Guide to Vegetarian Recipes in My New Cookbook
I got a few questions about vegetarian recipes in my cookbook, The Easy Asian Cookbook for Slow Cookers, and thought it would be nice to share some pointers about the vegetarian recipes in the book. There are eight chapters of recipes, and two are dedicated to chicken and meat-- but you will be able to find vegetarian dishes in the Vegetables, Side Dishes & Salads, and Dessert chapters along with some vegetarian meals within the other chapters.
I'd also like to mention that if you're pretty savvy in the kitchen, you can make substitutions in many of the recipes that call for meat and adjust the times in the slow cooker or cook them over the stove. The key thing you'll get from this book are the flavor profiles from spices and sauces that really make up these dishes.
Here's a guide to the vegetarian recipes in my book, and some helpful pointers to make a recipe vegetarian.
Chapter 2: Rice & Noodles
Mushroom Jook: A vegetarian rice porridge. You can also omit the meat in the other two rice porridges featured in the book (Chicken Congee and Arroz Caldo), but you will have to adjust the cooking time and use vegetable broth. Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf: omit the sausage to make it vegetarian. Yellow Mung Beans & Rice: vegetarian and vegan.
Chapter 3: Soups & Stews
Pumpkin Soup: substitute with vegetable broth. Soybean Paste Stew: use vegetable stock. Lentil Soup: vegetarian and vegan. Hot-and-Sour Soup: use vegetable stock and omit soy sauce to make it gluten-free.
Chapter 4: Curries
Chicken Kare Raisu: omit the chicken, add more vegetables, and bring down cooking times. Red Lentil Curry: vegetarian and vegan.
Chapter 5: Vegetables & Tofu and Chapter 8: Desserts
Have fun with these two chapters! It's all vegetarian here.
Chapter 5: Mapo Tofu, Spiced Cauliflower & Potatoes, Eggplant & Thai Basil, Simmered Pumpkin, Soy Silken Tofu, Spiced Potatoes (my favorite!), Steamed Egg with Mushroom & Asparagus, Spicy Chickpeas & Potatoes (another fave), Eggplant Sambal, and Indonesian Braised Tofu.
Chapter 8: Matcha & Coconut Mochi Cake, Black Sticky Rice Pudding, Sweet Rice Punch, Black Sesame Cheesecake, Indonesian Steamed Coconut Cupcake, Coconut Custard (yum), Asian Pear Upside-Down Cake, and Mango Compote.
Chapter 9: Side Dishes & Salads
This is my one chapter where I feature non-slow cooker recipes. What can I say? We love our side dishes and salads, so I had to include a BONUS CHAPTER! Many recipes here call for fish sauce or oyster sauce. You can swap those out with vegetarian oyster sauce and making your own vegetarian fish sauce by cooking soy sauce with dried shiitake mushrooms, and salt. Here's a good resource to make your own. Personally, I might add 1 or 2 kombu strips in there. ;)