Coconut Sticky Rice with Adzuki Beans

2 cups of glutinous rice, soaked for at least 1 hour in cold water
1-1/4 cups coconut milk
1-1/4 cups water
4 T sugar – either raw or dark brown
½ cup cooked Adzuki beans
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch of salt

1/3 cup of shredded coconut – dry toasted till golden brown
extra coconut milk for serving + a little more sugar

Either small individual serving bowls, or a small tray. Line the tray or bowls with plastic ‘glad’ wrap.

• Drain the water from the soaking rice
• Place rice, water, coconut milk, sugar and salt into a pot
• Bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 8 minutes till all the liquid is absorbed into the rice
• Stir constantly while cooking.

Sweet Red Bean Pancakes

You need:

Puff pastry

Red bean paste

To make the paste:

(makes 1 cup) –

The paste can be rolled into balls and coated in toasted coconut or served with sticky rice or ice cream etc.

1 cup dried adzuki beans

A pinch of sea salt

½ cup rice syrup / 1/3 cup palm sugar

1 tsp orange zest

2 drops vanilla essence

• Sort through the beans discarding any stones
• Soak overnight to shorten the cooking time
• Drain and add fresh water to cover the beans
• Cook for 30-45 minutes or until soft
• Drain and puree in a food processor, adding the salt and syrup or sugar
• Heat a frypan and sauté the puree for a few minutes, allowing most of the liquid to evaporate
• Add the orange zest and vanilla
• Then refrigerate.

To assemble the tart:

• Take one sheet of puff pastry and spread 0.5 cm layer of red bean paste on it.
• Place another sheet on top.
• Repeat with another two sheets of pastry, until paste is used up.
• Cut into triangles or diamonds and bake at 180 deg. for 20 minutes until golden brown.

From A Buddhist Feast held at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga West End

Buddha’s 5 Treasure Fried Rice

Serves 4-6:

1.5 cups basmati rice
Half purple cabbage finely chopped
1.5 large carrots, grated
Fresh shallots thinly sliced
Fried shallots
2 table spoons Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce)
6 table spoons soy sauce (light or dark to your taste)
3 cloves garlic
1 can of Mock duck, chopped and lightly fried in peanut oil before hand
peanut oil

· Boil Basmati til it is almost cooked. Remove from heat, drain and rinse. Set to one side. This is done instead of the reduced boiling method as rice needs to have seperate grains for fried rice.
· Chop mock duck into small cubes and lightly fry in peanut oil. Set aside and blot with paper towel to remove excess oil.
· place salty soy sauce, sweet soy, peanut oil and garlic in teflon coated wok. Fry at medium heat. Add cabbage, carrot, mock duck and fresh shallots and stir fry vigorously at medium to high heat.
· When carrot loses it's colour just a little (about 1 minute into stir frying) add cooked rice. Reduce heat to avoid sticking or burning to medium heat and stir fry, taking care to get the soy sauce through the rice evenly.
· You'll notice that the green of the shallots, the orange of the carrots and the purple of the cabbage will give it a wonderful colour.
· When rice has been frying and evenly stired through for about 2 minutes, add fried shallots and mix evenly, reduce heat to medium to low heat to avoid burning or drying out.
· Note: Basmati is a natural long grain rice that is low in GI and very easy to cook because it cooks relatively fast in comparison to other rices.

From A Buddhist Feast held at the Australian School of Meditation and Yoga West End.

Mock Fish in Black Bean Sauce

500g mock fish in bite-sized pieces
cornflour to dust mock fish
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1cm piece ginger root, slivered
pinch dried chilli flakes
100g sliced green beans
100g cauliflower pieces
100g sliced carrots
100g baby corn spears
100g straw mushrooms
100g mung bean sprouts
(Note – use vegetables to your taste preference, adding to approximately 2 cups total volume)
¼ cup black bean sauce
1 tablespoon Sesame oil
2 green onions, sliced

• Roll the mock fish pieces in cornflour to coat them.
• Heat the peanut oil in a hot wok or fry pan and sauté the fish pieces, stirring for a couple of minutes to brown them a little. Remove.
• Place the ginger in the wok with the chilli flakes and heat for one minute.
• Add the green beans, cauliflower and carrots and stir-fry about five minutes, until nearly cooked, but still firm. Add a little water if they seem too dry.
• Add the corn spears, mushrooms and mung bean sprouts. Stir through to heat all.
• Pour the black bean sauce over the vegetables in the wok and heat till bubbling.
• Add the sesame oil and the green onions and then remove from heat to serve immediately.

Sweet and Sour Vegetarian Chicken

1 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

1 cup water chestnuts, chopped

1 green capsicum, diced

1 cucumber diced

1 carrot, diced

1 440g can pineapple with syrup

¼ cup tomato sauce

½ cup sugar

½ cup vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

Massell Stock cube

2 tablespoons arrowroot mixed with ½ cup water

1 pkt Vegetarian Chicken nuggets, oven fried

· Fry the ginger in the oil

· Add all the vegetables and can of pineapple with syrup

· Add tomato sauce, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce to the vegetables

· Bring to the boil and then simmer until vegetables are tender

· Place chicken pieces into the vegetables and sauce

· Add the arrowroot mixed with water and simmer until thickened

Nine Jewel Buddhist Hot Pot (Lo Han Jai)

1 packet fresh shitake mushrooms (approximately 8-10 whole mushrooms) or you can buy dried – use 8-10 whole soaked for 30 minutes in hot water.

½ packet oyster mushrooms

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 small can sliced bamboo shoots – drained

1 can sliced water chestnuts – drained

1 carrot – julienned

1 bunch (3) bok choi

2 massel chicken-like stock cubes dissolved in 3 cups hot water

1 cake thin noodles – rice or mung

1 large 750g block regular firm tofu – deep fried in peanut oil

16 snow peas – strings removed – julienned

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablspoons arrowroot or cornflour, mixed well with 4-5 tablespoons cold water

· Remove stems from shitake mushrooms and cut the stems finely

· In a wok, stir-fry mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, carrot in peanut oil on high for 4 minutes.

· Add stock and bean threads. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.

· Add tofu, snow peas, bean sprouts, bok choy and soy sauce. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir in arrowroot or cornflour mixture and continue to cook until sauce thickens.

· Serve hot

Stir Fried Noodles with peanuts and sweetcorn

Ingredients

• 125g dried thin rice noodles
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 250g sweetcorn
• 250g pointed cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 small red pepper, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 ½ tablespoons shoyu or tamari sauce
• 60ml light coconut milk
• 100g roasted, unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• Coriander sprigs, to garnish

Method

1. Put the rice noodles in a bowl of boiling water, cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes for them to soften. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over a high heat until piping hot. Add the garlic, ginger and curry paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the spices become fragrant.

3. Add the sweetcorn, cabbage and red pepper and stir fry for about 5 minutes or until the cabbage has started to soften and wilt.

4. Add the shoyu or tamari sauce and coconut milk. Stir to mix, then toss in the rice noodles and stir-fry until the noodles have warmed through.

5. Turn off the heat and gently stir in the peanuts, coriander leaves, spring onions and lime juice. Garnish with coriander sprigs.

Buddha's Roast Duck

3 sheets dried yuba (beancurd skin)
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
2 T. Vegetarian oyster sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
oil for shallow-frying

• Soak the yuba sheets (handle carefully) in warm water for 5-10 minutes, then pat them dry and cut them in half, lengthways

• Mix the soy sauce, kecap manis, oyster sauce and sesame oil together.

• Brush the first sheet of yuba with the soy sauce mixture, cover with another piece of yuba and brush-- repeat until all of the yuba sheets are used.

• Fold the short side in, once, and then once again, so that it is folded in thirds, and flatten lightly. Then fold it in half.

• Place in a steamer and steam over boiling water for 10 minutes until tender.

• Heat oil about 1/4-1/2" deep over high heat in a large, heavy skillet. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, carefully add the yuba rolls, standing back to avoid splattering, and fry until golden-brown. This will take only a short time.

• Turn over and fry the other side. It will probably puff up.
Remove from the pan with tongs and drain on absorbent paper.

Vietnamese Style Spring Rolls

Ingredients
• 50g bean thread vermicelli noodles
• 50g black fungus
• 2 pieces of pre-fried tofu
• 4 carrots grated
• 1 taro grated
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 onion
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• pinch of pepper
• 1 pack of rice paper wrappers (50 piece)
• 1 onion
• oil, for cooking
• iceberg lettuce, mint leaves and sweet chilli sauce, to serve (optional)

Method
1. Place noodles into a small heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 10 minutes. Drain. Roughly chop.

2. Place dried fungus in a small heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 10 minutes. Drain.

3. Fry onions for a couple of minutes. Add tofu, salt, pepper, sugar & soy sauce and continue to fry for another two minutes. Add the remainder ingredients, dried fungus, carrot, taro, noodles and fry for another minute or so. Turn off heat.

4. Line a tray with a damp tea towel. Place 2 tablespoonfuls of the mixture along edge of wrapper closest to you. Fold in sides. Roll up to enclose filling. Brush edge with flour mixture. Press to seal. Place onto tray. Repeat with remaining rice paper wrappers. This should make 50 spring rolls.

5. Preheat oven to 160C. Pour oil into a wok to half-fill it. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Cook spring rolls, in batches, for 5 minutes or until light golden. Remove to a wire rack. Keep warm in oven.

Vegetarian Dumpling Soup

5 cups water
3/4 cube of Massel mock chicken stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Kecap Manis (sweet soy sauce)
Small knob of finely grated ginger
8 Vegetarian Dumplings
shallots thinly sliced
1 bunch Bock Choy
A few drops of sesame seed oil

Boil water with stock cube
Add soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, grated ginger and shallots
Add Dumplings then turn to a simmer for 15 mins
Add Bock Choy 2 mins before the Dumplings are cooked
Add the sesame seed oil at the end