Recipe - Prosperous Yu Sheng (Raw Fish Salad)

Happy CNY folks! In this Ox Year, I would like to thank everyone who have contributed to my food blog, and at the same time, wish all of you a Great year ahead! May more people turn vegetarians too!

I havn't been blogging due to my endless baking sessions. New dish this year: Yu Sheng (also known as the Raw Fish Salad). This is basically a local dish where on the 7th day of the New Year, people will gather to mix a plate full of good ingredients in hope for a new year ahead. The original version comprises of salmon normally. In a vegetarian version, i've replaced raw fish to vegetarian abalone. This dish is suitable for vegans as there are no diary products. Also, there is no cooking required.

Vegetarian Raw Fish Salad

Ingredients:

1.5 Fresh Lettuce

3 Carrots

1 Radish

Ground Peanuts - 100g

Sesame - 100g

Ginger - Different colour assortment - 20g Each

Orange skin - 20g

Winter Melon Slices - 20g

Mango Slices - 20g

1 Vegetarian Abalone

Cracker 100g

Seasoning:

Plum Sauce 1Cup

Pepper 1tbsp

Cinnamon Powder 1tbsp

Method:

1. Shred all carrots and Radish into long slices. You may use the special peeler as shown in the picture. As there are a lot of water in the carrots and radish, do dry them first.

2. It is good to use fresh mango. In this case, I used preserved mangos. Slice them into long pieces as well.

3. You may get the ginger slices at most supermarkets.

4. Slice the abalone into long slices as well.

5. Slice the Lettuce into thin slices.

6. Lay the lettuce and carrots into a big plate, then followed by the ginger slices, mango and abalone. Lastly, place the Peanuts and sesame on top.

End Product:

Tossing:

Tossing is a significant process in making this salad. Before mixing, pour in all the seasoning on top of the vegetables and place all the crackers on top and begin tossing.

Remember to say some nice verses like "Gong Xi Fa Cai!", "Xue Ye Jing Bu" (Prosperous & Good Studies) Etc. to wish each other luck!

Happy New Year Folks!

Hong Kong - Gaia Veggie Shop

Sorry for the late post, folks! I had been busy baking for CNY hence I only had the time to post now..

Last post contributed by Clare~ Thanks!

Teriyaki fish on hot plate HKD58

Fried fish bits cooked on sizzling hot plate with teriyaki sauce. Teriyaki sauce is sweet and sour.

Fragrant fried rice HKD 42

Fried rice is fragrant and goes very well with the teriyaki fish.

Other signature dishes worth trying:

Udon noodles with chicken cutlet; Fried noodles with ham

Location:

1. Shop 335, 3/F, Pioneer Centre, 750 Nathan Road, Prince Edward, Kln

九龙太子米敦道750号始创中心3楼335号铺 （太子地铁站B2出口）

Tel: 2148 1163

2. 8/F Goldmark, 502 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

铜锣湾轩尼诗道502号黄金广场8楼 （铜锣湾地铁站F出口）

Tel: 2808 1386

Hong Kong - Perfect Vegetarian Foods (百好素食)

Another food review from clare..

If you are a buddhist, you will not miss going to Wong Tai Sin temple. Of cos, if you do visit the temple, drop by this restaurant for a meal.

Pork Porridge HKD 20

This bowl is enough for 2 persons if you want to try other dishes/ dim sum.

Sushi assortment HKD 12 for 3

So surprised to see the array of sushi choices available.We were so spoilt for choices! There was even veg. sashimi sushi, abalone sushi, smoked ham sushi etc.

Dim Sum HKD 12 -18

We ordered cha siew bun which were soft as they were served piping hot, freshly steamed.And the har kow were quite good too! Soft and tender fillings of veg prawns and radish.

There were many pictures of HK stars visting this restaurant. Hence, you might bump into one or two while dining!

Location: Shop LG6 Lung Cheung Mall, 136 Lung Cheung Road

Opening Hours: Unknown

MTR Station: Wong Tai Sin

Macau - Pu Shan Vegetarian Restaurant 普善斋素食馆

This is a second post by clare on her recent trip to HK and Macau.

On our first visit to the restaurant, we've decided to take a cab from Beverly Plaza hotel (Near to Hotel Lisboa). Taxi fare is abt : MOP $20
The restaurant is actually easily accessed via buses 3,10 and alight at Chang Ming Hua Yuan (昌明花园). Bus fare only costs MOP $2.50 per trip (regardless of where you board/alight).

We tried the buffet on the first visit.

Lunch buffet: MOP $56, Dinner buffet: MOP $66

The same buffet menu is used for both lunch and dinner. As serving is really huge, we could not try all the dishes from the buffet menu. Some of the dishes we ordered from the buffet menu: Shredded chicken fried noodles, Sweet and sour veg ball, Mixed vegetables and Cod fish, Abalone and lettuce.

Sweet & Sour Veg Ball Shredded Chicken Fried Noodles Stir Fried Vegetables Abalone & Lettuce

On the second visit, we've decided to just order ala-carte, as it is cheaper in comparison to the buffet price.

Deep fried salted golden mushrooms: MOP $35

Superb Dish! It is sprinkled with salt and bits of red chilli. Crispy and tasty!

Claypot pork curry: MOP $42

Not a spicy dish.. and it tasted quite well with steamed rice.

Sweet Potato & White Fungus

The restaurant serves daily desserts and we had sweet potato & white fungus. Sweet potato is very soft and sweet.

Do not worry if you do not have MOP (Macau currency), as they accept HK dollars. Exchange rate is 1:1, even though MOP is currently higher than HKD.

Location: 澳门罗白沙街65号地下

Tel: 2821 0983

Hong Kong - Three Virtues Vegetarian Restaurant (三德素食館)

Thanks to Clare's kind contribution! In her recent trip to Macau/HK, she visit quite a number of vegetarian restaurants/cafes which she would recommend should you visit HK too!
Below is her first post:
We stayed at Largos Hotel -- which is within walking distance to 2 Vegetarian restaurants:Pu Guang Vegetarian Restaurant and Three Virtues Vegetarian Restaurant.
Chanced upon this (three virtues) restaurant as they have a small dim sum outlet on the first floor of new JD Mall.


Dim sum price is very reasonable and they have a wide range of both savoury and sweet dim sum. They are not piping hot, but still the price will make you want to buy a few to eat while you shop! We went to dine at the restaurant after trying the delicious yam and carrot cakes we bought for breakfast.
Note: Exchange Rate is approximately 1 SGD:5 HKD

Satay HKD 36 (6 sticks)

One of the top 10 chef's recommendation. Sauce is not local style with peanuts, but rather light. Mock meat taste really good with the light satay sauce and is very juicy.

Fried rice with diced chicken and salted fish HKD 52

Portion of main dishes in HK is very huge too. Two of us couldn't finish the big plate of fried rice.But it tasted really good with bits of mock chicken and salted fish.

Dim Sum (Menu as shown below) is only served from 11AM, but you can go into the restaurant at 10.30AM as it takes quite a while to be served since the dim sum are freshly made and steamed.

NOTE: You do pay a higher price dining in the restaurant, as compared to buying takeaways in their outlet downstairs. Dine in dim sum for some costs HKD 11 per dish while some special dishes costs HKD 18 each.

Congee with seafood and vegetables HKD 25/bowl

Portion is just right for 2 persons if you want to try other dim sum. Congee is smooth and blends well with the vegetables and mock seafood stuffs. Most congee we have tried in HK restaurants are cooked with ginger.

Steamed dumpling stuffed with enoki mushroom and veg shark fins (No. 36 on the dim sum menu)

This dumpling was served piping hot and very soft to taste. Stuffing was generous with veg shark fins and radish. But we didn't taste any enoki mushrooms.

Fried Wontons (No. 24)

Nothing fantastic abt these wontons, as the skin's too thick and the stuffings quite little.

Steamed wrap glutinous rice with chicken (No. 22)

This is one of the most delicious wrapped glutinous rice dim sum ever tasted.Glutinous rice steamed until really soft and enoki mushrooms are like 'chickens' in the glutinous rice.

Overall, this restaurant is a MUST visit if you are in HK!

Location:

1. 1/F, 395 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong

Tel：(852) 2856 1333

2. 4/F, JD Mall, 233-239 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon

Tel: (852) 3622 1888

Opening Hours: Till 9PM

Website: http://www.threevirtues.com.hk/

Cambodia - Friends the Restaurant

Located in Phnom Penh, Friends restaurant is another place offering vegetarian options. There are 2 pages full of dishes available for you to choose from the menu.
I guess the special part of the restaurant is that it is a non-profit organization that helps kids get off the street by providing them housing, education and vocational training. Hence everyone at the restaurant works really hard, to learn some skills and to get out of the poverty cycle. I thought it is a very meaningful project started by the founder.
I loved the tapas served here.

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus on Cripsy Wanton Wrappers USD 4

This is one of the most popular dishes served. A mix of chickpeas and sun dried tomatoes blended together with some seasoning. Then it is served on fried wanton wrappers and decorated with fresh cherry tomatos and basil leaves. Definitely a great appetizer! I guess i'll try to cook this dish too!

Location: #215 Strret 13, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tel: 012 802 072
Website: http://www.streetfriends.org/

Cambodia - Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant

Sorry folks for the late updates! I havnt been eating out much as mummy has been cooking a lot lately. haha. Anyway, I just came back from my cambodia trip. Much to my surprise, most of the restaurants have vegetarian dishes. I guess its also because there are a lot of foreigners going to Cambodia in recent years. Hence I was quite happy to find it quite easy to find food for myself. Nonetheless, I managed to find a vegetarian resturant in Siem Reap.

Cambodians Favourite Salad USD 3.50

This is the vegetarian version of the traditional Cambodian Green Mango Salad, without fish sauce. Added delicate flavours of grilled peanuts and herbs. You would need to notify them if you do not want garlic in this dish. Franny liked this dish as it is good blend of sour and sweet taste.

Infinite Medley USD 4

This is a sweet lemongrass curry with a medley of eggplants. Im not really an eggplant lover, but this dish tasted similar to the Thai green curry whereby it is sweet rather than spicy. Nonetheless, we were given chili padi which is really spicy. You may also add beansprouts, long beans and rice vermicelli.

Vegetarian Oysters USD 5

This is my favourite dish for the night. Stir-fried oyster mushrooms with fresh herbs and beansprouts. It is very chewy and tasty with the mixed rice (white and brown). Definitely a mushroom surprise.

Mango Fruit Shake USD 1.75

Fruit shakes are must trys in Cambodia. This Mango fruit shake is really fresh.

All in all, it is relatively easy to find food in cambodia, however, you would need to remind them not to use fish sauce.

Location: Siem Reap Angkor, The Passage - Old Market

Opening Hours: 11am to 11pm; Tel: 092 733 150

Email: chamkar@gmail.com