Buddha's Delight -Lo Han Jai

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Hello friends of the hive realm.

I am coming in with another Asian inspired dish. This time it is inspired by a traditional Chinese dish that I've had on many occasions in Chinatown restaurants.

Although I have made several stir fried dishes throughout my life, I have never made the traditional "Buddha's Delight". This is not just another stir fry with a few vegetables. It should traditionally contain 18 items, representing the 18 followers of Buddha.

Well my apologies Buddha, but this will not be quite traditional, so forgive the fact that here in Montreal Canada, I cannot easily find everything, that I may need.

One common item is dried lily flowers. I search the Asian grocery store and didn't know if I was looking at it or not. Many strange things are written in Chinese. I didn't dare ask anyone. They always say they don't know, and run away. I did dare to ask the price of something, and as usual they said they didn't know, and ran away. They scare me.

This dish usually contains several mushrooms and fungi, but I just got a few. It is also loaded with vegetables and tofu.

Whenever I ordered this dish in the Chinese restaurant, it did not even have as many items as I have put in today.

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I can easily get dried shitake mushrooms so of course I would use those. In fact I also can easily get fresh ones but the dried ones, last longer so I usually have some in my cupboard.

I soak them in hot water and leave them for a few hours. They can be left overnight the day before use.

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The texture is kind of chewy so I like to slice them very thin so I'm not chewing on a whole chewy mushroom.

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I like the unique taste of shitake but I prefer them to be in small bites. I find them to be strong tasting, but nice if dispersed throughout a dish.

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Another mushroom that is fairly new to my use, is the wood ear mushroom. I find it to have a cool texture but only if it is well hydrated and cooked. It is mild in taste overall.

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I soaked this in hot water for a few hours along with the other items.

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I love how much it expands. It really lives up to the name "wood ear".

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Just like the shitake, it has a chewy texture that for me should be sliced into small pieces. I don't think I would like to gnaw on a large piece of this. Don't get me wrong, the texture of the mushroom really adds to a dish.

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I only chose those two mushrooms, even though Buddha's delight can have many more types of mushroom and fungus.

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One ingredient that is commonly used in Buddha's delight is tofu skin. I purchase a bag of dried tofu skin and hydrated it in warm water along side the mushrooms. This is something I've only used once before but it was just for some weird vegan experiment. It didn't go well. This time it was used properly where it belongs.

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Although Buddha's delight commonly includes bean thread noodles, I have never had it added when I've ordered it in the restaurant.

I like this noodle so I was happy to include it.

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My favourite thing to buy in the Asian grocery is the greens. I get excited when I see the displays with so many items. Some of these items are ones I don't even know what they are. I wish I could have an expert with me to identify and tell me what can be done with them.

I just stick to the ones that I'm familiar with.

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The classic nappa cabbage is a great filler. I usually get a large one and use it in parts.

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Baby bok choy are something I like and prefer over the larger ones. Plus they're kind of cute right?

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This green was a type of "gai" something. I don't remember. There are a few that looked almost the same but I don't have a clue what they are. I usually just pick one. I love the texture. It's like a cross between spinach and broccoli. That's just the way this dumb Canadian describes it.

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Something that I was happy to find were leeks, that seemed to be young compared to the kind we get in the average grocery store. I do like them both equally, but I was interested in trying this for the first time.

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This leek looked like a large green scallion but it clearly was a leek. Plus it actually was labelled as leek, in French. "Poireau".

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A green item that I have in my fridge at all times is broccoli. I can get them at a store near by for a good price.

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I added a carrot to this, which I always found in the Buddha's delight that I have gotten in Chinese restaurants.

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A common ingredient in Buddha's delight is tofu, particularly fried. Often it is deep fried tofu puffs. I just fried my own. I don't like to deep fry often, but in this case it would be mixed with many other items.

After I fried a block cut in fours, I cubed them. I was going to cube them first then I thought it would be easier to do it this way.

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I have frequently had baby corn in my restaurant stir fry dishes. I love this but here in Canada there is only canned baby corn. I don't think I have ever seen a fresh one in my life.

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Another thing often found in Chinese dishes is water chestnuts. I love the crunch that it adds. I don't know if they come fresh here but it's easy to find in a can.

I sliced these into rounds to spread out into the dish.

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For the sauce, I thickened with potato starch, making a slurry with vegetable broth.

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Buddha's delight has many items in it but the sauce and seasonings are simple and few.

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It took a bit of time to gather the ingredients but it's worth it. I will strive for 18 next time. I won't include the sauce and the onions, garlic and ginger as ingredients.

Let's see how many I could get. They say there should be at least 10.

1. Nappa cabbage 600g
2. Baby bok choy 300g
3. Mystery green "gai" something 200g
4. Broccoli 200g
5. leek 60g
6. Dried shitake mushroom 20g
7. Dried wood ear mushroom 20g
8. Dried tofu skin 100g
9. Tofu 350g
10. Baby corn 400g
11. Canned water chestnuts 227 ml
12. Carrot 40g
13. Bean thread noodle (mung bean) 150g

The sauce
Onion 150g
Garlic 40g
Ginger 20g
Dark soy sauce 1/4 cup
Shoaxing cooking wine 3 tablespoons
Vegetable stock 1cup
Black bean sauce 3 tablespoons
Mushroom powder (0ptional) 1 tablespoon
Potato starch 1/4 cup
Sesame oil 2 tablespoons
Water from blanching 6 cups
Cane sugar 1tablespoon
Salt and pepper to taste

Five short of 18. This dish can contain many more items then the traditional 18. Perhaps I will strive for more then 18. It would be interesting.

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Once everything is gathered and the soaked items are ready, it is time to blanch the vegetables. I am not sure if this is done in every case. I wanted to have the items slightly cooked so I could assemble them in parts. I didn't want to overcrowd the wok. I also wanted to make sure that nothing was overcooked and lose colour and texture.

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I blanched each green separately in boiling water.

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I didn't time this. It was in for just enough time to get some bright colour and only a little tender.

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I would say that each one was in the boiling water for no more than a minute give or take some seconds. It depends on whether you put them in ice water to stop the cooking or if you leave them warm to cook further which is what I did. In this case they pretty much just hit the hot water for 30 seconds. Like I said, I did not time it. I would only cook it at the end before serving.

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For the sauce I started with onion and leek, then added ginger and garlic. I used a neutral oil in a wok.

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When those items are cooked and golden, I deglazed the wok with the cooking wine. Of course you don't have to use this if you don't want. You could use rice vinegar, or broth or water.

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After this I added the mushrooms and tofu skin. I like these items well cooked because of how chewy they are. It's almost impossible to make them too soft in my experience.

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I added the potato starch slurry that had been mixed with the vegetable broth. You could just use water instead of broth if you don't have it.

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I gradually added the saved liquid from the vegetable blanching. I wasn't sure how much I would use. I intended to stop when I achieved the desired thickness. I used it all. The thickness of the sauce, is a matter of preference. I didn't want anything soupy.

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After this, I added the tofu and other items. I forgot to mention that I also blanched the carrots for a minute until it was slightly cooked. I'm not sure if it's needed but I wanted to have everything slightly cooked.

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When the non green items were hot and cooked through, I started adding the greens. I added the bok choy first as a random choice.

I added the broccoli last. I do not like overcooked broccoli. It was perfect with a bite yet cooked through and tender.

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I wasn't sure whether to add the noodles or not. They could just go on the bottom but I chose at the last moment to toss them in and mix. It was a good way for the noodles to absorb the sauce. At this point I drizzled sesame oil to finish it off.

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When it was complete, I realized that this was enough for a few meals. We are only two. That is okay with me. I love leftovers.

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This was satisfying without any extra sides. I didn't need any garnish. The whole thing garnished itself.

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I did add a little chilly sauce for some spice. I think that this is generally not considered a spicy dish.

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Other items that are often added are fermented bean curd. I couldn't find it so I just used Asian bean sauce. Another item sometimes used is oyster sauce. I could not find the vegetarian oyster sauce. I usually do but this time they didn't have any. Among many other items that could be added are snow peas which I wanted but couldn't find.

This can be varied in so many ways but next time I will stick to these ingredients but add additional items.

I could eat this over and over because of the vegetables and the different textures.

This may be Buddha's delight for good reason. It is my delight as well.

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Thanks for dropping by and have a good day.

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Photos taken with a Nikon D7500