STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE
Do you like to eat Vegetarian Bee Hoon (Zai Mi Fen) for breakfast? My husband and I would usually adjourn to the hawker centre for our breakfast after our weekly market visit. We would always end up at the Zai Mi Fen stall because we wanted to eat something healthy, and we thought that Vegetarian Bee Hoon was healthy! Of course we were wrong.
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TRICK OF THE TRADE
Zai Mi Fen is bee hoon (or rice vermicelli) fried with carrot, cabbage and bean sprouts. In hawker centres, heaps of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is added to give the vegetarian bee hoon more flavour. Moreover, it is often accompanied by deep-fried mock meat, mock char siew and greasy vegetables, all of which are laden with MSG, colouring, flavouring and oil – lots of hidden calories!
I decided to make a healthy version at home that’s made of all vegetables and bee hoon, except for one small indulgence – crispy fried mock goose (made of sweet bean curd) – because Vegetarian Bee Hoon would not be Vegetarian Bee Hoon if there was no crispy mock goose!
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS DISH
- It’s healthier than the hawker version due to using less oil and no MSG!
- It’s a great dish to make for vegetarians! The combination of the flavours of the fried bee hoon and the cripsy mock duck makes for a great dish!
HOW TO MAKE VEGETARIAN BEE HOON?
PREPARATION
Soak bee hoon with room temperature water for 30 – 40 mins or until soft, ensuring the water covers the bee hoon completely. Rinse and drain dry. Cut the mock goose into 1-inch squares. Do not wash.
Peel the carrots and shred thinly. Remove the roots of the bean sprout. Wash and drain dry. Wash the cabbage and cut into rectangles of about 1 inch wide and 2 inch long. Wash the spring onion and cut it into small pieces. Remove the skin of the garlic and chop finely.
COOKING
In a wok, add ml oil over medium low heat, then deep fry the mock goose in small batches until golden brown but not charred.
Remove and place on plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. Once cool, immediately place in air tight container. Remove excess oil from wok.
In the wok, add 1 tbsp of shallot oil over medium heat. Add 1 tsp of chopped garlic and fry till aromatic. Add in the bean sprouts and fry for about 1-2 min. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Next, add 1 tbsp of shallot oil and 2 tsp of garlic and fry till aromatic. Add in the carrots and fry for a min before adding in the cabbage and 1/2 tsp of salt. Continue to fry until vegetables are slightly limp but still crunchy. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
In the same wok, add 1 tbsp shallot oil over medium high heat. Add in 1 tsp of garlic and fry till aromatic. Next, quickly add the vegetable stock, 1 tsp salt, light soya sauce, pepper and mushroom sauce and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, lower heat to medium, then add bee hoon and toss with chopsticks constantly until stock is fully absorbed. Add salt / soya sauce to taste.
Once bee hoon is soft, add in the cabbage, carrot and bean sprouts, and toss with chopsticks until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Transfer to serving dish and garnish with spring onion, crispy shallots and mock goose. Serve with pickled green chilli.
MARKETING TIPS
- Get the mock goose (or sweet crispy bean sheet) from any stall which sells vegetarian ingredients at the wet market (these stalls will have the word Zai displayed in front of it). Stall holders commonly refer to it as Zai Er (Vegetarian Goose). Here’s a picture of the brand that I used.
- Buy Chilli Brand bee hoon – it does not break as easily, compared to other brands I’ve tried.
- Use mature garlic rather than young garlic. Young garlic tends to turn greenish in colour once chopped, and it is not as flavourful as mature garlic!
COOKING TIPS
- Soak the bee hoon in room temperature room, not boiling water, otherwise it will break easily during frying.
- Do all the chopping for garlic in batches and always keep a jar of chopped garlic in your refrigerator because it is used in so many Chinese dishes. Best to use a glass jar with a metal lid to help keep the garlic fresh and aromatic!
- Make your own vegetable stock in advance. Please look out for my vegetable stock recipe which is on the way.
- Control the heat when you fry mock goose, as it gets burnt easily. To heat up the oil at the start, use medium heat. When the oil is heated up, add in the mock goose. Once it starts to change color, lower the heat to medium low. When it turns light brown, lower the heat further and continue to fry until it turns golden.
- Fry the vegetables separately as each one has a different cooking time.
- Add more water and/or light sauce if it is not salty or if the bee hoon is still hard.
- Add in shredded French Bean and mushroom to the Zai Mi Fen if you like.
WHAT IF I HAVE LEFTOVERS?
- Set aside a portion of the vegetarian bee hoon before you add the bean sprouts to fry. Bean sprouts turn bad very quickly, so once it is added, it needs to be consumed shortly after, and it is not advisable to store it overnight.
- Keep mock goose stored in an air tight container after it is completely cooled, in order to retain the crispiness.
DIETARY MODIFICATIONS
- Egg-Free: No modifications needed.
- Fish-Free: No modifications needed.
- Gluten-Free: Skip the crispy mock goose as the soya sauce used to flavour the bean curd is likely to contain gluten.
- Nut-Free: No modifications needed.
- Shellfish-Free: No modifications needed.
- Vegan: No modifications needed.
- Vegetarian: No modifications needed
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Vegetarian Bee Hoon (Zai Mi Fen) Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 grams Bee Hoon 1 packet
- 1 sheet Mock Goose
- 250 grams Carrots About 2 medium sized
- 500 gm Bean Sprouts (Tow Gay)
- 200 grams Cabbage
- 2 stalks Spring Onion
- 200 ml Oil For frying mock goose
- 4-5 cloves Garlic Chopped
- 700 ml Vegetable Stock
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Mushroom Sauce Optional
- 1 - 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp Shallot Oil See our Crispy Shallot recipe (link below)
- 1 dash Pepper
- 1/2 bowl Crispy Shallots See our Crispy Shallot recipe (link below)
- 1/2 bowl Pickled Green Chilli 1/2 bowl
Instructions
PREPARATION METHOD
- Soak bee hoon with room temperature water for 30 - 40 mins or until soft, ensuring the water covers the bee hoon completely. Rinse and drain dry.
- Cut the mock goose into 1-inch squares. Do not wash.
- Peel the carrots and shred thinly.
- Remove the roots of the bean sprout. Wash and drain dry.
- Wash the cabbage and cut into rectangles of about 1 inch wide and 2 inch long.
- Wash the spring onion and cut it into small pieces.
- Remove the skin of the garlic and chop finely.
COOKING METHOD
- In a wok, add 200ml oil over medium low heat, then deep fry the mock goose in small batches until golden brown but not charred. Remove and place on plate lined with kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. Once cool, immediately place in air tight container. Remove excess oil from wok.
- In the wok, add 1 tbsp of shallot oil over medium heat. Add 1 tsp of chopped garlic and fry till aromatic. Add in the bean sprouts and fry for about 1-2 min. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Next, add 1 tbsp of shallot oil and 2 tsp of garlic and fry till aromatic. Add in the carrots and fry for a min before adding in the cabbage and 1/2 tsp of salt. Continue to fry until vegetables are slightly limp but still crunchy. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- In the same wok, add 1 tbsp shallot oil over medium high heat. Add in 1 tsp of garlic and fry till aromatic. Next, quickly add the vegetable stock, 1 tsp salt, light soya sauce, pepper and mushroom sauce and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower heat to medium, then add bee hoon and toss with chopsticks constantly until stock is fully absorbed. Add salt / soya sauce to taste.
- Once bee hoon is soft, add in the cabbage, carrot and bean sprouts, and toss with chopsticks until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
- Transfer to serving dish and garnish with spring onion, crispy shallots and mock goose. Serve with pickled green chilli.
Notes
MARKETING TIPS
- Get the mock goose (or sweet crispy bean sheet) from any stall which sells vegetarian ingredients at the wet market (these stalls will have the word Zai displayed in front of it). Stall holders commonly refer to it as Zai Er (Vegetarian Goose). Here's a picture of the brand that I used.
- Buy Chilli Brand bee hoon - it does not break as easily, compared to other brands I've tried.
- Use mature garlic rather than young garlic. Young garlic tends to turn greenish in colour once chopped, and it is not as flavourful as mature garlic!
PREP TIPS
- Soak the bee hoon in room temperature water, not boiling water, otherwise it will break easily during frying.
- Do all the chopping for garlic in batches and always keep a jar of chopped garlic in your refrigerator because it is used in so many Chinese dishes. Best to use a glass jar with a metal lid to help keep the garlic fresh and aromatic!
- Make your own vegetable stock in advance. Please look out for my vegetable stock recipe which is on the way.
COOKING TIPS
- Control the heat when you fry mock goose, as it gets burnt easily. To heat up the oil at the start, use medium heat. When the oil is heated up, add in the mock goose. Once it starts to change color, lower the heat to medium low. When it turns light brown, lower the heat further and continue to fry until it turns golden.
- Fry the vegetables separately as each one has a different cooking time.
- Add more water and/or light sauce if it is not salty or if the bee hoon is still hard.
- Add in shredded French Bean, thinly sliced yellow onion and shredded mushroom to the Zai Mi Fen if you like.
WHAT IF I HAVE LEFTOVERS?
- Set aside a portion of the vegetarian bee hoon before you add the bean sprouts to fry. Bean sprouts turn bad very quickly, so once it is added, it needs to be consumed shortly after, and it is not advisable to store it overnight.
- Keep mock goose stored in an air tight container after it is completely cooled, in order to retain the crispiness.
