Indonesian style Sheperd’s Pie (Pastel Tutup) – Vegan

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Pastel Tutup or Indonesian-style Sheperd’s Pie is a lovely dish which I never knew existed until I was in my twenties. Apparently it is a very popular dish amongst the Indonesian in Central Java (I’m from West Java).  It has a mix of Chinese and Dutch flavours, very aromatic and comforting.

It’s like a cross between a potato bake and a stir fry. It has rice noodles, black fungus (also called Wood Ear), carrots, coconut milk and nutmeg. Sounds a bit weird, but let me assure you, it is very delicious.

Traditionally Pastel Tutup is made using ground chicken but since I’m vegan, I’m using tempeh for this recipe. I also use coconut milk instead of dairy milk and my trusted vegan butter for maximum creaminess.

It is quite easy to make, just involves a lot of preparation (mainly chopping the veggies and making the mash potato). Definitely something to make in the weekend when you are not rushed for time.

And please make the vegan bechamel sauce! It’s sooo good.

Indonesian Style Sheperd's Pie (Pastel Tutup) – Vegan

A hearty meal with fragrant spices and delicious plantbased filling

Mashed potato:

  • 500 g potatoes
  • 3 tbsp vegan butter
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • Salt and pepper to season

Filling:

  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 250 g pack firm bean curd (finely diced)
  • 2 carrots (finely diced)
  • 1 cup black fungus
  • 100 g dry rice noodles
  • 2 tsp peanut oil
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp five spice powder (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Vegan Bechamel Sauce

  • 3 tbsp <a href="https://www.passionatelykeren.com.au/glorious-butterless-butter/">vegan butter</a>
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 cups soy milk
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • Black pepper
  • Sea palt

To make the mashed potatoes mixture:

  1. Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks. Cook in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 20 minutes or tender but not falling apart. Drain. Mash potato with a potato masher or a large spoon until fluffy.

To make the filling:

  1. Soak rice and black fungus with hot water for 5 min until soft.
  2. Cut rice into short strand and chop up the fungus.
  3. Heat oil in a non-stick pan on medium high heat, cook chopped onion until soft and fragrant.
  4. Add in chopped beancurd, and carrots, stir for 2 minutes.
  5. Add stock cube and coconut milk. Bring to boil and simmer until carrots turn soft, around 5 minutes.
  6. Add in black fungus, vermicelli, five spice powder, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir well.
  7. Adjust the taste, bring to boil and then remove from heat and aside to cool for a few minutes.
  8. Pour filling on the pans and let cool slightly (about 5 minutes)
  9. Cover with mashed potato mixture (you can just spoon it on top or use a piping bag like I did).
  10. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is nicely brown. Serve with a good drizzle of vegan bechamel sauce.

To make the Bechamel Sauce

  1. Place oil and flour in a saucepan on medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.
  2. Gradually pour in the soy milk and whisk to prevent lumps. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Apple Pie

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Friend, my wedding is now due in less than two months and I still haven’t finished organising it.

Instead, I’ve been procrastibaking. And made this really yummy Vegan Apple Pie.

Because pies make me happy.

Vegan Apple Pie

Don’t be intimidated by the look. At first glance this vegan apple pie looks like a lot of effort. But actually, it is pretty easy to make. The only time consuming part is the slicing and layering the apple slices, which I must say, I’m not very good at. But hey, if I can do it, you can do it too.

The pie crust is also a lot simpler to make than the traditional recipe. There’s no rolling required and because it’s made completely from oatmeal, it also healthier and gluten-free. Doesn’t it look impressive?

Vegan Apple Pie

I think it would taste amazing with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice-cream. But, according to the dressmaker, I need to lose one or two kilos to make the dress looks perfect. So no ice-cream for me tonight. At least I can have my pie and eat it too :)

Vegan Apple Pie

Oat Flour Pie Crust

  • 1 1/2 cup oat flour*
  • 2 teaspoon coconut sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 5 tbsp cold water

Apple Pie Filling

  • 4-5 Granny Smith apples (peeled and cut into thin slices)
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbs melted coconut oil

For the pie crust

  1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and salt.
  2. Stir in the melted coconut oil and mix until crumbly.
  3. Add in the cold water to moisten the mixture to form a dough.
  4. Press the dough into a pie pan using your fingers, including the side edges.

For the apple filling

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Place apple slices and all the ingredients in a large bowl and gently toss the apples to coat. Let sit for 10 minutes.
  3. Drain the apples through a sieve, reserving the liquid from the marinade.
  4. Simmer the liquid in a small pan until it’s reduced to at least half and becomes somewhat thicker.
  5. Arrange the apple slices in the pie pan, starting from the outside edge of the pan and spiraling towards the center. Insert apple slices into any gaps that you see.
  6. Pour the reduced liquid onto the apple pie leaving 1-2 tablespoons for glazing.
  7. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the pie crust is golden brown.
  8. Glaze the pie with the remainder liquid. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

*To make oat flour, blend rolled oat in a blend until it turn into fine crumbs.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Apple Pie

Vegan Passionfruit Ice Cream Cups

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Today I’m sharing my latest kitchen creation – Vegan Passionfruit Ice Cream Cups. Make this when you need some icy treats, yesterday. 

And yes it’s currently very cold in Sydney and I have no business making ice treats. However, I’m one of those weirdos who love eating ice cream when it’s freezing colds. Why not? The ice cream melts slower and it reminds me of summertime :)

The recipe for this dessert is very simple. You don’t need to cook or churn the batter, just blend and chill. Also, the great thing about making them in little cups is that they defrost a lot quicker and you can just bite straight into them rather than messing around with a scooper. You don’t even need to make the base but it gives a lovely flavour and texture to the ice-cream.

Note: Since the recipe uses coconut cream, you’ll need to do a bit of preparation the night before. Leave one or two cans (use two cans) of coconut milk in the fridge at least overnight. The cooling process will allow for the ‘cream’ to float to the top, which is what we need. You can use the liquid part for smoothies or mix it with coffee to make a nice cold coffee drink.

In this recipe I’m using Norbu – a sweetener made of monk fruit extract. It’s tastes just like sugar but with 96% less calories and none of the bitterness of other sweeteners. I’ve been experimenting with it and I’ve used it in this desert. I love it.

Monk fruit or known by Chinese as ‘luo han guo’ has been around for century and is commonly used by Chinese as medicinal herb for treating cough and sore throat. I still remember my mum making me a cup of this luo han guo tea, whenever I have a sore throat. You can other sweetener if you like such as maple syrup, agave nectar, stevia or even sugar. If you’re using stevia, make sure that you adjust the amount to achieve the sweetness of 2 tablespoons sugar, which is what we need.

Vegan Passionfruit Ice Cream Cups

Bite-size, no churn ice cream recipe perfect for entertaining. Just blend and chill!

  • Base
  • 1/2 cup raw almond
  • 5 pitted medjool dates
  • 1 tbsp coconut flakes (or shredded coconut)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • a pinch of salt
  • Filling:
  • 1 cup coconut cream (the thick creamy bits from a can of coconut milk left in the fridge overnight)
  • 2 tbsp of your favourite sweetener (I use Norbu)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice (about half a lemon)
  • 2 tbsp Passionfruit pulp (plus extras for serving)
  1. Add all the ingredients for the crust into a food processor or a small power blender until a dough forms.
  2. Place about a teaspoon into a mini muffin silicon tray and press down with your fingers to flatten and cover the base. Place in the freezer while you make your ice cream filling.
  3. Blend all the ingredients until is well-combined and smooth. Pour over the base, cover with foil and place back into the freezer for at least 3 hours.
  4. Take out of the freezer and allow to slightly defrost for about 5-10 minutes before eating.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Carrot Cake

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Well hello, I have a delicious vegan carrot cake recipe for you. It’s simple, easy to make, and most importantly, it’s yum.

 

Vegan baking can be a bit of a hit and miss. When it’s a miss (a.k.a #fail) it can be devastating. Especially when you use expensive organic ingredients which I often do.

Luckily, I have been having more luck than misfortune at baking this year. This cake is certainly one of my successes. I’ve made them three times in a row now and as I look at these photos, I feel like making them again.

Gosh, wedding is in eight weeks and it doesn’t look like I will lose the one to two kilograms needed to make my dress looks ‘perfect’ (said the seamstress…). Thank God for Sphanx!

I cut the cake into halves and frost them with this Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, which although optional, I highly recommend because it takes the cake to a whole new dimension. I only used about a third of the batch for frosting the cake so you don’t need to make the whole batch. However, because it’s so good (and very light) I ended up serving it with the cake as a side as well.

I also use a teaspoon of Beyond Latte – Ginger Latte Mix for a bit of a ‘ginger kick’. The mix also have turmeric which gives the cake a lovely golden colour. You can replace it with 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder if you want.

Try this vegan carrot cake you must. It’s delicious.

Vegan Carrot Cake

Easy and delicious vegan carrot cake for everyone!

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2 large carrots (grated (about 277 gram))
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup raw sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp Beyond Latte <a href="http://www.beyondlatte.com.au">Ginger Latte Mix</a> (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground clove
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnut
  • 1/2 cup of <a href="https://www.passionatelykeren.com.au/vegan-lemon-cream-cheese-frosting/">Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting</a>
  1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 34 x 24 cm baking pan
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
  5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then carefully remove them from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

If you’re a super lazy person (like me at times) you can put all the ingredients and pulse them in a blender. You want to be careful though, not to overblend so you still get some texture from the carrots of the nuts.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

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A healthier frosting that’s creamy and delicious, but also good for you. It’s light, refined sugar free, dairy-free, and oh so addictive! Use it to frost carrot cake, muffins or serve with pancakes.

Vegan Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1 ½ cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight, drain)
  • 1 can of full fat coconut milk
  • Juice from 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tsp pure organic vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  1. In a food processor or power blender, blend all ingredients on high for a few minutes until creamy, scraping the sides to ensure even blend.
  2. Chill in the fridge to thicken for at least 1 hours before using.
  3. Store in the fridge for up to one week.

**Prep time does not include the time needed to soak cashews.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

The Ultimate Vegan Crepes

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Oh crepes! Yummy vegan crepes! I call this Ultimate Vegan Crepes recipe because it is very simple and takes little time to prepare and so it’s perfect for when you’re craving something sweet (or savoury) but can’t be bothered with baking a cake.

It’s very similar to making a pancake batter, but with more liquid. I added allspice to the batter to give it a nice spice flavour and a lovely aroma. If you don’t have it you can skip it or replace it with cinnamon powder. For this recipe I use normal plain flour but you can use gluten-free flour to make it to be gluten free. I also use coconut sugar which you can replace with normal sugar or your favourite sweetener.

You can be creative with the filling. I love to use fresh fruits like sliced banana and strawberries with a generous drizzle of chocolate spread (I’m a big fan of Pure Harvest COCO² coconut and cacao spread). Yum!

The Ultimate Vegan Crepes

Quick and easy vegan crepes that everyone will love.

  • 1 ½ cups plain or GF flour
  • 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 cups soy milk (of your favourite dairy milk)
  • 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
  • 1 tsp allspice ground
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Filling

  • Sliced banana
  • Sliced strawberries
  • Chocolate spread
  • Sesame seeds
  1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. If the batter is too thick, add a little more soy milk until you get the perfect consistency.
  2. Lightly oil a non-stick pan using an oil spray (I like using this coconut spray) over medium high heat. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter, then twirl the batter around to cover the bottom of the pan as much as you can.
  3. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes and then flip the crepe.
  4. Cook the other side for another minute.
  5. Add filling and serve.

f you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Steamed Broccolini with Japanese Sesame Ginger Dressing

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I thought I’d share with you a really easy dressing which you can use to make your greens taste wonderful.

I was inspired to share this recipe after a recent visit to a lovely Japanese restaurant. They served it cold and it was delish!  I personally like my veggies warm (especially in winter) so I made a warm version and also added some ginger. It took only 10 minutes to prepare (even shorter if you steam the veggies in the microwave).

By the way, I just finished watching What The Health on Netflix. Such an eye-opening! I highly recommend this movie if you need some encouragement to eat more veggies.

I use broccolini in this one but you can use any greens you like. You can also double or triple the batch for the sauce for bigger servings of veggies.

Steamed Broccolini with Japanese Sesame Ginger Dressing

Delicious broccolini with a super simple dressing

  • 1 bunch of broccolini
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp shaved or grated fresh ginger
  1. Steam broccoli in a steamer for 7-10 minutes until cooked and the colour changed to bright green.
  2. Lightly toast sesame seeds on a small nonstick pan under medium heat for a few minutes until they just turn golden brown and fragrant. Careful not to overcook them.
  3. Mix sesame oil, soy sauce and ginger (if using).
  4. Drizzle the sauce over steaming hot broccoli and sprinkle with some sesame seeds. Serve.

Hope you like the recipe!

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Giveaway – Cocolife Coconut Lovers Pack

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Just a quick post to let you all know that I’m doing a giveaway on Instagram.

Thanks to the Cocolife I will be choosing TWO lucky followers from my Instagram account everyday for five days from 16 – 20 June 2017, to win a Coconut Lovers pack. That’s 720ml of Cold-pressed Virgin Coconut oil and the Coconut Oil Spray.

Here’s what you need to do to enter this giveaway.

1. Head over to this post on Instagram (with the picture like the one below) and tell us “WHAT YOU USE COCONUT OIL FOR?” Write it in the comment section.
2. Follow @livethecocolife on Instagram.
3. Live in Australia 🇦🇺. Sorry, it’s only open to Australian resident this time. Another reason to move to Down Under? 😄

That’s it! As for me, I use coconut oil everyday for cooking but my favourite is using them to make popcorn 🍿 🍿🍿🍿. Now it’s your turn! Good luck!

Keren x

Air-Fried Vegan Polenta Chips (or you can use the oven)

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Well hello! Fancy something tasty tonight? How about some Crispy Air-fried Vegan Polenta Chips?

You do watch Netflix while having dinner right?

Beside, these stuff are healthy. They’re made of corn. Full of fibre, beta-carotene and carbs. We love carbs.

They’re very easy to make and once you learn how make them, I guarantee you will be making them again, and again..

Most polenta chips uses parmesan and so for this vegan version I use my vegan parmesan, which you can replace with nutritional yeast.

I love making this using an air fryer. I use Philips Air Fryer which I can’t recommend enough. It’s easy to use and makes everything crispy and crunchy with very little oil. That said, you can also use the oven. In face, until I bought an air fryer, I’ve been using the oven to make this. The good thing with oven is that it’s has more space so you can cook more chips than the oven, but it also takes about twice as long. With the air fryer it cooks really quickly but I would need to make two batches. At the end it’s the same, but I personally like using the air fryer more because I don’t have to flip the chips halfway through, which I need to do with the oven.

Crispy, delicious, vegan polenta chips. Give it a go!

Air Fried Vegan Polenta Chips (or you can use the oven)

Crunchy, air-fried, healthier, polenta chips that are super easy to make, but just as addictive.

  • Coconut oil spray (I use <a href="http://thecocolife.com.au/">Cocolife</a> – you can use code "passionatelykeren" to get 15% off your online order)
  • 2 cups vegetable stock (or 1 stock cube and 2 cups of water)
  • 250 g polenta flour
  • 1/3 cup
  • vegan parmesan
  • or nutritional yeast
  • Sea salt
  • Optional: 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
  1. Spray a baking pan with oil spray and set aside.
  2. Heat stock saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Gradually add the polenta in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly until all the polenta is incorporated into the stock.
  3. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast.
  4. Pour the polenta onto the prepared pan and use the back of a large spoon to smooth the surface. Cover with non-stick baking paper and set aside to cool, then place in the fridge for four hours or overnight to set.
  5. Turn polenta onto chopping board. Cut lengthways into 2cm strips then each strip into fingers (about 6-8 cm).
  6. Arrange polenta pieces on the air fryer basket with space in between each pieces, spray with coconut oil. Bake at 200C for 20-25 minutes. Alternately you can use the oven.
  7. To cook polenta chips in the oven, arrange strips on an oiled baking pan, bake for 20 minutes at 190C and then turn the chips around and bake for a further 20 minutes.
  8. Sprinkle with rosemary is using and season with sea salt. Serve immediately.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Cheers,

Keren x

My Big News + Crispy Salt & Pepper Tofu recipe

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Salt and Pepper Tofu is a classic Chinese dish that Nat and I like to order when we’re eat at Chinese restaurants but also make at home, when we feel like something tasty and crispy.

But first, I have an announcement to make.

I’m engaged!

Well it’s been three months but forgot to mention it here on the blog until now… I’m a bad blogger I know.

We’ve picked a date and the wedding is less than three months time. In fact, at the time this post is written we have 75 days before the wedding…crazy! Nevertheless, we’ve managed to have some the important wedding stuff organised, like my dress, the church, the venue, the photographer etc. Now it’s about organising the small details, which is probably is going to be as big of a job as the big stuff I think.

Crispy Salt & Pepper Tofu recipe

Delicious, crispy salt and pepper tofu that will make your Chinese grandmother proud

  • 300 gram packet of <a href="https://www.harrisfarm.com.au/products/tofu-firm-small-tly">firm tofu</a>
  • ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
  • ½ cup corn starch
  • 2 tbsp tapioca starch
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp ground pepper
  • A ziplock bag
  1. Cut tofu into bite size pieces. Place on two layers or paper towels and top another two layer paper towels (you can also use a kitchen towel). Place a small chopping board on top of the tofu. s
  2. Meanwhile, mix corn starch, tapioca starch, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag.
  3. Heat the oil in a pan to medium-high heat.
  4. Add tofu pieces into the ziplock and shake gently to coat the tofu. Allow to sit for about a minute.
  5. Pan-fry tofu on one side until golden brown, for about 2-3 minutes, and the turn to the other side and cook for another 2 minutes.
  6. Drain on paper towel and keep warm (I normally place cooked tofu in a low temperature oven to keep them warm) while cooking the rest.

Now as far as the salt pepper tofu goes, you won’t believe how easy it is to make. All you need to is just cut, press, crumb, and pan-fry…and voila, a tasty, restaurant-worthy dish.

I use a ziplock to make the crumbing process less messy and so that I can just throw the leftover straight in the freezer. Less washing up = winning. Enjoy!

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Cheers,

Keren x