Vegetarian Chap Chae

A couple of weeks ago, I headed down to the city to satisfy my chap chae craving (and boy it was a major one to satisfy). I must be out of luck as even the best chap chae in town did not even come close to hitting the spot. It was much too oily, slightly soggy and ten miles past my threshold of sweetness in a supposedly savoury dish. Disappointing much. I set out to make my own chap chae a few days ago because, hey -  reduced sugar, fresh ingredients, no-no greasiness? - sounds terrific to me.


Ever since I first heard of Chap Chae, I have this inkling suspicion that it actually means 杂菜 ('mixed vegetables' in Mandarin). Sure enough, Wiki confirmed that. Or so history claims that Chap Chae was created in the 17th century for a huge banquet in the palace. The king actually loved this dish so much that he presented the creator (and his WHOLE LINEAGE) with a title equivalent to 'Secretary of Treasury'. It's a bit mental what they do in the olden days huh?


Traditional Chap Chae was made with cellophane - sounds like I'm eating tape - noodles made from potato starch and a variety of vegetables like shiitake mushrooms, cucumber and daikon radish. Inspired by David Chang's recipe, here's my take on one of my favourite Korean dishes.


Vegetarian Chap Chae


Makes 2 meals


Ingredients:
100g uncooked sweet potato cellophane noodles, cooked as per instructions
1 tbs oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 medium cucumber, julienned
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and thinly sliced
3 medium pieces dried black fungus, soaked and thinly sliced
2 handfuls mung bean sprouts, washed
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp artificial sweetener (I used Splenda)
Pepper to taste
Toasted sesame seeds for garnish


Preparation:
Heat oil in large saucepan, sauté onion, ginger and garlic until fragrant and onions are soft. Lower flame. Add carrot, black fungus and mushrooms and cook for about 5-8 minutes. Add mung bean sprouts and cook for 1 minute (I like them crisp). In a large bowl, add the noodles and mix in the cooked vegetables. Toss in the cucumbers and the Splenda (dissolved in soy sauce), sesame oil and some seasame seeds. Mix thoroughly and add pepper to taste. 


The beauty of Chap Chae is that it is so easy to make, requires cheap ingredients and can be served either hot or cold! One thing though, I had some leftovers the next day and it became soggy and mushy. Not very nice. So it's a good idea to finish it within the day - not a hard thing to do since it's so yummy anyway! :) 

Oddball salad

It's sweet, savoury, spicy and oddly delightful. This will definitely win no cooking competitions. I think most people wouldn't even try it but I love it so here it is:

Oddball salad


Makes 2 meals


Ingredients:
120g uncooked pasta
1 1/2 cup pumpkin, thinly sliced
1 cup mushrooms, generously sliced
1 medium capsicum, sliced
1 medium apple, cut and de-cored
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
1 stalk spring onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder (unsweetened)
Cream-based salad dressing (no-sugar added)
Handful of walnuts
Herbs and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Boil pasta and set aside. Preheat oven to 120 degrees. Spice apple slices with cinnamon. Arrange apples, pumpkin, capsicum and mushroom on baking tray and bake. After 15 minutes, check mushroom, apple and capsicum. Remove from oven if cooked. Continue cooking pumpkin for a further 10-15 minutes or until cooked and slightly crispy. Add baked ingredients and walnuts to boiled pasta. Mix in salad dressing and garnish with spring onion. Add herbs and pepper to taste. Can be served hot or cold.

Now the question is : Would you try it?

Beef rolls

I was craving for a lean, mean steak the other day but I've only got some measly slices of sizzling beef in the freezer. They were half a centimetre thin and definitely could not pass as steaks. So I came up with this idea to spice up my poor meat:

Beef rolls 

Makes 2 rolls (appetizer-sized)

Ingredients:

2 thin slices of lean beef (I used sizzling beef)

spring onion

capsicum

leek

1 teaspoon olive oil

Preparation:

Julienne spring onion, capsicum and leek, making sure all ingredients are about the same length. Assemble onto beef slice, roll tightly and cut off excess vegetables at the sides. Heat oil in pan. Place beef roll, 'seam-down' onto pan to seal. Reduce heat and cook all sides of roll and ensure that it is cooked long enough so that the vegetables are cooked.

I used those ingredients because that's all I had in my fridge. Cheese, carrots and long beans could work well too.