Lo han Jai (Buddha’s delight)
Lo han jai, otherwise known as Buddha’s Delight or Buddha’s Feast (and sometimes just called jai) is my lunar new year essential. With origins in Buddhist monk cuisine, it is vegan to observe the custom of not eating any meat on New Year’s Day (because meat involves killing and that is not auspicious during the new year).
Traditionally, this dish is made without the use of any alliums (in accordance with Buddhist belief that plants from onion family excite the senses). However, I do use ginger and scallions in my recipe.
There is no single recipe for lo han jai. Rather, like many traditional recipes, it is a work in progress, dependent upon both family customs and pantry ingredients. The key is bringing together ingredients with lots of different textures. While many of the ingredients may not look familiar, they are actually easily found at most Asian grocery stores. I’ve done some research and you can find the red (and white) fermented bean curd, dried lily flowers and tofu skin from here in Australiaand here in USA. If you have stockists from other countries, please leave your tips in the comments below.
My mum’s essential ingredients are shiitake mushrooms, dried lily flowers, bean curd skin, tofu puffs, lotus root, water chestnut, mung bean vermicelli and fresh greens. She also added an ingredient which my kids call ‘hair’ – a black moss called fat choy (now almost impossible.
Lo han jai is traditionally made with naam yu or red fermented bean curd, which imparts a distinct funky saltiness. It can be found fairly easily at Chinese grocery stores. If you can’t find it (understandable), substitute with another fermented soy bean product – miso is the best substitute but you could also try chinese fermented black soy beans or doenjang. They will not give you the exactly the same result, but it will give you an acceptable representation of this dish.
If you didn’t grow up in a Chinese family, this dish may feel unattainable or unfamiliar but I encourage you to give it a go. It’s a textural feast and goes really well just with a bowl of rice.
Lo han jai (Buddha's Delight)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 45 g 5-6 lumps of red fermented bean curd (naam yu)*
- 4 scallions (green onions), white and green parts separated and cut into 2.5cm / 1-inch pieces
- 6 dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
- 8 wood ear (black) fungus, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
- 20 g dried lily flowers, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, optional
- ½ teaspoon white sugar
- 50 g dried tofu/beancurd skin, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
- 60 g fried tofu puffs
- 450 g napa/chinese cabbage (wombok) (¼ small), cut into 5cm / 2-inch pieces
- 6-8 slices of fresh or frozen lotus root
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 cup mushroom soaking water or vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- white pepper
- 75 g mung bean vermicelli noodles, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
- 60 g snow peas or baby bok choy, trimmed
- 100 g canned baby corn
- 3 teaspoons sesame oil
- handful toasted sesame seeds
- cooked white or brown rice, to serve
Instructions
- Squeeze out the liquid from the mushrooms, cut off the stems (the stems are super chewy and I love them, so I add the stems to the dish but others discard) and slice; keep the mushroom soaking water for later. Drain the black fungus, trimming off any hard stems, and tear any large pieces in half. Drain the beancurd sticks and cut into 5cm (2 inch) pieces.
- Heat a large Dutch oven or wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the oil and when hot, throw in the ginger and white part of the scallions and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium, and add the red fermented beancurd, using a spoon or chopsticks to break it up. Add the mushrooms, black fungus, and lily buds, sugar, and a stir for 1-2 minutes. Next, add the cabbage, beancurd sticks, tofu puff, and lotus root and toss well for 1 minute. Add the soy sauce, mushroom soaking water or vegetable stock, and combine well. Cover and cook for 6-7 minutes until the cabbage has wilted.
- Drain the mung bean vermicelli and add to the pot, along with the baby corn, snow peas, and green parts of the green onions and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the snow peas are bright green and crisp-tender and the vermicelli has expanded and soaked up some of the liquid. Drizzle over sesame oil, and taste, seasoning with salt, if required, and white pepper. Remove from heat immediately and scatter with a few sesame seeds. Serve hot, with rice.
