Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Vegetarian Chop-Suey (羅漢齋) Semi-Home Made?

Vegetarian Chop Chuey (羅漢齋)

I’m a meat lover and don’t think I can ever convert to a vegetarian.  However, I also love vegetables to a point that I got to have vegetables everyday (although not every single meal).  Each week, there would be a day (maybe two in the future) that I prepare meatless dishes only and this is one of the vegetarian dish that I make most often for this special day of the week.   

Vegetarian Chop Chuey (羅漢齋)

Why a meatless day for a carnivore?  I guess my body is telling me I need to “detox”!  After consuming all the meats for a week, my body longs for a dish that is light and easy to digest.  During the summer, I often make salads.  (You can find some of my salad recipes here, here and here.)  But for winter or cooler days, it’s better to have a hot and hearty dish.  This Vegetarian Chop-Suey dish fits the bill.   Want to know why it is semi-home made?  You’ll see why as you read along.  

First, we need some vegetarian protein sticks.  What a funny name, huh?!  They are actually dried soybean curd.  They are convenience to use, nutritious and has a great texture.  You can find them in most Asian supermarkets. 

Vegetarian Protein Stick

Soak them in hot tap water for 10-15 minutes.  Drain and gently squeeze out excess water and they’re ready to be used for the stir fry.  During the cooking process, these Vegetarian Protein Sticks will absorb quite a bit of the sauce.  So, they turn out to be very flavorful and delicious.
 Vegetarian Protein Stick

Up next, some beautiful baby Bak Choy.  I always love the baby version as they’re more tender.  Wash and drain them well.  I cut some of the bigger ones in half, vertically, so all of them cook evenly.

Baby Bak Choy 
What make this dish so hearty?  The star ingredient is King Trumpet Mushroom.  The nick name for these mushroom in Chinese is “chicken drumsticks mushroom” or “abalone mushroom”.  It is because of their shape resemblances the drumsticks, and their texture is similar to the abalone.  These mushrooms are super meaty and add so much texture to the dish.    

King Trumpet Mushroom

Simply julienne them into thin strips and they are ready to go.  Of course, thin strips mean faster cooking time too.

King Trumpet Mushroom

Up next, the sweet yellow onions.  Simply thinly sliced them and sautéed them until crisp-tender.  They add a wonderful tender-crisp texture and sweet flavor to this dish.  
 
Onions


Last but not least, the secret ingredient to make this dish 'semi-home made' (and my life much easier) is a can of vegetarian chop-suey (羅漢齋).  I buy these cans all the time and never pay attention to the English name until now.  :)  The term chop-suey literally means the mixture of many chopped ingredients.   Which is exactly what’s in this can.  There are bamboo shoots, straw mushrooms, fried gluten, carrots, fried tofu, fungus, baby corn, soy sauce, salt and sugar, etc.  It’s fully seasoned and the sauce in this can is delicious.  You don’t need to add much to the rest of your ingredients except white pepper and sesame oil. 
 
Vegetarian Chop Chuey (羅漢齋)

I’m seriously considering having 2 meatless days a week instead of just 1.   With a dish so healthy and so easy to make, why not?  The most important thing is, you’ll feel GOOD after eating it.  I can guarantee that you won’t even miss the meat (for that day, at least).  Try this recipe out, your body will thank you afterwards. 

Vegetarian Chop Chuey (羅漢齋)


I created this Vegetarian Chop Suey dish as an entry for April’s Kitchen Play sponsored by the National Onion Association. This dish is inspired by the Onion-Bacon Salad with Warm Crème Fraîche Dressing.  This is a cooked, Chinese version of the salad dish.  Why? It is because as much as my kids LOVE onions, they only eat them cooked.   They surely did enjoy this dish.
For more information about the Kitchen Play contest, please review the complete contest rules.
 
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Vegetarian Chop-Suey (羅漢齋) Semi-Home Made:
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1/2 a medium yellow onion, julienned
1/2 carrot, cut into thin disks
20 Vegetarian Protein Sticks, soaked in hot tap water for 10-15 minutes, drain and gently squeeze out excess water
1 pound of baby Bak Choy
1 pound of King Trumpet Mushroom, julienned
1 can (14.5 ounce) vegetarian chop-suey (羅漢齋)
a pinch of white ground pepper
a dash of toasted sesame oil

In a wok or heavy-duty sauté pan with medium-high heat, add 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil or olive oil.  Sauté the onion, carrot and baby bak choy together until crisp tender, season with a little bit of salt if desired.  Remove to a large serving dish. 

In the same wok, add another 2 teaspoons of oil and sauté the King trumpet mushrooms until tender, 4-6 minutes depending on the size of your strips.   Season with a little bit of salt, a pinch of white ground pepper and a dash of sesame oil.  Taste one strip to check on seasoning and doneness.  Remember, don’t add too much salt as the canned chop-suey is well seasoned.  Remove to the same large serving dish with the bak choy mixture.

Next, pour the entire can of vegetarian chop-suey (羅漢齋) in the wok with the softened vegetarian protein sticks, cook until sauce is boiling.  Return the mushrooms and bak choy mixture back to the wok.  Stir occasionally and cook until heated through.  Check seasoning, add a pinch of pepper and a dash of sesame oil if needed.  Serve with a bowl of rice or noodle and enjoy.




This recipe is linked to:
Full Plate Thursday
Foodie Friday
This Week's Craving

23 comments:

  1. This looks delicious. I've never seen the protein sticks around here, but I'd love to see if I could order them online. Thanks for the new recipe!

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  2. I'm a meat eater too who know beginning to appreciate veggies, and this looks great!

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  3. I am veggie eater, this vegetarian chop suey looks delicious, I don't there was protein sticks existed.Thanks for introducing.

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  4. I often cook chopsuey...but haven't tried it with protein sticks yet. It looks really good! :)

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  5. This looks good and I've never had Chop Suey before.

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  6. Oh my gosh that can of chop suey is the best thing ever. When I went to do charity work in Malaysia last summer we had the exact same can of chop suey and it was the best thing in our rationed food :D Do you know where I can buy it in the UK?

    Also, your dish looks amazing :) the dried tofu skins are so good, I agree! And I guess it's good to have a meat free day, this dish does provide all of the protein that you need :)

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  7. That looks so wonderful. I say two days if you make that dish!

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  8. WOW this is a gorgeous meal. I love the veggies you use, this dish looks super tasty :-) If you need more veggie recipes you know I've got lots!

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  9. Amy I just love what you do, all the time!!!! this is beautiful

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  10. I'm also a meat eater who's trying to eat more veggies and less meat. This looks like a wonderful meatless meal! I've never seen vegetarian protein sticks- I'll have to look for them. :)

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  11. I need to eat more meatless meals...I love that you took the time to make the carrot flowers.

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  12. I am a meat lover too, but as you say I like eating veg meals aften. This one looks delicious, nutritious and I would love to try it!

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  13. These veggie sticks are new to me. I haven't seen them before, how interesting. We have been doing oriental noodle stir fries lately as it is so quick and easy. This would fit right in.

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  14. This actually sounds really fabulous to me. Those baby bok choy are too adorable...and I'm totally intrigued by those protein sticks. While I know I'll never "go vegetarian", I don't mind eating a few meatless meals a week.

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  15. Hi Amy, I love this recipe and being introduced to new foods. I have never heard of protein sticks and not will be on the look-out for them at the local Asian market.

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  16. Hi Amy,
    Your dish is wonderful! All that bok choy, mushrooms and the freshness of it all. I just love it, I can almost taste it. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you next week!

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  17. I also eat vegetarian to detox.Its feels nice after eating a big bowl of veggies.This looks yum.I have not seen or eaten protein sticks ever so that ll be a new thing for me to try my hands!

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  18. This looks fantastic....I have never made this before and must try it.

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  19. This dish looks delicious! We have an Asian market nearby and I should be able to get all of the ingredients easily. I would love to make this! :)

    Kindly, Lorraine

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  20. I know what you mean, as much as I eat meat almost everyday, I must have my veggies. The dinner table would not be complete without the plate of greens! Your vegetarian chop suey looks delicious!

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  21. Hm...haven't tried vegetarian protein sticks before. When our kids were little, they loved to eat the carrot flowers, like yours shown, that I would cut for the salads :o)

    Whew! Hope your weekend continues to be blessed! :o)So many amazing blog parties,hops, memes this week! My friend, I wanted to say thank you again for stopping by my place, following and commenting. I had some giveaways on my post and on Apr 14th, will be listing the comments that were drawn to win one of the giveaways. Although your comment wasn't drawn for the 8x10 monogram (value $55) If you are interested, please email me by midnight Monday, April 11th. If you aren't interested, no problem, I will draw another comment. Thank you so much! mgbotelho21@gmail.com

    Blessings & Aloha!

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  22. Agh!!! my error!!! Your comment was drawn to win for the monogram! Goodness! I had been contacting everyone that commented and instead of typing parts of that message over and over, I had copied a portion of it and thought I had edited where ever need pertaining to what was won! sorry! it had been a very long, long work week and so by Sunday, I guess I was still on slow mode! oops!

    Blessings & Aloha!

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  23. @Maria from Personalized Sketches and Sentiments: No problem! Thank you for delivering such a great news! I really admire your art work and sketches! Couldn't wait to receive the prize!

    Amy

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