Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food: Deliciously Doable Ways to Cook Greens, Tofu, and Other Plant-Based Ingredients

by Hsiao-Ching Chou

Overview

Learn to make vegetarian Chinese food with 75 soulful, plant-based recipes even the most basic cooks can make at home!
 
Chinese Soul Food drew cooks into the kitchen with the assurance they could make Chinese cuisine at home. Author Hsiao-Ching Chou’s friendly and accessible recipes work for everyone—including average home cooks.
 
In this new collection, you’ll find 75 vegetarian recipes divided into 9 chapters:

• Dumplings—Chou’s specialty!
• Dim Sum and Small Bites
• Soups and Braises
• Steamed Dishes
• Rice and Noodles such as
• Tofu
• Eggs
• Salads and Pickles
 
You’ll also find helpful information on essential equipment, core Chinese pantry ingredients (with acceptable substitutions), how to season and maintain a wok, and other practical tips.
 
Whether you’re a vegetarian or simply reducing the amount of meat in your daily diet, these foolproof Chinese comfort food recipes can be prepared any night of the week. As the author likes to say . . . any kitchen can be a Chinese kitchen!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632174543
Publisher:	Sasquatch Books
Publication date:	04/26/2022
Series:	Chinese Soul Food
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	372,742
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Hsiao-Ching Chou is an award-winning food journalist, a cooking instructor, and communications consultant. She is a member of the James Beard Foundation cookbook committee and Les Dames d'Escoffier. Chou has been a guest on local and national shows, including Public Radio's The Splendid Table, the PBS documentary The Meaning of Food, and the Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. In her spare time, she teaches popular everyday Chinese home cooking classes at the Hot Stove Society. She lives with her family in Seattle.

Read an Excerpt

Vegetables are essential in Chinese cooking. Whether a mound of stir-fried greens,
a burbling clay pot of tofu and cabbage, or a side of spicy pickles, vegetable dishes are put together with as much thought as any meat or seafood dish. Balance of seasonality, flavors, textures, and sometimes curative properties guides the preparation.
Even those who eat meat are biased toward having an abundance of vegetables.
Many dishes include meat only as an accompaniment.
Being vegetarian in the Chinese culture is not perceived as a character flaw. Not only is vegetarianism accepted, but the industry for producing plant-based products and meat substitutes has a long history. That is due in large part to Chinese
Buddhist monks and nuns who adhere to a vegan diet that also excludes pungent ingredients, such as alcohol, garlic, onions, leeks, and chives. Not all followers of
Buddhism subscribe to a vegetarian diet, however. But temple vegetarian cuisine is well known and even revered. Culturally, meat has always been considered a luxury because it’s expensive. During Lunar New Year, serving a broad selection of meats and seafood represents wealth, abundance, and good fortune. Historically,
the advent of meat and seafood substitutes made from plant-based ingredients has meant that those who couldn’t afford meat or those who have chosen to be vegetarian for health or religious reasons could also share in the symbolism, especially when it comes to “lucky foods” served during the Lunar New Year reunion feast. Using bean curd and wheat gluten to create meat substitutes goes back to imperial China and has been around for over a thousand years.
I have noticed recently at the Chinese market where I shop here in the Seattle area that there are more products marketed toward vegetarians. For example, the same hoisin sauce that I’ve always used now has a bottle label listing it as vegetarian.
It’s the same naturally vegetarian sauce, just a different label. My mother and I scrutinized the label and finally surmised that the “vegetarian” designation potentially has to do with the fact that “hoisin” is hai xian in Mandarin, which means “seafood,” and adding the word “vegetarian” was a clear message that the hai xian sauce does not contain seafood. Likewise, a bottle of Chinese black vinegar had a sitting Buddha figure on its label that also proclaimed that the vinegar is vegetarian. Again, we suspect it’s a direct way to signal to vegetarians, especially
Buddhist vegetarians, that this vinegar is not flavored with any forbidden pungent ingredients.
For me, a meal is never complete without at least one vegetable dish. My produce drawers are always stocked with Chinese cabbage, baby bok choy, gai lan
(Chinese broccoli), Chinese mustard greens, yu choy, and a revolving cast of other familiar vegetables—carrots, celery, kale, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower,
potatoes, and such—that cater to our cravings. At a moment’s notice—or in the time it takes to make a pot of rice—I can have a sumptuous meal on the table with platters of greens, eggplant, mushrooms, and tofu. Delicate, hearty, savory, pungent,
and crunchy all coexist in their individuality and intersections.
The diversity of vegetables and plant foods is dizzying. On occasion, I teach an Asian greens cooking class, where I display a dozen kinds of uncooked leafy greens paired with their respective stir-fried versions. Students then sample each vegetable, and the deliciousness is always a revelation. I will never not delight in the looks on people’s faces when they taste discovery.
In the Chinese language, the word for “vegetables” is cai (also spelled tsai, choy,
or choi). It’s a broad term that covers a world of greens as a category, as well as the specific members of this succulent family: bok choy, yu choy, gai choy, qincai, ong choy, and so on. Cai is also a general term for “dish”—as in “What dishes should we eat today?” or “What dishes should I cook today?”
I love the preciseness and expansiveness of the term cai: It means one thing and everything, so context is important for determining whether you’re referring to a specific vegetable or a meal. If you’re not used to such conciseness in language, it may cause confusion. To me, there’s freedom in this ability to shapeshift, which we certainly can extend to the versatility of the Chinese way with all forms of vegetables and plant foods.
When I talk about a way with vegetables, my intention is to convey an approach rather than rigid rules and recipes. The alchemy of a searing wok, a splash of oil, a mess of fresh greens, and a dash of soy sauce delivers a quintessential flavor that roots your palate in this approach. From that point of reference, a kaleidoscope of dazzling combinations can emerge at the twist of inspiration. A recipe with specific amounts isn’t as important as understanding the nature of vegetables and the support characters that make them sing.
As I’ve become more attuned to the wisdom that comes from lived experiences,
I have realized that my taste preferences have shed thrill-seeking for more focused flavors. I do enjoy adding a dollop of fire from my menagerie of chili sauces to many dishes, but I also understand the value of restraint. I will always encourage you to experiment with building complexity in your cooking, and I will also always remind you to appreciate the elemental. Subtle flavors in food are not boring.
The way to cook vegetables, for me, is about exploring flavors without heroics at the stove. I remain firm in my belief that everyday cooking should be accessible and forgiving. As with this book’s predecessor, my goal is to ground you in everyday
Chinese home cooking, with hopes you will consider developing your own
Chinese kitchen.

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

Key Ingredients, Techniques, and Equipment 15

Dumplings 64

Dim Sum and Small Bites 80

Soups and Braises 106

Stir-Fries 128

Steamed Dishes 156

Rice and Noodles 176

Tofu 196

Eggs 224

Salads and Pickles 240

Acknowledgments 259

Index 263

Dumplings 64

Classic Dumpling Dough 72

Gluten-Free Dumpling Dough 74

Tofu and Spinach Filling 76

Plant-Based "Beef" with Asparagus Filling 77

Dumpling Dipping Sauce 78

Dim Sum and Small Bites 80

Crystal Dumplings with Squash and Peas 85

Flaky Ribbon Pancakes 89

Spring Rolls 92

Soup Dumplings 95

Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf 99

Steamed Vegetable Baozi 105

Red Bean Soup 105

Soups and Braises 106

Vegetable Broth 109

Ginger-Red Date Broth 110

Braised Chinese Cabbage and Fried Shallots 111

Mian Plan Soup 113

Hot-and-Sour Soup with Dried Lily Flowers 114

Braised Daikon 115

Chinese Purple Seaweed and Tofu Soup 116

Rice Cake Soup with Vegetables 118

Vegetarian Wonton Soup 119

Sweet Corn Soup 123

Taiwanese Cabbage and Tomato Soup with Bean Thread Noodles 124

Braised Bamboo Shoots and Shiitake Mushrooms 127

Stir-Fries 128

Garlic Yam Leaf 131

Yu Choy with Fried Shallots 132

Crisp Vegetables with Lily Flowers 135

Ginger-Scallion Pea Shoots 137

"BLT" - Beech Mushrooms, Lettuce, and Tomato 138

Wok-Seared Edamame and Corn 141

Taiwanese Cabbage with Garlic and Chili 142

Dry-Fried Brussels Sprouts 144

Chinese Mustard Greens with Shishito Peppers 147

Gai Lan with Oyster Mushrooms 148

Hot-and-Sour Celery, Carrots, and Bean Sprouts 150

Cauliflower Rice with Eggplant and Gai Lan 151

Shen's Wok-Seared Broccoli with Jalapenos 152

Lucky 8 Stir-Fry 154

Steamed Dishes 156

Savory Mushrooms with Rice Powder 159

Simply Steamed Baby Bok Choy 160

Asparagus with Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms 163

Gai Lan with Sesame Sauce 164

Cucumber and Wood Ear Mushrooms 165

Cauliflower with Edamame, Fried Onions, and Garlic 166

Winter Melon with Smoked Salt 169

Eggplant with Black Bean Garlic Sauce 170

Chinese Cabbage Heart with Goji Berries 173

Sweet Potatoes with Chili-Shallot Jam 174

Rice and Noodles 176

Steamed Rice 179

Fried Brown Rice with Oyster Mushrooms and Greens 180

Mung Bean Congee 183

Rice Cake with Mixed Vegetables 184

Rice Vermicelli with Vegetables 187

Simple Stir-Fried Noodles 188

Vegetable Noodle Soup 191

Da Lu Noodles 192

Simple Vegetable Fried Rice 193

Hong Kong-Style Crispy Noodles 194

TOFU 196

Kung Pao Tofu Puffs 199

Spiced Tofu with Leeks and Cabbage 203

Carrots and Celery with Spiced Tofu 204

Meatless Ma Po Tofu 206

Tofu Rolls 209

Braised Tofu and Vegetables 211

Tofu, Peas, and Carrots 212

Tofu Ribbon Slaw 213

Seared Tofu with Baby Bok Choy 214

Sichuan Pepper Salt Fried Tofu 217

Savory Soy Milk with Youtiao and Shao Bing 218

Eggs 224

Egg Bing with Onions and Bean Sprouts 227

Dad's Steamed Eggs with Tomatoes 228

Scrambled Eggs with Chinese Mustard Greens 231

Zucchini Egg Crepe 232

Wok-Fried Egg in Onion Oil 235

Home-Style Egg Foo Yung with Curry Gravy 236

Stir-Fried Eggs with Bean Thread Noodles and Wood Ear 238

Mu Shu Vegetables 239

Salads and Pickles 240

Chili Radish in Soy Sauce 243

Pickled Cucumber in Soy Sauce 244

Fermented Mustard Greens with Garlic 245

Fermented Chinese Cabbage and Goji Berries 246

Sweet-and-Sour Cucumber and Carrots 247

Cloud Ear Mushrooms with Pickled Chilis 248

Chopped Taiwanese Cabbage with Peanuts and Chili Oil 251

Chinese Cabbage Slaw 252

Celery and Carrot Slaw 253

Seaweed Salad 254

Ma La Succotash 257

Editorial Reviews

Named One of Delish's 10 Best Cookbooks of 2021

"[Hsiao-Ching Chou's] sole regret about her first cookbook, [Chinese Soul Food], is that she didn’t include more vegetarian recipes. Her second one—Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food—comes right when we could use more vegetables after overdoing the COVID-19 stay-home holidays. [Chou] concentrates on accessible assistance: mostly straightforward recipes, wok-buying advice, a guide to pantry ingredients, a vegetable tutorial and more."
—Seattle Times

"Hsiao-Ching Chou’s new cookbook is an exercise in exceptional approachability."
—Seattle Met magazine

"In this compact book Hsiao-Ching Chou, a Seattle-area cooking instructor who’s particularly popular for her dumpling classes, demonstrates the astonishing diversity and appeal of Chinese vegetarian cooking."
—Kitchen Arts & Letters

"Above all, Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food is another example of the author’s passion for sharing China’s storied cuisine. She’s committed to encouraging people to try their hands at creating exciting home-cooked meals that will leave them satisfied and perhaps a little surprised at their own abilities. Once again Chou proves that any kitchen can be a Chinese kitchen—even a vegetarian one."
—International Examiner

"The beauty of [this] cookbook, and Chinese cooking in general, is that it’s forgiving."
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

From the Publisher