Canh Kiem Chay (Vegan Coconut Milk Vegetable Soup), No Added Refined Sugar
Vietnamese dishesSoupsMekong Deltaabout 1 hour
On the full moon and the first of the lunar month, plenty of households cook canh kiem chay to lighten the table. What makes the pot is its soft richness and the range of roots and vegetables in it. The difficulty is that they cook at different rates, so everything added at once turns to mush.
Sweet potato, pumpkin, taro, water chestnut and shiitake go in first. Yardlong beans, lotus seeds, banana and wood ear follow. The fried tofu and tofu skin go in last of all. Crushed roasted peanuts scattered over the top finish it.
This batch weighs about 2kg, at roughly 121 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel 50g pumpkin, the yellow sweet potato, 200g taro and 5 water chestnuts, wash, drain and cut into bite sized cubes. Wear gloves for the taro.
Peel the saba banana and slice it on the diagonal. Wash the 5 yardlong beans and cut them into 5cm lengths.
If the 50g lotus seeds are fresh, peel them and remove the bitter core. If dried, soak them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes until soft.
Rinse the 2 pieces tofu, cut into cubes and drain thoroughly. Heat 2 teaspoons cooking oil in a pan and fry the tofu until golden on all sides.
Soak the sheet of tofu skin in hot water until it softens, then cut into small pieces. Trim the stems from 3 wood ear and 5 shiitake mushrooms, soak them in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes until plump, then cut into bite sized pieces.
Soak 25g dried tapioca strips in cold water until fully swollen, then lift out and rinse. Rinse 100g peanuts and divide them in two, one half for the pot and the other roasted golden and crushed.
Set a pot on the stove and pour in 2 bowls thin coconut milk with the tapioca strips. Once it boils, add the sweet potato, pumpkin, taro, water chestnut, shiitake and peanuts.
When these are tender, add the yardlong beans, lotus seeds, banana and wood ear, and season with 1 tablespoon vegetarian seasoning powder and 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend.
Stir until the seasoning dissolves. When the pot returns to a boil, add the fried tofu and tofu skin, cook for another 5 minutes and turn off the heat.
Ladle into bowls and scatter the crushed roasted peanuts over the top.
Tips
Gloves while peeling taro keep the sap from irritating the hands.
Tofu drained thoroughly before frying keeps the oil from spitting.
The tapioca strips need to swell fully in cold water before they are rinsed and cooked.
Soak dried lotus seeds in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking, as dry ones stay hard in the pot.
The taro and pumpkin go in first and the banana and wood ear mushroom later, which keeps everything intact.
Half the peanuts, roasted and crushed over the top, lift the aroma of the whole bowl.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.