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Buddha's delight (luohan zhai)
A gentle braise of mushrooms, tofu skin, vegetables and glass noodles
Luohan zhai is the vegetarian dish of Chinese Buddhist temples, and many families cook it on the first day of the Lunar New Year, when eating meat is traditionally avoided. Recipes vary from house to house, but most combine dried shiitake, wood ear fungus, tofu puffs, tofu skin, napa cabbage and glass noodles, braised in one pot in a light, savoury sauce. It's light, colourful and full of different textures. Chef's tip: keep the shiitake soaking water; strained, it makes the base of the sauce and gives far more flavour than stock.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Main
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Squeeze 8 dried shiitake mushrooms over the bowl, then halve the caps. Strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve and keep 300 ml of it.
Step 2: Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large wok or casserole over a medium-high heat. Fry 3 cloves garlic and 4 slices fresh ginger for 30 seconds, then add the mushrooms, ⅓ oz dried wood ear fungus and 1 carrot and stir-fry for 2 minutes until the mushrooms smell toasty.
3 minStep 3: Add the stems of 10 ½ oz Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 ¾ oz dried tofu skin sticks (fu zhu), 3 ½ oz fried tofu puffs, the mushroom water, 2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (mushroom-based), 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tsp sugar. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until the tofu skin is soft and the carrot just tender.
10 minStep 4: Add the cabbage leaves, 3 ½ oz mangetout, 3 ½ oz baby corn and drained 1 ⅜ oz mung bean glass noodles. Cover and cook 3–4 minutes, until the leaves wilt and the mangetout is bright green.
4 minStep 5: Common mistake: adding the glass noodles at the start; they drink up all the liquid and turn to paste. Stir in 1 tsp cornflour to lightly thicken the sauce and finish with 1 tsp toasted sesame oil. Serve from the pot with rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 11 g
- Carbs
- 28 g
- Fat
- 8 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does buddha's delight (luohan zhai) take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of dried shiitake mushrooms?
- Aubergine, diced, same weight.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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