Recipe: Rainbow Sweet and Sour Dish

The bright colors of the rainbow

Trace their way across the sky

Granting peace after each shower

Like a touching lullaby

An emblem, marked by the beauty

Found within each stunning hue

Shall remain a lasting treasure

‘til our time on earth is through.

It is hard to imagine that the famous Sweet and Sour dish, always served with generous chunks of pork or chicken, can be delicious when made vegetarian. But I attempted to make a vegetarian version without the use of mock meat yesterday, and I must say it turned out pretty well. I adapted it from a dish by Amy Beh for crispy fried mushrooms, and eliminated the second round of deep frying by gently baking the mushrooms in the over over low heat to keep warm after the first round of frying. I don't have the stock of flours such as rice flour and tapioca flour in my kitchen here in Singapore that I used to keep handy, as I don't do much pastry or baking. A mixture of different types of flour might work well here. My only gripe about using oyster mushrooms is the shrinkage - the mushrooms will shrink to more than half their size when they lose their moisture, so you will need about two packets of 150 g each for a dish that serves 3-4.

Ingredients:
300 g oyster mushrooms (substitute 150 g abalone mushrooms, stemmed trimmed)

Flour mixture:
1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
4 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp plain four
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 150 degree Celsius. First, pat dry the mushrooms with paper towels. In a plate, mix ingredients for the flour mixture together with a fork. Coat mushrooms lightly with flour and leave to dry for about 1/2 hour. Heat oil in deep fryer to 180 degree Celsius. Coat mushrooms for a second time in the flour mixture, shaking off excess. Working in batches, deep fry the mushrooms until lightly brown - it will take less than five minutes per batch. Drain well. Transfer mushrooms to a baking tray and keep warm in oven while you prepare your sauce ingredients.

For the sauce:

1 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp Thai chilly sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1-2 tsp rice wine vinegar or to taste

Dash pepper

1/4 tsp salt or to taste

1-2 tbsp sugar to taste

1 tsp vegetarian oyster sauce

2-3 tbsp water

In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients and adjust taste to your liking. It should be tangy, sour and slightly spicy at the same time.

Vegetables:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, cubed
1/2 green capsicum, cubed
1/2 red capsicum, cubed
1/2 medium carrot, sliced thinly and cut into flower - shapes
10 sugar snap peas, stringed
1 Japanese cucumber, cubed
1 firm tomato, cut into wedges
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sliced red chilly to garnish (optional)

Heat non-stick skillet with oil and add minced garlic. Fry lightly until fragrant. Add onion, capsicum, carrot and sugar snap peas and stir-fry briskly for a few minutes. Add sauce ingredients, bring to a boil and add cucumber and tomato. Mix well.

Take oyster mushrooms out of the oven and place in a large serving bowl. Pour sauce ingredients over. Serve immediately.