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    Home » Recipes » Pantry

    Buddha's Delight - Chinese Vegetable Stew

    Last Modified: May 10, 2019 by Elaine| 8 Comments

    4.5K shares
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    Buddha’s delight (罗汉斋) is a dish with a quite long history in China.Literally it is a common Chinese style vegetable stew.

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    In China, people usually go to temples, expressing their good wishes or meeting friends at the first and the fifteen days of the lunar calendar. Staying a day around, the temple usually serves a vegan diet mainly made from tofu, vegetables and mushrooms. We call this meal “斋饭”, meaning “vegan diet”. Among those dishes, a mixed vegetable stew is pickled as a symbol, indicating that the monks gather together and eating together. This is a very basic version and I will explain why I choose those ingredients to make this dish and how those ingredients work together to make a yummy dish out of common and plain ingredients.

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    Ingredients of Buddha’s delight differ from region to region, but also are seasonal. In the middle part of China, Buddha’s delight usually contains only vegetables and mushrooms. Thousands of miles away, in Guangdong area (Cantonese cuisine), bread thread noodles are usually added as an ingredient to absorb the flavors released by the vegetables and sometimes fermented tofu is used as a season.

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    Shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms and beech mushrooms can provide various types of amino acid which can work together and enhance each other.  In winter days, cabbage and radish are also great options.  Fried tofu (油豆腐) is a very good option for this dish as you can see there are lots of holes inside which can absorb the seasonings and flavors.  

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

     

    For fresh vegetable part, I choose snow peas and broccoli this time. You can also add celery, carrots, cabbage or other seasonal  vegetables. 

    Ingredients

    • ½ head broccoli, cut into small sections
    • ½ bunch of bean thread noodles , pre-soaked with cold water (optional)
    • 4 fresh Shiitake mushrooms, cut into small cubes
    • ½ cup beech mushrooms 
    • ½ cup white beech mushrooms
    • 5 fried tofu, cut into halves 
    • Wood ear mushrooms , pre-soaked and well washed
    • Snow peas , cut into halves
    • 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
    • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
    • 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
    • 1 tsp. sugar 
    • 1 tsp. cornstarch + 2 tbsp. water 
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 tbsp. sesame oil

    Steps

    I add broccoli with purpose. To keep broccoli crunchy,I highly recommend blanching the broccoli previously and add it along with easy to cook snow peas. 

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com 

    Heat oil in wok and fry garlic until aromatic. Place wood ear mushrooms, and all fresh mushrooms. Fry for 1 minutes until almost soft. 

    Place in fried tofu and soaked bean thread noodles. Pour in 1 cup of water, then add around 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce. Simmer for half minutes. Place blanched broccoli and snow peas.

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    Stir the starch water and continue cooking until the sauce is slightly thickened. 

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    At last, add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Mix well and serve hot. 

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

    Buddha's Delight - Chinese Vegetable Stew

    Elaine
    Popular Chinese style vegetable stew also named as Buddha's Delight
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 5 mins
    Total Time 20 mins
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 2

    Ingredients
      

    • ½ head broccoli cut into small sections
    • ½ bunch of bean thread noodles pre-soaked with cold water (optional)
    • 4 fresh Shiitake mushrooms cut into small cubes
    • ½ cup beech mushrooms 
    • ½ cup white beech mushrooms
    • 5 fried tofu cut into halves 
    • Wood ear mushrooms pre-soaked and well washed
    • Snow peas cut into halves
    • 2 tbsp. vegetable cooking oil
    • 2 garlic cloves sliced
    • 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
    • 1 tsp. sugar 
    • 1 tsp. cornstarch + 2 tbsp. water 
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 tbsp. sesame oil

    Instructions
     

    • In a large pot, bring enough water to a boiling and then blanch the broccoli for 20 seconds. Transfer out.
    • Heat oil in wok and fry garlic until aromatic. Place wood ear mushrooms, and all fresh mushrooms. Fry for 1 minutes until almost soft.
    • Place in fried tofu and soaked bean thread noodles. Pour in 1 cup of water, then add around 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce. Simmer for half minutes. Place blanched broccoli and snow peas.
    • Stir the starch water and continue cooking until the sauce is slightly thickened.
    • At last, add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Mix well and serve hot.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood

    Buddha's Delight |chinasichuanfood.com

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Haley

      May 10, 2019 at 9:14 am

      5 stars
      Veggies are just my lifeline. They are so healthy. Thanks for sharing this stew recipe, it helps me add new dishes to my weekly veg menu.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        May 12, 2019 at 8:01 pm

        Thanks and happy cooking, Haley.

        Reply
      • Diego

        May 20, 2022 at 8:03 am

        5 stars
        I always love making this recipe! We had some morel mushrooms gifted by a friend and used those instead of the wood ear mushrooms, and it's so fantastic!

        Reply
        • Elaine

          May 23, 2022 at 9:23 pm

          Thanks Diego for your fabulous feedback.

          Reply
    2. Andreas

      May 22, 2019 at 5:09 am

      Hi Elaine,

      I have seen fried tofu occasionally in the grocery store, but It's not something I can get easily. I did some northern Chinese stews during the winter and noticed that frozen firm tofu also has a sponge like structure. Could I use this or should I try to fry the tofu myself? If the fried one is better, is it deep fried or pan fried?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        May 22, 2019 at 8:26 am

        Andreas,
        Yes, frozen tofu has the same texture. You can use frozen tofu directly for this recipe. And if you want to make fried tofu at home, make sure you use very hot oil at the beginning so the tofu can expand greatly. Only deep-frying can work.

        Reply
    3. Kendor

      October 24, 2019 at 9:25 am

      5 stars
      Hi, may I ask what "Simmer for half minutes" means? Does it mean simmer for 30 seconds? Does it mean we wait until the solution is simmering/boiling, or do we just put it on heat for 30 seconds?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        October 24, 2019 at 8:03 pm

        Yes, 30 seconds is enough!

        Reply

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