5-colour veggie tofu stew 五色蔬菜豆腐羹

I know, I have been sooooooo slack in updating my blog! MIA for more than a month already :p Well, for the past month, I've been obsessing with K-drama learning korean language and researching on Seoul, and early November I finally went to Seoul! Couldn't pick up my blogging mojo at all, and I have tonnes to blog about, like my February Kansai trip, June Australia trip and then my latest Seoul trip :p Ottoke?

I digress once again.

Well, been feasting non-stop past few months and realised I piled on at least 1-2kg! *GASP* Not after I spent so much effort exercising and dieting last year right? Time to attempt to eat lean again!

Saw a FB video (https://www.facebook.com/imjunepower/videos/1748120712122196/?pnref=story) about this 5-colours veggie soup 五行蔬菜湯 which supposedly helps in dieting. Yes, certainly suitable for me, since I always try to cut down on carbo and this soup looks quite satiating with so many ingredients.

It's really a quick and easy one-pot meal. I guess the tedious part is the cutting of all the vegetables into shreds so that it's faster to cook and easier to eat.

The 5 colours here refer to:
White - tofu, mushrooms
Yellow - sweet corn, ginger
Orange - carrot
Black - black fungus
Green - spring onion, parsley

I guess there's no hard and fast rule about the variety of vegetables used, feel free to explore various types of vegetables to suit your personal preference :)

I added an egg to sweeten the soup and used chicken stock as soup base; so for vegetarians, the egg can be omitted and stock can be vegetable broth or just those vegetarian mushroom flavouring.

5-colour veggie tofu stew 五色蔬菜豆腐羹
(serves 3-4) 

Ingredients

• Corn kernels from 1 sweet corn
• 125g fresh black fungus, cut into thin strips
• 6 pcs fresh shiitake mushroom, cut into thin strips
• 2 packets enoki mushroom, cut into 3-4 sections
• 2 small carrot, finely shredded
• 25g ginger, finely shredded
• 1 box pressed firm tofu, cut into strips
• 3 stalks spring onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 stalks chinese parsley, finely chopped
• 400ml chicken stock + 200ml water
• 1 egg
• Corn starch and water
• 2-3 tbsp chinese cooking wine
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Sesame oil, rahyu (Jap chilli oil), black vinegar, to taste (optional)

Steps

1. Heat up cooking pot with 1 tbsp of olive oil (medium heat), add ginger and stir-fry till fragrant.
2. Add carrot and stir-fry for a minute. Add the sweet corn, black fungus and mushrooms, stir-fry for a minute and add 2-3 tbsp of chinese cooking wine. Stir-fry till the ingredients are slightly softened.
3. Add chicken stock and water, mix well with the ingredients. Cover and bring to boil.
4. Add the tofu, stir gently to mix.
5. Add slightly beaten egg, stir gently to mix.
6. Make a slurry with 2 tsp of corn starch and 2 tbsp of water, add to thicken the soup slightly.
7. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
8. Serve with chinese parsley, spring onion, sesame oil, rahyu, black vinegar, to taste.

Absolutely love this virtually appealing stew, with all the different textures and taste, and best of all healthy, wholesome and satisfying.

It's yummy to eat on its own, even better with a dash of Japanese chilli oil (rahyu), sesame oil and black vinegar. I can eat this for lunch and dinner and every other day :)