Vegetarian Char Siew

Vegetarian Char Siew can be easily prepared after you have made gluten. Just marinate the gluten with some sauce and use low heat to stew the sauce together with gluten until the sauce thicken. Slice the char siew before serving.


Ingredients
400 g vegetarian gluten

Marinade
2 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp soya bean paste
1 tbsp sesame oil
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (optional)
Few drops red food colouring

200 ml water
4 tbsp oil

1. Cut gluten into 3-4 strips, hold both ends of strips, pull lightly and twist. Drop into boiling water, simmer gently over low heat for approximately 30-40 minutes or till cooked.

2. Remove gluten and marinate for at least 30 minutes. For this time, I marinate overnight for better taste and colour.

3. Heat oil in wok, add marinated gluten and water, cook till gravy is thick, dish out.

Vegetarian Gluten

Since tomorrow is Vesak (佛誕), I have planned a few vegetarian dishes for my family in order to encourage them to have vegetarian meal tomorrow. Unlike Indian dish, Chinese vegetarian does not consist of garlic, onion and chives. Thus, I am not able to cook Indian Vegetarian tomorrow. I prefer my own vegetarian dishes as they do not consist of any MSG. This makes a healthier vegetarian dish for the family.

In order to have some 'meat' feeling in the vegetarian dish, I have to prepare vegetarian gluten. With this gluten, I am able to form a variety of 'meat'.The preparation of vegetarian gluten is not so difficult. It just need some patient and time. It is advisable to prepare the gluten a day ahead in order to have sufficient time for to marinate.

It is necessary to test the gluten whether it is ready. Cut through the gluten with a scissors, the texture should be smooth and not porous. If it is not ready, continue to soak in water until a smooth texture is obtained.


Ingredients
500 g high protein flour
1 tsp salt
450-550 ml water

1. Mix salt and flour together. Pour in water slowly until forming a ball. To make the job easier, I am using the bread maker to knead for around 5 minutes.

2. Then, cover the dough with water and soak for an hour.

3. Wash away the starch by squeezing dough under running water, until water is light milky color.

4. Shape dough into round again and rest it in water for another one hour, drain well and leave aside. It is ready to be shaped into different 'meat'; example char siew, roasted pork, oysters, intestines, etc.