Asian Meal Prep x Wilder: Zero-Waste, Plant-Based Lemak Cili Padi

As part of Earth Month, I hung out with Azurah, Founder of Wilder to make plant-based lemak cili padi!

We substitute the chicken typically used in this dish with oyster mushrooms and the best quality firm hard tofu you can find and it tastes amazing.

Served it with some brown rice at the side and lime and voila, the creamy texture of it will leave you wanting more. Check out the full video below to see how we made it! It’s 36 mins long but it’s super worth the time especially when a chef shares with us tips on how to turn a popular dish plant-based. Also, I have learned so much in this one session, I’m sure you’ll find things in here useful too.

This is a Zero-Waste recipe. All of the left behind ingredients that we use in the making of this video goes into Azurah’s compost bin so there is Zero Waste. We highly support this and we’re starting to be a lot more mindful of this in future videos. You can learn more about composting on Azurah’s account here!

Azurah has been so amazing in the making of this video. Do check out her work on Instagram (@wilder.sg) and on her website here!

Print Recipe

Asian Meal Prep x Wilder: Zero-Waste, Plant-based Lemak Chilli Padi

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian, Malay, Plant-Based

Keyword: Asian Meal Prep, Healthy Malay Food, Plant-Based, Zero-Waste

Servings: 3

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
• 300 g Oyster mushroom
• 150 g Tofu
• A pinch Himalayan Rock Sea Salt
• 1 tsp spice of choice we use All Spice
• 2 pcs Turmeric leaves
• 1 cup Plant-based milk or coconut milk
• 100 g Cherry tomatoes
• 2 handfuls Purple bak choy

Lemak Chilli Padi Paste

• 1 large Red onion
• 2-3 Red chillies
• 2-3 cloves Garlic
• 3 inch Ginger
• 1 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Coriander
• 1 tsp Ground turmeric

Garnish

• 1 tbsp Black sesame seed
• 1-2 pieces Kasturi lime
• 300 g Cooked brown rice

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients of the lemak cili padi paste and process it in the food processor. Set aside.
• Start by preparing mushroom on a shallow frying pan.
• Heat pan on medium-high and add 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
• Once the pan is hot, arrange tofu and mushroom on the pan so each piece gets a touch of the pan.
• Turn down the heat to low and season with salt and spice of choice.
• Add in light soy sauce or liquid aminos, and cook it a little longer to let it dry out a bit more so it has a crispy texture. Once this is done, set aside.
• On a deep pot, add in another 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil on medium-high.
• Toss in the lemak cili padi paste and stir-fry, breaking the paste up and letting the smell rise up.
• Turn down the heat to low-medium and let it cook for about 3-4 mins until it is slightly dry. Let it caramelise and dry up by continuously stirring.
• Add in bruised turmeric leaves in to the pot and stir it up.
• Add a pinch of salt here if needed before pouring in the coconut milk. Stir to mix.
• Toss the cherry tomatoes in, followed by the bok choy. Stir-fry for another 1-2 mins before adding in the plant-based milk.
• Let it simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.
• Once it is done, remove from heat and build your meals by plating it with the tofu and mushroom and brown rice (optional).
• Enjoy!

Notes

 

1. The lemak cili padi paste can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge or freezer. When you blend the paste, make sure the consistency is not too smooth. It should be pretty rough at the end. No salt and pepper is added into the paste as it is usually added to the dish when we cook it.
2. The tofu and oyster mushroom is cooked separately so it’ll come out golden brown and crispy.
3. Due to the plant-based nature of the dish, the flavour is not as strong as when it is cooked with chicken – which has natural stock. If you want to enhance the flavour and still make it plant-based, you can add vegetable salt.
4. Find some fresh turmeric leaves (or grow it like Azurah does!) and bruise it before adding it into the cooking. Turmeric leaves doesn’t add to the colour, it just adds to the flavour, and it’s amazing. The brown bits of the turmeric leaves can be added into the compost bin so there is zero-waste.
5. If you want the consistency to be thinner, add in a bit of water after adding in the coconut milk.
6. Azurah grows her own cherry tomatoes, which is why there is no consistency in sizes and that’s the best thing about growing our own veggies!
7. We used purple bok choy in this video! Azurah grew it from seed. Just like the cherry tomatoes, this is not a typical way of making authentic lemak cili padi. But we’re Asian Meal Prep and we try to boost the nutrition of our meals as much as we can.
8. All of the ingredients that we do not use in the making of this video goes into Azurah’s compost bin so there is Zero Waste. We highly support this and we’re starting to be a lot more mindful of this in future videos. You can check out more about this bin on her Instagram account: