cook the entire dish to completion.

I have not tried the Southern way of cooking collard greens, though I have seen it quite often on TV. To me, it just seems OVERCOOKED. Maybe it tastes good? I don't know. But (1) I do not like my greens turning yellow. And (2) I do not like it overcooked. Or perhaps, I am too used to the Asia way of home-style cooking. Here, my collard greens in a home-style stir-fry with cabbage, carrots, mushrooms and a little spices: Stir-Fry Collards with Cabbage and Carrot

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