A recipe for vegan san choi bao, because plant-based people deserve Lunar New Year prosperity, too
- Festive feasts feature foods that are said to bring wealth, luck and happiness to those who enjoy them
- The superstitious should avoid tofu because of its white colour, which is considered bad luck
Lunar New Year has many traditions and nowhere are these more apparent than in the food served during the holiday. Certain ingredients are eaten because they bring wealth, luck and happiness, and others avoided because they are considered inauspicious.
But vegetarians want wealth, luck and happiness, too, so for them, I’ve developed this dish of vegan lettuce cups.
Vegan san choi bao
This is a dish that invites improvisation. Add different types of fresh mushrooms and vegetables, and if you’re vegetarian but not vegan, ribbons of thin egg crepe for more protein. Lotus root – diced or cut into thin matchsticks – is a delicious crunchy addition or can be used in place of the bamboo shoots.
Golden thread mushrooms, or Cordyceps militaris, grow on caterpillars infected with a fungal parasite and are very expensive and used in traditional Chinese medicine. Now, though, these mushrooms are grown on “farms” without the need for the caterpillars. They have a delicious flavour and slightly chewy texture. If you can’t find them, substitute enoki or shimeji mushrooms.
If you are superstitious, you might want to avoid the pressed tofu. Bean curd is avoided during Lunar New Year because it’s white – a colour worn for funerals and considered bad luck. Pressed bean curd, also called seasoned bean curd, is brown (at least on the outside), so I don’t mind adding it to this dish.
And the superstitious will also want to break up the fen si (mung bean vermicelli) before soaking it, instead of cutting it with scissors; noodles represent long life, but if you cut them, you’re symbolically cutting life short.
