No Fish Smoked Salmon

Who doesn't love smoked salmon? 

A decadent treat, the rich and smoky cured fish is the perfect accompaniment to our poached eggs, cream cheese bagels or rolled up in sushi. 

But with all the great qualities, it is decidedly un-vegan, which poses a problem for plant-based folk who have had to go without it.

But what if there is such a thing as....vegan smoked salmon? You can probably guess where we are going with this....

With just a few ingredients, cooked carrot strips can actually be transformed into an authentic plant-based salmon. The smoky taste (liquid smoke), the fishy aroma (nori algae) and some fat are important for this. Gosh ! that smoky, salty flavour bomb in my mouth simply blew me away.

Ingredients:

• handful of fresh dill
• 1 large sheet of nori
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp capers
• 1 tbsp brine from capers
• 1 tsp smoke liquid, optional
• pinch of salt
• 3 medium carrots

Method:

Using a peeler, peel the carrots into ribbons width ways and add them to a saucepan full of boiling water on a medium-heat. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the carrots are soft.

To make the marinate, roughly chop the dill and use a scissors to cut the nori into small pieces, then add both to a large flat-bottomed bowl/pan along with lemon juice, olive oil, capers, caper brine, liquid smoke and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

Drain the carrots, rinse with cold water. Squeeze out the water before adding the carrots to the marinate. Stir through so the carrots are coated in the marinade and set to one side for a minimum of 1 hour or preferably overnight so the flavours absorb into the carrots.

Serve with vegan cream cheese and some fresh rockets 

Almond London Cookies

What can I say except Almond London cookie is well-known cookie amongst Malaysians. No matter what celebration we are in.....Chinese New Year, Hari Raya or Dewali, there sure is Almond London cookies somewhere in one of those cookie jars. I don't think anyone know how the name Almond London/London Almond come about and who invented it!

Ingredients:

• 125g butter, softened
• 75g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 egg yolk
• 225g plain flour, sifted
• 150g ground almond
• 1 tsp almond essence
• 350g dark chocolate

Method:

Preheat oven to 170ºC/150ºC for fan assist oven.

Using electric whisk, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat egg yolk and almond essence into batter until light pale yellow.

Add in sifted flour, fold into a dough. If too wet, may add in a bit more four.

Pinch marble-size dough and roll into balls. Line balls of dough onto baking paper on baking tray.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Place baked cookies on tray to cool.

While cooling the cookies, line paper cups and melt dark chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Divide each sessions to 30 seconds so that you won't burn the chocolate. I did about 2-3 sessions to melt the dark chocolate.

Take several cooled cookies and place them in the melted chocolate. Coat them well with chocolate and place into a small sized cupcake paper. While the chocolate is still not set, sprinkle some almond nibs on top. Let the chocolate fully set before serving.

Malaysian Bowls with Peanut Tofu

This dish is super healthy! It's loaded up with healthy fresh vegetables, black rice, roasted sweet potatoes, peanut tofu and of course, delicious Peanut Sauce!! A little sunshine in the midst of winter.

Not much cooking require for this dish, lots of chopping and shredding of vegetables. Once all done, just assemble the bowl the way you like it. I add fresh radishes for crunch and avocado for extra heartiness if you like.

Such a simple meal that makes the body feel alive and energized.

Ingredients:

• a block of firm or extra firm tofu
• 1 large sweet potatoes, cut into ¾ cubes
• olive oil, to drizzle
• ¾ cup uncooked black rice

Peanut sauce ingredients:

• 2 thin slice ginger, add an extra slice if you like it gingery 
• 1 large clove garlic
• ¼ cup peanut butter
• ¼ cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey/maple syrup/agave 
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• ½-1 tsp cayenne pepper
• ¾ tsp salt

Bowl Veggie Options:

• 1-2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1-2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup sliced snap peas
• ½ cup thinly sliced radish
• 1 avocado

Method:

Preheat the oven at 200ºC/180ºC for fan assist oven.

Squeeze dry the tofu, then cut into about 2 inch square or 2-3 inch long strips. Line a baking pan with baking paper and place the tofu on the baking paper. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Cut the sweet potatoes into ¾ inch cubes and place on the other side of the baking pan or you can use another pan. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss and spread out.

Make the peanut sauce: Place everything in a blender or a hand blender and blend until smooth. Reserve ½ of the peanut sauce for the bowls. Use the remaining to coat the tofu. Pour over tofu and brush tops and sides and lather them up. I like to leave a very generous amount on the top of each pieces. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Cook the rice like how you cook a pasta.

Prepare all your veggies. Feel free to use what you like.

When the tofu is caramelized and the sweet potatoes are tender, assemble your bowls.

Drizzle with the remaining peanut sauce or place the peanut sauce in a little dish on each bowl.

Vegan Hokkaido Milk Bread

Soft and incredibly fluffy, this famous Hokkaido Milk Bread id easy to make at home. This milk bread recipe uses the tangzhong roux method which helps create a tender loaf of bread that is perfect with a bit vegan butter on it for breakfast and snacking!

This vegan Hokkaido milk bread is dangerously good, it takes some serious willpower not to just eat the whole loaf in a day...It is seriously the softest, most flavourful bread you will ever eat!

So what is Hokkaido milk bread?  Hokkaido milk bread is like an Asian version of brioche, but it is even softer and uses a lot less butter. It has a cloud-like, tender crumb which can pull apart into flaky layers. 

It can also be sliced to make sandwiches or toast, and because it is sweet and flavourful on it's own, you can even eating it plain.

What is tangzhong? This Asian technique. Tangzhong is basically where you take a portion of the flour and liquid of the recipe and mix them together like a roux, then cook it until it forms a thick, pudding-like texture. This mixture is then cooled and added to the bread dough.

This technique pre-gelatinises the starches in the flour which means that they can absorb more water. In fact, flour will absorb twice as much hot water or milk as it does the lukewarm water or milk you would usually use in yeasted doughs.

Not only does the starch in the flour absorb more liquid; since heating the starch with water creates structure, it is able to hold onto that extra liquid throughout the kneading, baking and cooling process. This means that the bread will rise higher due to more water creating more internal steam (which makes bread rise in the oven-along with the carbon dioxide given off by the yeast.

Because the bread retains more water during baking, it will be softer and more moist and stay fresh for longer.

Ingredients:

Tangzhong:

• 30g bread flour
• 150ml unsweetened soy milk

Step 1:

• 7g instant/fast action yeast
• 5g sugar
• 150ml lukewarm unsweetened soy milk

Step2:

• 400g white bread flour
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp soy milk
• 40g vegan butter, softened

Glaze:

• ½ tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp water

Method:

Start by making the tangzhong. Whisk together the 30g bread flour and 150ml milk in a pan until no lumps remain. Place the pan over a medium/low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened to a pudding-like consistency. Scrape into a small bowl, cover with cling film directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the tangzhong has cooled, it will become much thicker. Mix together the yeast with other 150ml of lukewarm milk and 5g sugar. Set aside for about 10 minutes until it goes foamy.

Mix together the 400g bread flour, 55g sugar and 1 tsp salt in a bowl of a stand mixer. Add the cooled tangzhong, the yeast mixture and the 3 tbsp milk and mix until it forms a rough dough.

Set the mixer to a medium speed and leave it to knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is stretchy. It should be soft and sticky but if it seems too wet you can add in a little flour, a tablespoon at a time.

Next, add the softened vegan butter and knead for a further 5-10 minutes until it is well incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic and no longer feels greasy.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and place in a warm spot until the dough is doubled in size. You can also placed the dough in the fridge to rise overnight.

Once the dough has doubled in size, knock back the dough and give it a brief 30 second knead to knock out the air bubbles.

Divide the dough into 3 or 4 even pieces and roll each one into a ball. Line a 2lb loaf pan with baking paper.  Roll each ball into a long oval, fold one third of the oval over the middle (from the side, not the top) then the other third over the top to form a long, narrow packet.

Roll over the seam to flatten it, then roll it tightly from one end to make a fat sausage. Repeat with the other balls of dough then arrange them in the loaf tin, seam side down.

Loosely cover and leave to rise until at least doubled in size, it should rise above the top of the tin. This can take 1-3 hours depends on your house temperature. If you press the dough gently with a finger the indentation should spring back slowly but remain visible. If if springs back quickly it needs to prove for a little longer.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 180ºC. Mix together the maple syrup and water in a small bowl.

Once the loaf has risen, gently brush the top with maple syrup mixture, making sure that none drips down the sides as that can make the bread stick to the tin. If you don't want a sweet glaze then you can brush it with milk instead.

Place the loaf in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. You may need to cover the top loosely with aluminium foil part way through baking if it starts to colour too much.

If you want the loaf to have a shinier crust, brush it with some more of the maple syrup water halfway through baking.

Once the bread is baked, remove it from the oven and brush with some more of the glaze. let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes then lift it out into a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Store in an airtight container.

No-Churn Lemon Curd Ice Cream

Ice cream without churning?? It can't be good! WRONG ! I can't believe how creamy this no-churn ice cream is. I was shocked! It is surprisingly delicious and smooth and creamy than churned ice cream.

Freshly made ice cream is a treat, and this easy to make no-churn lemon curd ice cream delivers great flavour and texture, from only 4 ingredients and even better, it doesn't need an ice cream machine! A great vegetarian dessert!.

No-churn ice cream uses a combination of sweetened condensed milk and double cream. Because condensed milk is so sweet and sticky it won't freeze solid in a domestic freezer, which gives this lemon curd no-churn ice cream its silky texture ability to scoop straight from the freezer.

You can make no-churn ice cream in practically any flavour you can think of, but we have gone for lemon here, using home made lemon curd. But don't feel you have to go to that level of effort; pick up a tin of condensed milk, double cream, pot of lemon curd and a lemon for the zest and you are ready to go.

Ingredients:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup lemon curd, divided
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 cups of double cream

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, stir in condensed milk and ½ cup lemon curd, and lemon zest until completely combined. Set aside. (Picture 1)

In a separate mixing bowl, beat cream until medium peaks form. (Picture 2)

Fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd mixture until completely blended (Picture 5). Pour into a container. Dot remaining lemon curd on top and swirl through the ice cream mixture. Cover with cling film then freeze for at least 4-6 hours or overnight. 

Ox design Pineapple Tart

Would you bear to eat these pineapple ox tarts? These unique CNY goodies are basically the enclosed pineapple tarts that we all know and love, but with a bovine twist to ushering the year of the metal Ox.

 

Vegan Malaysian Peanut Curry With Tofu

This flavourful peanut curry is super comforting vegan that everyone will love and is my latest addition to my back pocket repertoire of simple and fast weeknight meals! I enjoy making my curries from scratch and adding loads of fresh veggies to them.  It only takes me 40 minutes from start to finish.

This Malaysian inspired vegan peanut curry is rich, full with flavour and absolutely delicious. It's a great option when you have people over. Depending on your guest preferences, you can make this curry milder or spicier.

Ingredients:

For marinating tofu:

• 500g firm or extra firm tofu
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp sugar

For the peanut curry:

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 red chillies, chopped
• 1 thumb size ginger, grated or finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 100g peanut butter
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 400ml coconut milk
• chopped vegetables of your choice

Method:

For the tofu: Cut the tofu block into cubes and prepare the marinade. Mix in a small bowl soy sauce, cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, coriander powder and sugar. Add the marinate onto the tofu, mix with your hands and leave marinating while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

For the peanut curry: Heat some oil in a pan and add garlic, onion, red chillies, ginger and carrot. Stir fry for 2 minutes until the onion has softened and all the ingredients are cooked and transfer into a big jug.

Add the vegetable stock, peanut butter, sugar and soy sauce. Blend all the ingredients using a hand blender until you have a smooth sauce.

Using the same pan, add some more oil if needed, heat the oil and add the tofu and chopped vegetables of your choice.

Cook for 3 minutes until the vegetables started to golden. Pour the peanut sauce and coconut milk. Bring to simmer and leaving simmering for about 15 minutes. Adjust with salt to taste and your curry will be ready to enjoy.

Garnish with some coriander leaves, chopped chilli and crush peanuts.

Christmas Pudding Ice Cream Bombe

A delicious treat for all the Christmas Cake fans out there !. This Christmas pudding ice cream bombe is so incredible easy to make. Impress your guests with tis show stopping Christmas dessert, which can be made up to one month ahead. It is also a great way to use up leftover Christmas pudding- and it is surprisingly easy to make! 

You can also make this as a vegan dessert by substitute the Christmas pudding and ice  cream with a vegan one.

Ingredients:

• 750ml shop bought vanilla ice cream
• 100g mixed dried fruit
• 3 tbsp rum
• 1 clementine, zested and juiced
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 150g Christmas pudding, cut into small cubes
• 80ml double cream
• 60g dark chocolate, chopped
• some cooking oil, preferably sunflower or vegetable oil
• small handful of dried cranberries
• few holly leaves or fresh bay leaves, to decorate

Method:

Take the ice cream out of the freezer for 15 minutes to soften. Put the mixed dried fruit in a small pan and stir through the brandy, clementine zest and juice and cinnamon, then heat until just steaming. Set aside to cool.

Oil and line a medium pudding basin, approximately 90ml with two layers of cling film. Try to make it as smooth as possible as it will imprint into the bombe. The cling film will help you to remove it once frozen.

Mix the softened ice cream, infused fruit and any remaining liquid with the Christmas pudding in a large bowl. Mix gently until the fruit and pudding are  evenly distributed in the ice cream. Spoon into the basin, and smooth over the top.

Cover and freeze for 8 hours until solid. Will keep frozen for up to 3 months.

About 20 minutes before serving, heat the cream in a small pan until steaming. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl, then pour the hot cream over it, stirring until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Leave to cool slightly. Remove the bombe from the freezer 10 minutes before serving.

To serve: invert the bombe onto a serving plate and remove any parchment (dip the base of the basin into warm water to help remove it if needed). Pour the chocolate ganache over the top, easing it gently down the sides of the bombe a little before it sets. Top with dried cranberries or glace cherries, and the holly or bay leaves, if using. Spray everything with gold lustre, if you like, and serve whole at the table before cutting into portions.

Enjoy!

Vegan "Beef" Wellington

This dish is a plant-based dinner party showstopper, even your most  meat-loving friends will like this!

Here I used No Bull burgers and add 2 teaspoon of beetroots powder to get the colouring of meat. This dish will add the wow factor to your Christmas table!

Ingredients:

• 650g meaty vegan burger ( 3 packs)
• salt & ground pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• English mustard to brush the meat

For Mushroom Duxelles:

• 650g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned, halved
• 2 garlic clove, chopped
• 2 thyme sprigs, leaves pick off
• 100g cooked chestnuts

• 375g rolled ready-made puff pastry
• plant base milk + ½ tsp maple syrup

Method:

Preheat oven to 190º/170ºC for fan assist oven.

Mix all the burger patties and shape it into a thick sausage to make a fillet. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to firm up.

Put the mushrooms, chestnuts, garlic and a pinch of salt into a food processor and blend to a paste.

Heat a large frying pan, add the mushroom paste and a few thyme leaves. Cook over high heat, stirring every now and then. The paste needs to dried out otherwise you will have a soggy pastry. Leave the mushroom paste to cool on a plate.

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over a high heat. Remove the cling film from the meat fillet. Sear the outside all over until evenly browned. Transfer to a plate and brush all over with mustard, then set aside.

Roll out a large piece of cling film and spread the mushroom mix on top. Lay the fillet at the edge pf the mushroom layer. Tightly roll over the fillet into a sausage shape. Twist the ends of the cling film so it holds tightly together, then refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up. 

Roll out the puff pastry. Unwrap the fillet from the cling film and place on the edge of the pastry. Roll the pastry around the fillet and then press the edges to seal. Pinch the pastry at the ends to seal and trim off any excess. Wrap the wellington tightly in a cling film and chill for another 15 minutes, or overnight.

Remove the cling film and decorate the pastry with the off-cuts if you like. Glaze the wellington all over with the plant-based milk and maple syrup mixture. Place on a baking tray and bake for about 45 minutes. Serve with sides of roast veggies and delicious gravy