Secrets to Cooking Delicious, Authentic Vegetarian Food

You want to cook delicious, tempting vegetarian dishes for your family, but you haven't yet mastered the secrets of cooking vegetarian food the right way. Here VN Cooking shares special tips and techniques for cooking delicious vegetarian dishes. Read on!

Choosing ingredients

Whether you're cooking vegetarian or meat dishes, you always need to choose safe, good-quality ingredients.

• Vegetables: choose fresh vegetables rich in nutrients and fibre such as carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, sweet potatoes and mushrooms. Naturally sweet ingredients such as asparagus, seaweed and onions also make dishes richer and more appealing.

• Packaged vegetarian foods: choose products with a clear source, label and origin, and check the product information carefully before buying. You can also shop at reputable vegetarian food stores to keep your family's meals safe.

Seasonings

Because vegetarian dishes use plant-based ingredients, seasoning only with salt, MSG, sugar and soy sauce will rarely make them as tasty as you'd like.

Aromatic seasonings for vegetarian dishes such as curry powder, five-spice powder, cinnamon powder, fermented soybean paste, fermented tofu, sesame oil, lemongrass, chilli, pepper and herbs will make your dishes more delicious. Colouring ingredients such as turmeric powder, gac fruit, pandan leaves, annatto, carrots and beetroot add colour and make dishes more attractive.

Marinating

For foods that need marinating, only marinate them for a set amount of time so the seasoning soaks in just enough without spoiling their natural freshness.

Cooking

Cooking is the most important stage in making a delicious, appealing dish for your family. When cooking vegetarian dishes, don't overcook them: overly soft food loses the vitamins and minerals it contains.

Also, don't cook over too high a heat. For stews and braised dishes, turn the heat down once the food comes to the boil so it cooks evenly and thoroughly without drying out.

When cooking vegetarian food, limit fats such as butter and milk, because they mask the natural flavours and nutrients during cooking.

Making vegetarian stock

For vegetarian dishes, stock is made from vegetables, so it's wonderfully flavourful. Use produce such as lotus root, water chestnuts, apples, pears and red dates to make the stock sweeter.

Wine is also a good choice for making tasty stock. Use red wine for vegetarian dishes with bold flavours and white wine for more delicate, subtle ones.

We hope VN Cooking has given you useful tips on cooking delicious, authentic vegetarian food. With these pointers, your vegetarian meals will surely be much more appealing and nutritious.