Buddha’s Delight or Lo Han Jai…The ultimate vegan stir fry with delicate flavors and wholesome goodness!
Whether you’re looking for a festive Luna New Year dish to celebrate or a simple zen meal to revitalize, this Buddha’s Delight offers a special treat! Traditionally served on the first day of the New Year, it’s also a vegetarian classic that appears in many Chinese restaurants.
With its rich combination of fresh ingredients and variety of delicate dried ingredients such as fat choy (black moss) and lily flower for good luck and prosperity, the Buddha’s Delight is worthy for a title as the KING of stir fry! Naturally, the diverse pool of ingredients offers an exquisite mixture of tastes and texture.
It is said that a long-standing tradition of Buddha’s Delight has 18 ingredients. That’s probably too long a list for our busy modern home-cooking. But, it can easily be customized to almost any combination of vegetable ingredients and still tastes delicious! Here is a simpler version of the Chinese classic that is bursting with flavors while staying true to its festive heritage.
When served with rice or quinoa, it provides the four main food groups of vegetables, proteins, grains and fruits. It’s the healthiest way to kick start the new year!
Buddha’s Delight (Lo Han Jai)
Ingredients
For the Bowl:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 5 pieces of fresh shiitake mushrooms or re-hydrated dried mushrooms diced
- 1 carrot sliced
- 2 oz lotus root peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 oz dried lily flowers soaked for 10 mins in hot water
- 2 oz 1/2 cup fresh, or frozen ginkgo nuts
- 8 dried red dates
- 4 oz fried tofu 4-5 pieces
- 7 oz nappa cabbages cut
- 2 oz snow peas
- 1 tablespoon goji berries soaked for 5 minutes
- 1 small bunch bean thread noodles cellophane noodles
- 2 oz fresh black fungus or dried black fungus, washed and soaked for 20 minutes
- 1 oz dried black moss dried nostoc, re-hydrated
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Seasoning Sauce:
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon mushroom seasoning
- ½ teaspoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoons vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce
- Pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 blocks of fermented bean curd
- 2 cups of water
Instructions
- Soak all required dried ingredients in hot water for specified time frame.
- Mix seasoning sauce ingredients together in a bowl until fermented bean curd has dissolved and set aside.
- Heat skillet at medium heat, add oil and ginger. Stir fry for half a minute.
- Add carrots, shiitake mushrooms, fried tofu, lily flowers, red dates, ginkgo nuts, and lotus roots and stir fry for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.
- Add the rest of the ingredients (except the black moss) and stir fry another 3 minutes.
- Add the black moss and seasoning sauce mix and bring to boil.
- Turn off heat and transfer to serving dish.
- Serve immediately with rice.
