Meatless Monday Feast to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Kung hei fat choy and welcome to another Meatless Monday. As a green call centre, we support the Meatless Monday movement in support of reducing meat consumption to improve personal and planetary health.

As Chinese new year nears, we will be honouring this great holiday and Meatless Monday together today by offering recipes for a traditional vegetarian meal. On the menu tonight, we will start with an appetizer of Deep Fried Tofu in Sesame Sauce from chinesefood-recipes.com. For our main course we’ll be making Buddha’s delight that comes courtesy epicurious.com. To complete this special meal we will be making Banana and Mango Spring Rolls with Coconut-Chocolate Ganache from epicurious.com dessert. Now that our menu is set let’s get cooking.

Deep Fried Tofu in Sesame Sauce Ingredients:
• 1 package beancurd
• 1 ½ oz fresh cashew nuts
• 1 cucumber
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 scallion
• ½ tsp finely chopped garlic
• ½ tsp finely chopped ginger

Seasoning Combination:
• 4 tbsps sesame sauce
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp hot pepper sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• Dash of MSG

Directions:
1. Drain the beancurd and dice. Peel the cucumber, remove the tough part of celery and dice them. Cut the scallion diagonally into ½ inch lengths.
2. Combine in a bowl the seasoning combination, garlic and ginger and mix well.
3. Deep fry the cashew nuts over moderate heat and remove as soon as they start to change color. Turn the oil temperature up to 256°F and drop in the bean curd. Remove as soon as it is crisp and golden brown. Coat the bean curd in the seasoning while hot. Add the cucumber, celery, scallion and cashew nuts and serve when all the ingredients are seasoned well

Buddha’s Delight Ingredients:
• 12 large dried black mushrooms (3 oz)
• 5 cups boiling-hot water plus additional for soaking bean curd skins
• 2 dried bean curd skins (2 oz total)
• 1/2 lb fresh or thawed frozen large bamboo shoots
• 2 to 3 oz very thin bean thread noodles (2 small skeins; also known as cellophane, glass, or mung bean noodles)
• 1 (1/2-lb) firm fresh tofu cake, or 1/2 cake from a 14- to 16-oz package, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
• 1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup peeled shelled fresh or frozen ginkgo nuts
• 1/3 cup vegetarian oyster sauce
• 1/4 cup light soy sauce (preferably Pearl River Bridge brand)
• 1/4 cup Chinese rice wine (preferably Shaoxing) or medium-dry Sherry
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups fresh soybean sprouts (1/4 lb)
• 2 romaine hearts, trimmed and quartered lengthwise, then cut into 2-inch pieces (6 cups)

Directions:
1. Soak mushrooms in 5 cups boiling-hot water in a bowl, keeping them submerged with a small plate and turning mushrooms over occasionally, until softened and cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid from caps back into bowl and reserve liquid, then cut out and discard stems from mushrooms. Cut caps into 1-inch wedges.
2. While mushrooms soak, carefully break bean curd skins in half crosswise, then halve each portion crosswise again. Transfer to a bowl, then add enough boiling-hot water to cover and soak, turning occasionally, until softened, about 30 minutes.
3. If using fresh bamboo, trim bottoms of shoots, then halve shoots lengthwise with a sharp heavy knife. Pull off and discard leaves from shoots, then remove any blemishes with a sharp paring knife (don’t worry about natural dotted pattern along base of shoots).
4. Cover fresh or frozen bamboo with cold water by 1 inch in a 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 2 minutes, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Repeat boiling and rinsing, then arrange bamboo halves, cut sides down, on a cutting board and cut bamboo lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
5. Soak noodles in cold water to cover until softened, about 5 minutes, then drain in colander and transfer to a bowl.
6. Drain bean curd skins in colander. When cool enough to handle, squeeze dry and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces.
7. Halve tofu lengthwise, then cut each half crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
8. Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add ginger and garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add mushrooms, bean curd skins, bamboo, and ginkgo nuts and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar and simmer 1 minute. Add reserved mushroom-soaking liquid and bring to a boil. Gently stir in tofu and soybean sprouts, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 15 minutes. Gently stir in noodles and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Add romaine hearts (pot will be full) and turn to coat, then simmer, covered, until romaine is tender, about 5 minutes.

Banana and Mango Spring Rolls with Coconut-Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:
• Ganache
• 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/3 cup palm sugar or 1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Spring rolls
• 8 (8-inch) square frozen spring roll pastry wrappers, thawed
• 4 small ripe Chinese bananas (dwarf bananas), peeled, halved lengthwise, or 2 regular bananas, peeled, halved lengthwise, then halved crosswise
• 2 Champagne mangoes (small orange kidney-shaped mangoes) or 1 regular mango, peeled, pitted, cut lengthwise into 3-inch-long, 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 1 egg, beaten to blend
• Vegetable oil (preferably grapeseed oil; for frying)
• Fresh mint sprigs

Ganache Directions:
Combine coconut milk, palm sugar, and ginger in heavy medium saucepan. Bring mixture to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until mixture is melted and smooth. DO AHEAD Ganache can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Before serving, stir over low heat just until pourable.

Spring Roll Directions:
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1 spring roll wrapper on work surface in diamond shape (1 pointed end toward you and 1 pointed end in opposite direction). Place 1 banana piece across center of wrapper, then 2 mango strips. Fold bottom pointed corner of spring roll wrapper up over fruit, then fold in sides over fruit. Brush unfolded part of spring roll wrapper with beaten egg. Roll up wrapper, enclosing fruit completely. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining spring roll wrappers, banana halves, mango strips, and beaten egg. DO AHEAD Spring rolls can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Pour enough vegetable oil into heavy deep skillet to reach depth of 1 1/2 inches; heat oil to between 360°F and 375°F. Working in 2 batches, add spring rolls to hot oil and cook until golden and crisp, turning often, about 3 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer spring rolls to paper towels to drain.
Place 1 spring roll on each of 8 plates. Garnish with mint sprigs. Drizzle with coconut-chocolate ganache.

Buddha’s delight will yield four servings as a main course or “eight servings (as part of a Chinese meal).”  The Deep Fried Tofu in Sesame Sauce will make four servings but can easily be adjusted. The Banana and Mango Spring Rolls with Coconut-Chocolate Ganache will make eight portions. When preparing Buddha’s Delight, know that the “mushrooms, bean curd skins, and noodles can be soaked (but not drained) 1 day ahead and chilled in their soaking liquid separately, covered. Drain (reserve mushroom-soaking liquid) before using.  Bamboo shoots can be cooked 1 day ahead and cooled completely, then cut and chilled in cold water, covered. Drain before using. Buddha’s Delight, without romaine, can be made 2 hours ahead and kept at room temperature, uncovered. Bring to a boil and proceed with recipe.” The deep fried tofu is a perfect appetizer for any meal and will certainly wow your guests. If you try any one of these recipes please let us know, as your feedback is always appreciated.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday site to learn more. Join the movement and promote going Meatless on Mondays to co-workers and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop or salon even greener.

Enjoy and kung hei fat choy.