It was Mother’s Day on Sunday, and we really wanted to treat our amazing mum to a special meal. After lots of arguing over which cuisine to go for (!) we decided to go all out, with a Pan-Asian spread.
By dividing and conquering between 3 of us, we managed to bash this vegan feast out in 2 hours. With fewer people, it would take longer, but it’s worth the effort. This would make a great spread for a dinner party if you want to impress your mates! And much can be done ahead of time. This served 5 of us, and we were very stuffed!
Here’s what we made: crunchy herb salad, mushroom and spinach potstickers, bao buns, tofu satay skewers, and pan-fried broccoli and bok choy.
Recipes
Crunchy herb salad – Ingredients:
- 1/4 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- One medium carrot, grated
- 1/4 medium head red cabbage, shredded
- 1/4 large cucumber, julienned
- Handful fresh coriander, chopped
- Handful fresh mint, stems removed, chopped
- Handful peanuts (optionally lightly toasted), crushed
- Half red chilli, deseeded, sliced
For the dressing:
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Prepare all the salad ingredients as directed. Layer the salad, or chuck it into a bowl, as you wish! Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing until it becomes thick. Set aside.
Mushroom and spinach potstickers
Ingredients: for the dough
- 1 cup plain white flour
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup water
- Pinch salt
- Cornflour for dusting
Ingredients: for the filling
- 100g mushroom of choice (we used baby button), finely diced
- 80g baby spinach leaves, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- Lemongrass paste
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil, for frying
Start by making the dough. Mix together the plain flour, salt and water with a spoon until it comes together. Start with 1/4 cup and add a little more if necessary. It should be crumbly. Turn onto a clean work surface. Kneed for a few minutes by hand. Shape into a ball and cover with a damp teatowel, leave to rest for 20 minutes.
While the dough rests, make the filling. Heat the sesame oil in a pan and add the mushrooms and garlic. Fry for a few minutes before adding the spinach and a squeeze of lemongrass paste. Fry until the spinach wilts and there is no more water coming out into the pan.
When the dough is rested, roll it out very thinly, using cornflour to dust your roller and surface. You want it about 2mm thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out discs in the dough; it should make 15-18 dependent on the size of your cutter. Work one dumpling at a time. Rub a little water across half of one disc, add a teaspoon of mixture, then fold in half and press the sides together. You’ll have a nice half moon shape. Repeat until you’ve worked through the lot.
Cover your potstickers with a damp teatowel until you’re ready to go. Fry 2 tbsp of sesame oil in a frying pan and add the potstickers, frying for about 3 minutes until golden brown on one size. Turn down the heat, then add 75ml water to the pan. Cover and let the dumplings steam for 10-12 minutes, adding more water if they dry out.
Pan-fried bok choy and broccoli
Ingredients:
- 1 head broccoli, diced into florets
- One large head bok choy, sliced
- Sesame oil
- Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp teriyaki sauce (optional)
Heat a tbsp sesame oil in your wok or frying pan. Add the broccoli florets and fry for a few minutes, until they start to colour. Add the bok choy and a tbsp of teriyaki sauce is using, plus a drizzle of soy sauce. Pan fry for a further 3 or 4 minutes until everything is cooked.
Bao buns
For the dough, we used this easy recipe here. We then made two fillings; 5 spice bean, and tofu bok choy. Ingredients for the fillings:
- Half tin refried beans
- 2 tbsp sugar/sweetener of choice (maple syrup works well)
- Chinese 5 spice
- 1 small head bok choy, finely chopped
- 1/5 block tofu
- Chili flakes
- Tsp ginger paste or a grated thumb sized piece of ginger
Start by making the dough as per the recipe I shared. Then make the two fillings.
For the sweet bean buns, warm through the refried beans, sweetener and half a teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice (or to taste). Reduce until you have a nice thick filling.
Next, lightly fry the ginger in a frying pan with a little sesame oil for about 30 seconds. Crumble in the tofu and fry for a few minutes. Add the bok choy and chilli flakes and fry until all liquid has evaporated.
Once your dough is ready, roll out into balls (we made 15), shape into discs and stuff with a generous teaspoon of filling. Fold up the sides and bunch the edges with your fingers into little dumplings. Place onto greaseproof baking paper and steam for 20 minutes.
Tofu satay skewers
Ingredients:
- Block firm tofu (we used the rest of the block we used to fill the bao buns), cut into 2cm cubes
- Cornflour for dusting
- 1/4 can coconut milk
- Thumb-sized piece finger, grated
- Red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
- 1 tbsp red Thai curry paste
- 1 large red pepper, cut into chunks
- 100g mushrooms (closed cup or chestnut), big ones halved
- 5 skewers (we used metal)
Start by making your Satay sauce: start by chucking together all the ingredients from the coconut milk to curry paste into a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
Press your tofu to release excess water, cube and toss lightly in cornflour. Arrange the skewers by alternating between pieces of tofu, red pepper, and mushroom. Cover generously in the sauce and leave for 30 minutes to marinate.
Bake in an oven at 175 degrees Celcius for 25-30 minutes, basting with the extra Satay sauce every 5-10 minutes until it’s all gone, and turning occasionally.
Finally, your vegan Asian feast is ready! Go go go go!
Green Globe Grub 