We live in an apartment that has a Chinese style kitchen – small and crowded. It has badly designed cardboards, and windows that don’t close properly, making it colder than other rooms. Another bad thing is that a lot of Chinese food is cooked with oil at high temperatures; this renders the whole place pretty greasy very quickly, a problem which is exacerbated when people are too lazy to clean. So every time I move to a new place, the kitchen always presents a challenge because you have to clean up all the thick, old grease the previous tenants left. = =

I always wanted a large, open, bright, interactive European-style kitchen, like the ones advertised in Ikea catalogs. You can talk to your friends while cooking; they could lend a helping hand when you need it, or put on music. To make myself feel more comfortable, I have actually started to put a small speaker on my mp3 player in the kitchen so I don’t feel so bored when I spend time there, cooking and washing stuff.

Anyway enough complaining. :P Today I decided to bake a dense bread with nuts and seeds. Usually quick breads taste better on the second day, but I know I will be too eager to eat it, so I scheduled the baking time in the evening. After baking I go to bed, and then the next morning I will have my bread ready for breakfast. ;-) This is a very versatile bread that goes well with either sweet jam or savory spreads, and I especially enjoy it when I toast the slices again so they become crispy and crunchy.

 

I have heard quite a few people saying that they love meat but they also love animals. For those, I think switching to a plant-based diet is quite a big challenge than those who are already eating a lot of vegetables with their meals. For instance, before I turned vegetarian, I wasn’t a big meat eater; I did enjoy a few meat dishes my mom used to make, but not to the extent that I couldn’t live without them. So it was easier for me to become a vegetarian. Though I understand for someone who really, really enjoys those meat dishes, it is really asking a lot of them to give it up.

My best advice for those people is to start by trying meat alternatives. Soy protein or wheat-gluten have very chewy textures, and can resemble some cooked meats pretty well. Of course it’s not exactly the same, but at least it could be an easier transition. When it’s well prepared with familiar flavors, people are happy to eat it, without questioning too much whether it’s real meat or not.

So I came up with a veganized traditional meat dish. For someone from a meat-eating background, perhaps the second they saw this dish they would think of a meat and potato dish. It’s such a hearty, fulfilling and warm meal, perfect for a chilly winter evening. I finished a big plate with some black and brown rice. :D

 

When people decide to switch to a vegan diet, they always worry about not getting enough protein. This is primarily because we have been educated from a young age that animal proteins are the only source of protein we can get; people don’t even realize that most plants also contain protein.

The good thing about animal protein (if we ignore the animals suffering and dying) is that it’s complete, so you don’t need to take amino acids from various other foods. The bad thing is that animal protein is laden with fat, cholesterol, residues of hormones and a concentration of pesticides and antibiotics, and all these bad characteristics overwrite the good ones. It also contributes to acidifying of our body, which results in calcium leaking from our bones in an attempt to balance the body’s Ph value. An acidic environment is believed to be one of the causes of cancers. Another reason for avioding excess protein is it makes our kidneys overwork to process it.

On a lighter note, while most plants don’t have a complete protein profile, by eating various foods your body automatically takes bits from each resource to satisfy its needs. And the good news is that you don’t have to eat them all in one meal. Your body is clever enough to do its own job by combining them. Not to mention, there are certainly some foods available with complete protein, such as soybeans and quinoa. Of course, you don’t have to eat them every day, like I said, just try to combine various plant foods, your body will do its job. ;-) Here is a dish that contains tofu and its more “meaty” counterparts for the new, wannabe vegans to try.

I adore watching movies that feature fine dining. Even though most of the time people are not eating vegan dishes, I like the atmosphere and enthusiasm related with food. When it comes to pasta, one scene that stays with me is from the film Eat, Pray, Love when Liz dines in Italy. She just sits in one of those open-air cafes, and tries to enjoy the pasta with the sauce, how I love her smile! She finally enjoys life and finds passion for it.

Some pasta dishes are really easy to make, this one I made today is an example. Arrabbiata, literally means “angry” in Italian, it got its name because this sauce contains chilli powder so it’s very hot. It’s probably one of the simplest pasta dishes to cook, easier than pasta with basic tomato sauce. You only need garlic and tomatoes as the basic ingredients, and of course, the hot chilli powder as well. So cook one for yourself, and enjoy it in the bright sunshine. Maybe the chilli will ignite your passion; whatever it is. ;-)

 

 

Falafel, like hummus, is another food that I loved at first taste. It’s traditionally made of chickpeas, commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine, made into a ball or patty, then either deep fried, pan fried, or baked. Then it’s served with flatbread such as pita or lafa, along with other raw vegetables, pickled vegetables and a tahini based sauce.

Falafel is high in protein, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. Chickpeas themselves are also low in fat and salt and contain no cholesterol – if you are using canned chickpeas, you have to rinse them thoroughly before use. Other key nutrients are calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, copper, manganese, Vitamin C, thiamine, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B, and folate, with phytochemicals such as beta-carotene. Unfortunately, like I mentioned before, chickpeas are not widely available in China yet. The only food I have seen is a snack from Xinjiang, the baked chickpea is advertised as a healthy food for lowering blood cholesterol.

I decided to experiment with chickpeas by adding other ingredients and using the traditional British condiment mint sauce in the sauce. The good thing is that I could make a whole batch, and freeze it, so later when I want to eat it, I can just take it out of freezer and fry it. Even though it was a pure experiment, I found it very tasty, and I love the adding of extra fiber from the wheat bran and oats. And if you have kids at home, it would be fun for them to roll the balls and flatten them with their hands. It’s always great to involve kids in cooking, so when they are older they know how to take care of themselves by feeding themselves healthy food. ;-)

 

Although I never ate asparagus when I was young, it was one of the first English words for vegetables that I ever learnt. I always confused asparagus with bamboo shoots, and it wasn’t until much later when I bought it in the market that I realized how different they are. Asparagus is crispy and I love its powerful, tender green color, and even though it is available all year around, it always reminds me of spring. Asparagus is one of the vegetables, along with mushrooms, I could eat alone without adding other condiments.

That’s why I created this simple “eintopf” style dish using them with a little sea salt and black pepper. “Eintopf” is the German word for “one pot”. Usually it’s a stew with many vegetables all cooked in one pot. This is what I do when I run out of time. I usually combine vegetables, grain and beans into one dish, cook them together quickly and eat it. :)

 

A while ago I read a story from my friend Jackie’s blog. She was very young and one rainy day, she encountered a very young chick. It was shivering in the chilly rain. She took the baby chick home, tried to warm it and fed it, but it wouldn’t eat anything, it just trembled. My friend’s mom told her she couldn’t have it at home, there was no space, plus there was nobody to take care of it. So my friend had to take it to the nearest hen she could find, but the hen refused to accept the baby chicken. In the end, my friend had to take the baby chicken back home and try to help it. But her efforts were in vein, and she had to watch it die.

After many years she still remembers this incident. Even though she is not a vegetarian, this prompts her to ponder the meaning of life and its fairness. She said this becomes the scream of the lamb in her heart, I think you know what she means, if you have seen the movie The Silence of the Lambs.

Today I am gonna work out a dish from the Chinese dining table that usually features lamb. For people who love animals but also love meat, this is an excellent compromise. It’s chewy and tasty, and not a drop of blood is shed. Maybe there will always be the scream of the lambs as long as human beings exist. But as more and more of us hear it, the world will become a better place. I hope I am not the only one dreaming. ;-)

 

The first time I ever tasted okras was when I was traveling in Vietnam. I think I might have been in Nha Trang, a small sea side city, and I was wandering around the city on my bike. The advantage of having a bike is that you can visit places other tourists wouldn’t go to; the disadvantage of visiting such places is that there might be no English language service. Previously in another town I had already encountered some problems. I was hungry and went to a small restaurant by the road side. I point to the “I am a vegetarian” sentence in my copy of the Lonely Planet, but the owner couldn’t read. I tried to pronounce it but she ended up giving me a bowl of rice noodles with a piece of each kind of meat she had in her store! Oh la la!

Remembering this, I decided to select my own vegetables and ask them to cook them for me. So this time, I looked to see what they had there when I spotted this strange thing that I was curious to try. They cooked the okra for me with a little garlic and it was delicious!

I had always wanted to eat it again, but I seldom saw okras in Chinese markets, until the other day when I spotted fresh ones available. Compared to other vegetables it’s a bit pricey, but I bought some anyway. It only took me a few minutes to make sautéed crispy okras.

 

I had never heard of ratatouille until I saw the film of the same name. The story follows a little rat named Remy who dreams of becoming a top chef. Unlike other rats who only eat garbage to survive, Remy has a refined palate for French fine food. He admires human beings for their cooking skills and creativity in the kitchen. Maybe I should describe him as a prince in the slum. ;-) Later Remy goes to Paris, and makes friends with a young man who works at Remy’s favorite chef’s restaurant Gusteau’s, and gets a chance to practise his cooking skills under the cap of his friend. In the end he creates this dish that wins the critic’s heart. The food reminds the critic of his fond childhood memories, as his mom cooked the same dish for him when he was little. This dish is called ratatouille.

Ratatouille is very easy to make. The ingredients consist of common summer vegetables such as zucchini, eggplants and tomatoes. It’s basically a vegetable stew in a tomato sauce. However, there are different methods of cooking this dish. You can sauté all the ingredients; bake them in the oven, or simmer them in a saucepan. The movie features a more refined method called “confit byaldi”, popularized by chef Thomas Keller. It takes a very long time to cook, but the final result is very beautiful. Ratatouille doesn’t look appetising but it’s quick to cook, and it has the same yummy and homy taste that I can always happily devour in no time. :D

 

In most Chinese restaurant, they usually offer at least one vegetable stir-fry. This is usually the only option for vegetarians as the majority of the dishes have meat. Even if the restaurant doesn’t offer a stir-fry specifically on the menu, you can still make a special request. I did this in the past when I was traveling with a group of people. A typical Chinese group will usually order more than ten dishes to share and almost all of them containing meat. When this happens, as it did last time when I was out with my friends, I simply ask the restaurant to make a vegetable and tofu stir-fry without MSG just for myself and I eat it with rice. In this way I get to share the same table with my friends without compromising my principles. This is especially important nowadays as eating meat also makes me sick.

Cabbage stir-fry is one of these simple and quick restaurant dishes. It’s very easy to make and tastes really good. The trick is to tear the leaves one by one. It might take a little time, but it’s fun to peel the leaves layer by layer, observing the color changing from light green to tender yellow when you get to the core. You can also avoid the firm stem if you don’t feel like eating it. Most restaurants also remove this part to make the dish more palatable. ;-)