Sang Chow Bow - vegan style!

 We are so lucky to have two farmers in our region (Northern NSW - Australia) who grown dry-land rice. That means they grow a variety of rice that doesn’t require a lot of water in the growing process. Which in our country of little water is a good thing! It’s lovely rice too.

This dish was inspired by
a local festival called Living Earth festival which took place in our wonderful community garden. I was to do a cooking demonstration using food from the garden itself and other local producers.

We also have wonderful local tempeh makers in our community who make beautiful un-pasterised tempeh.

So using the rice & tempeh was an obvious choice for this dish.

It’s a perfect meal for Spring and Summer with fresh crisp lettuce. You can even use left over rice, which makes this meal quick too. A wonderful lunch with left over rice from dinner, sauté up a few bit ‘n pieces and spoon into a lettuce cups (or other greens from your garden) and voila lunch in 5 minutes!

Makes = 6 large lettuce cups

2 cups brown rice (long grain) cooked

1 nob ginger, finely grated

1x garlic clove, finely minced

175gm tempeh (approx. ½ pkt)

2-4 tbs tamari

1x lime, juice (approx. ¼ cup)

1x spring onions, finely sliced

2 tbs toasted sesame oil

¼ cup sesame seeds

lots cracked pepper

½ cup parsley, finely chopped

*optional 1 cup shelled peas

1 large ice berg lettuce (or lettuce of your choice)

Prepare the rice filling

Saute the tempeh in a little coconut oil until golden brown.

Then splash in some tamari to colour & flavor the tempeh.

Season the tempeh with pepper, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds and whites of the spring onions, and sauté for a further minute.

Add the cooked rice and mix thoroughly, warming the rice through. Then add the parsley (and peas) tamari & lime juice and gently stir through for a further minute.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Prepare the lettuce cups

Cut your ice-berg lettuce in half and remove the first ‘cup’ carefully. I take about two layers of lettuce at a time. You should get 6 cups for a large iceberg lettuce. With all the out leave I tear them up and line the insides of the cups.

Macadamia, lime & coriander mayo

½ cup coriander leaves

1 cup macadamias (or cashews)

¼ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup lime juice

½ cup water

1.5 tsp good salt

If you have a high speed blender you can add all the ingredients and blend until smooth & creamy. Add more water if necessary to get a pouring mayonaise texture.

If you have a ‘normal’ domestic blender, crush the macadamias into a meal as fine as you can get it. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.

Note: if you let it sit  before serving it, it will thicken as the macadamia nuts  will absorb the liquid content. Simple add more water to achieve the desired texture. Re-season if necessary.

Arrange the cups on a platter and fill with warm rice. Serve the mayo on the side or drizzle on top and garnish with finely chopped red peppers, coriander leaves & curled spring onions.

To curl spring onions

Cut the spring onions diagonally into long thin strips across the green part. Place in a bowl with ice and little water and watch them curl!