Luo Han Zhai (Buddha’s Delight)
Filed Under: Asian Recipes Chinese New Year Recipes Chinese Recipes Meatless Recipes Microwave Recipes Recipes
This recipe included a microwave version as it was written and first published on Samsung SG microwave campaign microsite in 2010 (now offline).
Luo Han Zhai (Buddha’s Delight)
This recipe contains a long list of ingredients to add in your Luo Han Zhai for a sumptuous and luxurious plate, and you can change or omit the ingredients as you please.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 5 slices ginger
- 15g (‘nam yee’/red fermented bean curd (豆腐乳)
- 100g napa cabbage (大白菜) cut to small pieces
- small piece of fat choy (fa cai/发菜)
- 35g bean curd sticks (腐竹) soaked in water until softened, drained
- 50g bamboo shoots (笋) sliced thinly
- 100g dried/braised gluten (面筋) (note: you can also use mock vegetarian abalone which is made of fried gluten)
- 100g baby corn sliced diagonally
- 1 carrot peeled and slice thinly
- 50g snow peas (荷兰豆) gently break off the ends and pull off the “strings”
- 3 bean curd puffs/‘tau pok’ sliced to strips
- 15 vacuum-packed or canned ginkgo nuts (白果)
- 15 vacuum-packed or canned lotus seeds (蓮子)
- 30g cellophane noodles/‘tang hoon’ (粉絲) soaked in water until softened, drained
Soak the following in individual bowls of hot water for 30 mins, drain & cut to smaller pieces:
- 10 dried Chinese mushrooms after soaking, discard stems before cutting
- 10g dried black (wood ear) fungus (木耳) after soaking, trim and discard the hard portion on the centre underside of the fungus
- 15g dried lily buds (金针) after soaking, tie each lily bud with a knot
(A) Sauce (mix well in a small bowl)
- 2 tbsp vegetarian oyster flavoured sauce
- a small pinch of sugar
- a dash of white pepper powder
- 2 tsp corn flour
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Directions:
Directions (Stove-Top Recipe)
- Heat oil in wok. Stir fry chopped garlic & ginger until fragrant. Then add nam yee and mash it to smaller pieces with the spatula.
- Add cabbage and stir fry till softened (a few minutes).
- Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the tang hoon) together with Sauce (A) and 2/3 cup water. Bring to a boil then cover with lid and let the vegetables simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Anytime the water runs dry, you can top up with hot water or stock.
- When the vegetables are cooked and the water is reduced, add tang hoon and stir briefly to allow the tang hoon to absorb the sauce.
Directions (Microwave Recipe)
- Add cabbage in the casserole with 50ml water. Cover with lid and microwave on high (900 watts) for 5 minutes, or until the cabbage withers. Set aside the cooked cabbage in a plate.
- When the casserole has cooled, discard water and wipe it dry with paper towel. Add cooking oil, garlic, ginger and nam yee. Cover with lid and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Use a spatula to mash the nam yee.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and 50ml water. Cover with lid and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Stir to coat the ingredients evenly with the sauce.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing the ingredients listed in (A) with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl. Drizzle the sauce over the ingredients and stir thoroughly to coat the ingredients evenly with the sauce. Cover with lid and microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until all the ingredients are cooked.
Noob Cook Tips
- If you are serving this dish during Chinese New Year (traditionally eaten on the first day), add fat choy and arrowhead as these foods have auspicious symbolisms.
- If you are cooking this dish for Buddhist vegetarians, you may wish to omit garlic as some Buddhists vegetarians do not consume it.
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That looks delicious and oh my gosh those little teapots and cups are SO CUTE! ^_^
Tried this and substitue tang hoon with Korean glass noodles. It doesnt absorb water/gravy like tanghoon and I find the texture better.
glad to hear that Korean glass noodles work well. thanks for sharing :)