Burdock Mock Meat Floss

In the recent tour to India and Sri Lanka, in order to avoid possibilities of being unused to the local Indian food, we usually enjoyed some additional side-dishes shared by our tour-mates. Amongst the list are the Pickled Cai-Xin, Olive vegetables, Belajan chilli and quite a number of own-made vegetarian delicacies such as above, a delicacy of mushroom stalk fried with ginger (must recall the recipe given by the vegetarian auntie:P) which finished within one round of sharing.

Another recommendable instant product is this Burdock Fragrant Fibrous Shredded brought by our Malaysian tour-mates. It is also a product of Taiwan and I believe should be available in Spore too. How good is it? It received quite a good comment from those non-vegetarians too.

Along the journey, on the coach, we also shared our own favourite tibits like the ginger slices, Ba Xian Guo, lemon slices, of different varieties from different countries (now I know what's good other than my HK Plum Ginger or HouBao which they also like:-) ) and it is great to exchange pointers where we could get them. It is also like a cultural exchange on food for the trip. :-)

Korean Noodles plus Korean HoT Pepper Paste

Having watched too much Korean drama which featured their delicious-looking instant noodles in their drama, I was in a Korean mood to cook Korean instant noodles for lunch.

Using the Korean instant noodles bought from supermart, discarding their not so healthy seasoning packages which also contained onion & garlic powder, I added my own favourite mock ingredients, vegetables, beancurb and the vegetarian-friendly no onion & no garlic Korean Hot Pepper Paste (bought from the Korean shop at Bencoolen St, which was kept too long in my fridge), with some light soy sauce, I dished up a pot of delicious Korean Soup noodles. :-)

Organic Sunflower Mayonnaise

It's hard to find a nice pure vegetarian version of salad cream (without onion, garlic & egg) off the shelves of normal supermarts.
The version sold at vegetarian supermart is generally small packet of white cream with a bland taste & I have to add lemon or apple cider vinegar to make it taste better but no longer the hassle ever since I found this melrose brand of vegetarian mayonnaise with the perfect blend of sourness to my taste that makes wonder with salad and sandwiches.
It was found on the shelves opposite the cashier of New Green Pasture Cafe.:-)
You could also use some of it to mix with plain white rice and it becomes an appetising specialty rice.

Made in Australia, ingredients on label:

Organic Sunflower Oil, Purified water, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Sugar, Organic Mustard, Lemon oil, Salt, Soy Protein, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid, Rosemary extract, Vitamin E,

Egg & Cholesterol Free

Gluten Free Vegan :-)

Instant Veggie Buns

Wow, went to supermart recently & a peep at the frozen instant food section saw many variety of buns. Was surprised to find this famous Abalone brand selling other products and included vegetarian mini-buns & mantous!

The yellowish squarish buns are their Wholemeal Pumpkin Mini Mantous and shown in the lower picture are their Mushrooom Mini buns. Their texture are quite nice, as good as those bought from stalls. And it is easy to prepare, just have to steam them, a good alternate consideration for breakfast. :-)

Organically Grown Raisins - Jumbo Size

Not much of a raisin lover, however, I fell in love with it when my colleague gave me a box of the Sunview "Organically Grown Raisins " (Jumbo size!) . It is much juicer & tastier & not too sweet as compared to the traditional raisins.

It can be found under the Organic section of most supermarts.

They have the minibox pack version that made it easier for you to travel with & share with friends. For most who really love it, they even have the hugh tin versions! And they have 3 versions: Red, Black and Green grapes. Try them and find out which version you like better!!!

A quick search on benefits of raisins showed that raisins help with eyesight, oral hygiene and they act as antioxidants. A healthy snack...

Tips: try get them (tin) at wet Market fruit stalls (cheapest I get is $7per tin but costed at least $2 more at supermarts)

Vegetable Dumpling

Another vegetarian product from Taiwan. This is currently my favourite brand of instant dumplings, and mum always stock this with the Super Veg. Ball to fix up a quick soup for me. You may steam, boil or fry it.

Also a good complement with instant noodles or vermicelli.:-)

Ingredients on label: Wheat Flour, Cabbage, water, Spring Rain?? (Dong Fen/Rice vermicelli:P), Soybean oil, Soybean protein, Jews-ear??/ (Mu er/Black Fungus:P), Carrot, Celery, Soy Sauce, Sesame oil, Salt.

Easily available in most Vegetarian Food Supply outlets.

Pickled Cucumber

A more healthier snack is fresh vegetables.

I found this at Daiso, the $2 supermart:

Japanese Seasoning for pickled cucumber in mustard :

It comes in 3 small packets in the bigger package on topmost picture.

Ingredients: mustard, glucose, salt, soy sauce, (soybean, wheat, salt, water), vinegar, kelp, turmeric, seasoning, Vit C, alnm, xtanthan, gum, enzyme

According to the drawings on the label, just pour the small packet into a bag of sliced cucumber (The Japanese type of cucumber is more recommended as it is more crunchy), tie it up and let it marinate by itself.

To better marinate it, I mixed it with some water , just about 2 tablespoon (Not too much water is to be mixed as the cucumber itself will release its own water content after sometime) and sealed it in those lunchboxes and put it into the fridge. After 2-3 hrs later, I have my lightly pickled cucumber.

It is quite a success as my mum loves it. It kind of tasted like wasabi sauce but much lighter than wasabi. A refreshing taste. :-)

Vege Kim-chi Roll

Another similar product like Fried Pumpkin Patty. Tasted very similar except that the fillings is now kimchi & not pumpkin. (somehow, the fillings is not very equal in portion, I would think stricter quality control shd be enforced)

I would think a more healthy way will be to steam it or quick boil though recommended is frying on its label.

Ingredients: Glucomannan, Canola oil, Starch, Salt, Sugar, Kimchi, Vegetarian seasoning.

However, Milk products had been mentioned as allergens on its label & ingredients described not as comprehensive as the Fried Pumpkin Patty's. There is a Lacto vegetarian label so likely the whey protein which contains milk protein had been omitted in the label...

Vegetarian Snack Time!!!!

Was recommended this German organic chocolate brand and love it!

Organic Dark Mint from VIVANI~ The Art of Chocolate

Its mint is really refreshing and dark chocolate smooth but not too bitter...

Ingredients:

Dark chocolate: cocoa mass, raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, butterfat.
Peppermint filling: raw cane sugar, wheat glucose syrup, peppermint oil.

Cocoa solids: 68% minimum.
And note *May contain traces of almonds & hazelnuts. (not peanuts as some other brands :-))

Organic milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts, see the nuts in the picture? The hazelnuts are Really fresh & crunchy though the milk chocolate tastes normal in comparison.

Ingredients: raw cane sugar, hazelnuts(26%), cocoa butter, whole milk poweder, cocoa mass, cream powder, skimmed milk powder, bourbon vanilla.

Cocoa solids: 32% min

Milk siolids: 18%
*May contain traces of almonds & wheat.

You can get them in most organic shops, price wise, slightly more expensive than general brands in supermarket (organic mah...) but well, pamper yourself once in a while....:P

Vegetarian Snack Time!!!!

Must try!!!!

I got this Crispy Cereal Cracker from Kg Senang's stall during Vesak @ kmspks.

The actual cracker looks per picture, it comes in 7 mini packs with thin piece of crispy cracker and be careful, it is fragile....

In good form of 1 whole piece, while eating it, you really feel being pampered and blessed with such a delicacy.

On top of the wheat cracker, one can find:

Sesame seeds, Soybean, Pumpkin seeds, Cashew nuts, Mung bean seeds, Pearl barley, Brown rice.

Nutritious & delightfully tasty, a touching sensation arouse when you put it in your mouth...too sentimental???:PP

Nutri Mate is a product from Thailand, imported by The Sukha House Pte Ltd.

Vegetarian Snack Time!!!

Hmm, these moon shaped biscuits which I also got from Yes Natural's stall at Vesak@Orchard may not look appetising but its taste is superb, very fragrant, filling & rich that when I offered to non-vegetarian colleagues, they all asked where they could get them.:-)
Each box comes in 2 small packets but if you eat a packet by yourself (which you couldn't stop after 1 piece :P), you could easily have overfilling sensation after finishing alone...so do try to stop yourself or share with friends...

Biscuits - Red Yeast (Vegan) flavour
Yes Natural's Yue Liang Biscuits (Happy Moon) in shapes of moon crest
Ingredients stated on label: unbleached flour, butter, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower seeds, non-GMO Soy Beans, sugar, Sesame , rice (No pesticides, no chemical, fertilisers), wheat gems, oats bran, red yeast, salt, sodium-bicabonate

Taiwan mfgr: Tsan Yu Yen Food, Ltd.
Agt: Yes Natural Trading PL

Perhaps the Taiwanese needs to improve in their English translation as the word, "butter" referred in Chinese version is not what we literally known as butter in English which is not considered as vegetarian...

Vegetarian Snack Time!!

I think Yes Natural is a new participant to this year's food fair at Vesak@Orchard. Glad to find it promoting what's been proclaimed as healthy snacks there.

The Organic Brown Rice Rings, come in both cheese & chocolate flavour. The rings tasted very much those cheesy corn snacks/morning cereal. I chose its chocolate flavour which is actually covered with a layer of cocoa coating.

Do keep it in air-tight containers if you couldn't finish to preserve its crispiness.

Instant Cup Noodles

Another instant product!!!

Sigh, using up my stock of cup noodles before I intended to:-(

Su Piao Xiang (Mushroom & wild vege) is a Taiwanese brand that I got from YiXin, which seems to be increasing its stock of off-shelve products. Taiwan is getting more & more famous with its quality instant cup noodles that more people had started requesting friends visiting it to bring back as souvenir.
Certainly glad that quality of cup noodles improved which at least reduce the miserably of those who have to take it for ot purpose. This brand is certainly a much improvement from what we used to have, so worth trying maybe for supper too at only $1.50. ;-)

Vegetarian Snack Time!

Another healthy snack that you could often see in vegetarian shops.

Oven baked Brown Rice crackers

Ingredients: Brown Rice, Sesame, Cane Sugar

Pdt of Malaysia
180gms at $3.50

Vegetarian Snack Time!

SNACK TIME!
Into my new job with lots of overtime expected, I decided to stock up some snacks. While exploring the area around my new workplace, I found this shop: The Organic Paradise Pte Ltd, well hidden from the busy human traffic and according to the owner, they had been there for more than 10 years.

I decided to try the Organic Sunflower Seed Biscuits 90gm at $2.80.
It comes in small pieces, similar to those Pumpkin seed cookies with maltose found in small packets. This pack tasted quite crunchy, and its maltose has a slight sesame & ginger-like fragrance that I found myself addicted and finishing the pack fast.:P
Sigh, i can forsee myself putting on weight in just a week's time. :-(

According to the label, it is Certified organic (raw material) by : BSC Oko-Garamite of Germany.
Ingredients:Organic Sunflower Seed, sesame seed, organic apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, maltose, Himalaya crystal rock sugar

Sounds quite healthy? :-)

It also comes in several flavour, including black sesame, pumpkin and brown rice...
Personally, I prefer the brown rice version...:-)

Water Dispenser

What is this that I would like to introduce? The vertical Rectangular water dispenser in picture that with a press of the buttons is able to dispense cold, warm (around 30 degree Celsius) and hot water!!! Applause to this invention and I sure hope it could be introduced to Singapore soon.

If you had been to Singapore, the water dispensers are still very traditional, usually the type that you need a strong man to change heavy big bucket/bottle when it is empty. And it only has the choice of hot & cool water and not so user-friendly tap for hot water too. :P

I strongly believe there is a potential market in Singapore as well for this type of user-friendly water dispenser commonly found in Taipei. :-)

Taiwan Delights

We didn't had time to do shopping so we bought the popular local pastries from the airport. My family liked the Sun Cake and I was delighted to find our favourite brand having the vegetarian version. In fact, there are quite a few vegetarian pastries/brand if you ask the salesgirls for assistance.
Ingredients labelled: Flour, Sugar, Embryo (rice?米芽) bud , Honey, Vegetable Oil-etc. I think the vegetarian version tasted as nice as the non-vegetarian version from my faded memory:-)

My friend recommended another product called Butter Pastry which has a similar taste, more like a bigger version of Sun Cake in my opinion. Ingredients labelled: Flour, Granulated sugar, Butter, Vegetable oil. Under the English label, it stated "Pure Vegetarian". :P

Another favourite product from Jiu Fen, the plum in a small jelly wasn't available at the airport outlet:-( I sure miss that as well...

Fried Pumpkin Patty

It is good to know that instead of imitation mock chicken nuggets, there are new pro-vegetarian inventions. An easy snack to prepare and I did it the more healthy way: I steamed it. :-) It tasted like sotong balls with bread crumb coating and pumpkin fillings.

This is product of Vegefarm but no information on country of origin. Ingredients on label:

Glucomannan, Whey protein (milk protein), Canola oil, Starch, Butter, Pumpkin, Salt, Sugar, Pepper, Bread crumb (contains wheat), Vegetarian seasoning.

Vegetarian Instant Pasta

I got this Vegetarian Instant Tomato & Vegetable Pasta from Nature Vegetarian. (They do sell some tibits, frozen vegetarian products, dry stocks and New Year cookies! near the drink stall)
The manufacturer is Honsei Pte Ltd at Singapore. They have Pasta of other flavours like cream of Mushroom, but personally I prefer tomato-sauced pasta so I decided to start with it.
It comes in a small cup with instant pasta in packet as shown and a hugh packet of powder which as per label says, contains non-dairy creamer (despite the name, it contains milk protein derivatives !), yeast extract, tomato extract, corn starch, salt, vegetable gum, soya protein, dried herbs, spices, calcium and vitamin C. (Not a scientific person, I always wonder how these extra minerals and vitamins are inputed!)
Per instructions, I poured hot water into cup , stir well and close the lids for 3 minutes and I got a lovely cup of pasta.
The sauce tasted surprisingly better than expected, though the pasta was not as well-cooked which could be the water I used wasn't hot enough but generally overall, it tasted reasonably.:-) It would be better if the portion of the pasta could be bigger though. :-)