2019 The Year Of The Pig!

Gong hei fat choy! is the greeting which actually means, ‘wishing you great happiness and prosperity.’

The Chinese traditional foods centre on longevity and prosperity and it very symbolic.

For instance noodles are long are so represent longevity and anything that is round and the shape of money denotes prosperity as does the colour black and anything from the sea.  The colour red denotes happiness in Chinese culture.

What does that mean for vegans and vegetarians?

A tasty vegetable stir-fry of Gambardeli’s Steaks cut into strips and served with Udon noodles would be great for longevity for example. However, Gambardeli’s Medallions as a hot pot, Chinese style accompanied by a serving of soya soup with seaweed would be apt for prosperity. In addition the colour of black can be easily used as table cloth or plates whilst red makes a great accessory to black.

Recipe Stir Fry with Gambardeli’s steaks and Noodles

Ingredients for 2

1 pack of Gambardeli’s Steaks cut into strips

Selection of vegetables:

onions peeled and cut into half moons

1 garlic clove sliced finely

4 spring onions finely sliced – reserve some for garnish

2 carrots cut into strips

4 mushrooms sliced

4 baby sweet corn cut in half lengthwise

4 mange tout or sugar snaps peas cut in half lengthwise

1 pak choi cut diagonally into strips

1 Tbs vegetable oil for frying

1 Tbs sesame oil for garnish

1 red chilli sliced optional

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice

pinch of salt and white pepper

1 Tbs soya sauce

1tsp sesame seeds toasted and crushed

1/2 sheet of nori seaweed

Method:

Boil the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.

Meanwhile place the vegetable oil in a Wok or frying pan and heat. First saute the Steak strips with the Chinese 5 spice to caramelise them to a light brown. Remove the strips from the pan and reserve. Next add the onions to the pan and fry for a few minutes then add the soya sauce, garlic and chilli followed by the vegetables one at a time. Use tongs to move the vegetables to stir-fry them.  Then add the steak strips back to the pan, sprinkle over the salt and pepper, sesame seeds and finally drizzle over the sesame oil.

Serve with the drained noodles and garnish with the reserved sliced spring onions and nori torn into small pieces.

Margaret Says

Adding the nori provides additional minerals from the sea including iron and iodine – often lacking in the vegan and vegetarian diets whilst crushing the toasted sesame seeds helps in absorption of the minerals including calcium.