Sunday 18 August 2013

Sang Chow Bow - vegan style!




 We are so lucky to have two farmers in our region (Northern NSW - Australia) who grown dry-land rice. That means they grow a variety of rice that doesn’t require a lot of water in the growing process. Which in our country of little water is a good thing! It’s lovely rice too.

This dish was inspired by
a local festival called Living Earth festival which took place in our wonderful community garden. I was to do a cooking demonstration using food from the garden itself and other local producers.

We also have wonderful local tempeh makers in our community who make beautiful un-pasterised tempeh.

So using the rice & tempeh was an obvious choice for this dish.

It’s a perfect meal for Spring and Summer with fresh crisp lettuce. You can even use left over rice, which makes this meal quick too. A wonderful lunch with left over rice from dinner, sauté up a few bit ‘n pieces and spoon into a lettuce cups (or other greens from your garden) and voila lunch in 5 minutes!


Makes = 6 large lettuce cups

2 cups brown rice (long grain) cooked
1 nob ginger, finely grated
1x garlic clove, finely minced
175gm tempeh (approx. ½ pkt)
2-4 tbs tamari
1x lime, juice (approx. ¼ cup)
1x spring onions, finely sliced
2 tbs toasted sesame oil
¼ cup sesame seeds
lots cracked pepper
½ cup parsley, finely chopped
*optional 1 cup shelled peas

1 large ice berg lettuce (or lettuce of your choice)

Prepare the rice filling
Saute the tempeh in a little coconut oil until golden brown.
Then splash in some tamari to colour & flavor the tempeh.
Season the tempeh with pepper, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds and whites of the spring onions, and sauté for a further minute.
Add the cooked rice and mix thoroughly, warming the rice through. Then add the parsley (and peas) tamari & lime juice and gently stir through for a further minute.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Prepare the lettuce cups
Cut your ice-berg lettuce in half and remove the first ‘cup’ carefully. I take about two layers of lettuce at a time. You should get 6 cups for a large iceberg lettuce. With all the out leave I tear them up and line the insides of the cups.
Macadamia, lime & coriander mayo
½ cup coriander leaves
1 cup macadamias (or cashews)
¼ cup cider vinegar
¼ cup lime juice
½ cup water
1.5 tsp good salt

If you have a high speed blender you can add all the ingredients and blend until smooth & creamy. Add more water if necessary to get a pouring mayonaise texture.
If you have a ‘normal’ domestic blender, crush the macadamias into a meal as fine as you can get it. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
Note: if you let it sit  before serving it, it will thicken as the macadamia nuts  will absorb the liquid content. Simple add more water to achieve the desired texture. Re-season if necessary.

Arrange the cups on a platter and fill with warm rice. Serve the mayo on the side or drizzle on top and garnish with finely chopped red peppers, coriander leaves & curled spring onions.

To curl spring onions
Cut the spring onions diagonally into long thin strips across the green part. Place in a bowl with ice and little water and watch them curl!   



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