Buddha's Delight (Lo Han Chai)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A delicious mixed vegetables stew made with a variety of vegetables and soy bean products. Tradiionally eaten on the first day of Chinese New Year, it is also a highly versatile recipe with either simple or elaborate ingredients.
Author:
Recipe type: Vegetables
Cuisine: Chinese
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 head of round white cabbage (500 g) - cut into pieces, washed and drained
  • 5 cloves garlic - minced
  • 4 cubes of fermented bean curd (nam yue) - mashed with the back of a spoon
  • 4 sticks dried bean curd - snap into big pieces
  • 3 pcs sweet bean curd sheet - cut into strips
  • Water
  • Cooking Oil
  • To Soak
  • 30 g glass noodles (tung hoon)
  • 15 g dried black fungus
  • 25 g golden needles (dried lily buds)
  • 8 dried shiitake mushrooms (reserve water)
  • For Sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce or light soy sauce
  • Optional
  • 6 Tao Pok - cut diagonally into halves
  • 10 g black moss (fatt choy) - Soaked till soften
  • 1 carrot - peeled and cut into small pieces
Instructions
  1. Drain soaking water from lily buds. Squeeze dry and tie each of them into a tight knot so that they won't loosen easily during cooking.
  2. Cut the hard ends from mushrooms. Gently squeeze dry and cut into thin slices.
  3. Heat up oil in wok till hot. Lower heat to low and briefly fry the bean curd sticks and sweet bean curd sheets till light brown and blistered. Do not overfry as they cook very quickly. Drain oil and set aside.
  4. Pour away excess oil into a small bowl till about 3 tbsp remain in the wok. Fry the minced garlic till fragrant. Add mashed red fermented bean curd and fry till aromatic.
  5. Add the black fungus, lily buds and mushrooms. Stir fry and mix the ingredients well with the oil and fermented bean curd. Add just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and let simmer for around 3 minutes.
  6. Add cabbage, carrot, fried beancurd sticks and sweet beancurd sheets and tao pok. Mix everything well. Add just enough water to make a sauce (including mushroom soaking liquid) and bring to a boil. Don't add too much water. This is not a soup. Then reduce heat. Add black moss and sauce ingredients. Cover the wok and gently simmer till the ingredients are soft.
  7. Taste and add salt or soy sauce if necessary. Add the glass noodles in the last 2 - 3 minutes of cooking. Turn off heat. Serve hot with some rice and sambal belacan.
Recipe by Souper Diaries at https://souperdiaries.com/lo-han-chai-recipe/