A great summer meal - sang choi bow

I love sang choi bow - it's tasty, healthy, and fun to eat. I developed a vegan version of it after having it at one of my local awesome vegan restaurants.

It's a great summer dish - filling but not too hot. I like it as a main, but you can have it as an entree as part of an Asian inspired meal.

Sang choi bow

Ingredients

Iceberg lettuce
3 cloves garlic, minced
Equivalent amount of minced ginger
Equivalent amount of finely chopped spring onion (white part only)
Fresh or dried chilli, minced (amount depends upon how hot you want the dish – I use an approximate equivalent to the amount of garlic)
2 cups dry TVP/soy mince
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup beans, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
½ cup water chestnuts, chopped
1 TS palm sugar (or brown sugar or other sweetener, dry or liquid)
1/3 cup soy sauce (more to taste)
Stock (about 1 litre, maybe more)
Vegetable/canola oil (olive oil is a little strongly flavoured for this dish)
Optional – hoi sin sauce, vegan oyster sauce

Method

Soak the dry TVP/soy mince in hot water, as per instructions on packet, until all the water has been absorbed.


Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over a medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, spring onion and chilli, and stir fry until very fragrant. Add the vegetables, and the rehydrated soy mince, and stir to combine thoroughly. Add the palm sugar, and stir until it has melted into the mix. Pour in the soy sauce, and mix thoroughly. If using additional sauces, such as hoi sin or vegan oyster sauce, add at this point.

Pour in the stock to completely cover the TVP/soy mince mix. You may need more than a litre. I often use a vegan chicken or vegan beef stock here, to flavour the TVP/soy mince a little more.

Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been completely absorbed.

Whilst the TVP/soy mince mix is cooking, carefully pull leaves off the iceberg lettuce to form “cups”.

To serve, put a couple of spoons of the TVP/soy mince mix into the lettuce cup, and roll the lettuce carefully around the mix. Eat amongst friends who don’t mind getting messy!!