In many Asian countries street food is not a snack, it is an integral part of everyday life. Food stalls are open long hours and vendors build a connection with the local residents.
Traditionally many street food dishes contain meat or fish but almost all can be made vegan using ingredients such as mushrooms, tofu and plant-based mince.
During her early childhood Liu lived with her grandmother, cousins and aunts in Hunan where one of their staple meals was spicy rice noodles from an elderly vendor at the end of the street.
"The noodles were so good that they were always sold out by 9am."
Then in the afternoon for a snack they would get ice jelly, a summer dessert that is traditionally vegan. A similar dessert bingfen is now a trendy street food across China.
In winter they would buy roasted sweet potatoes and chestnuts from street food vendors.
Back in the ’90s those street foods were only available in their place of origin but today many of them are available across China.
"When I moved in with my mother in Guangzhou aged 6, I really missed the food I’d grown to love during my early childhood in Hunan. But I soon grew to love the Cantonese street food, which was much less spicy and quite different."
"We were excited to discover new spots and good street food."
During university on an island in the Pearl River, she and her fellow students would often go out late at night for a snack, walking, cycling or ferrying all over the island to try different foods.
Later when she became vegan she travelled all over Asia and fell in love with street foods from many different countries.
"This is when I realised that the most authentic food of a cuisine can be found at its street markets."
It is these journeys that inspired Liu to write Vegan Asian Street Food which she hopes will pass on her love of Asian street food to the reader.
The book is divided into chapters based on the Asian nation the recipes are inspired by.
The book
This is an edited extract from Vegan Asian Street Food by Yang Liu, Hardie Grant Books. Photography by Katharina Pinczolits.
Gado-gado (mixed salad with peanut sauce)
Gado-gado, meaning mix-mix, is a plate of fresh, colourful ingredients mixed together and coated with rich, tangy peanut sauce. It generally includes several steamed or cooked vegetables, such as potatoes and green beans, and raw vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, carrots and bean sprouts. Plant-based protein, such as tempeh or tofu, are often added.
Despite being a salad, the dish is typically served with rice or lontong. For extra crispiness, you can top it with emping (vegan chips made from melinjo nuts).
Serves 2
Ingredients
200g tofu, sliced and pan-fried
150g tempeh, sliced and pan-fried
100g green beans, cooked and cut into 3cm lengths
200g potatoes, peeled, cooked and diced
100g bean sprouts
100g lettuce, thinly sliced
100g tomatoes, cut into wedges
100g carrots, julienned
100g cucumber, sliced
2 Tbsp crisp fried shallots or fried onion
10 emping or other vegan chips (optional)
200g Lontong cut into pieces and reheated
Peanut sauce
3 Tbsp canola (rapeseed) oil, plus extra for frying
200g roasted and salted peanuts
5 garlic cloves
3 birdseye chillies, destemmed
2 Tbsp coconut (palm) sugar
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp tamarind sauce
salt, to taste
Method
To make the peanut sauce, heat a saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the extra oil (for frying) and peanuts, and stir until the peanuts are slightly brown. Remove from the pan and transfer to a small food processor.
Add garlic, chilli, oil and 300ml water to the food processor and blend on high to form a smooth paste. Or, you can pound peanuts, garlic and chilli using a mortar and pestle until finely crushed, then add the oil and 300ml water, and pound until it turns into a paste.
Return the paste to the pan over low-medium heat. Add the coconut sugar, lime juice, tamarind sauce and salt to taste. Cook, stirring for a few minutes, until the paste darkens and thickens. Remove from heat.
Assemble all the salad ingredients except the fried shallots, emping and lontong. Pour over the peanut sauce and sprinkle with shallots. Mix everything well, garnish with emping (if using) and serve with the lontong.
Pad kee mao (drunken noodles)
This is another spicy favourite at night markets, food stands and local restaurants across Thailand, and at many Thai restaurants around the world. Given its name, you might assume that alcohol is used when frying the noodles, but that’s not the case. The sauces used for pad kee mao are similar to the ones used in its sister dish, pad see ew. Pad kee mao is called drunken noodles because kee mao means drunkard in Thai.
Flat rice noodles are often used here, but wheat noodles such as instant noodles will also work. Kaprao (holy basil) adds a distinct aroma.
Serves 2
Ingredients
400g fresh flat rice noodles, or 180g dried rice noodles (width 1cm)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 fresh cayenne chillies, destemmed
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Golden Mountain seasoning sauce
1 Tbsp vegan oyster sauce
1 Tbsp vegan fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
75ml canola (rapeseed) oil
400g tender or semi-firm tofu, sliced
50g carrot, julienned
200g gai lan (Chinese broccoli), cut into 3cm lengths, leaves separated from stems
30g kaprao (Thai holy basil) leaves
Method
If you’re using dried noodles, soak in lukewarm water for 30 minutes, then drain. Skip this step if you’re using fresh noodles.
Using a mortar and pestle, combine garlic, cayenne chillies and salt and pound the ingredients until they are all smacked.
Mix the soy sauce, Golden Mountain seasoning sauce, vegan oyster sauce, vegan fish sauce and sugar in a bowl.
Heat a wok or non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and, once hot, add 3 tablespoons of the oil and the tofu. Cook the tofu until both sides are slightly brown and crispy then remove from pan.
Increase heat to high and add the remaining oil. Add the smacked garlic and chilli and stir with chopsticks until aromatic. Add the carrot and gai lan stems, stir for 1 minute, then add the rice noodles and stir for 1-2 minutes, until the noodles are slightly cooked. Add the sauce mixture and pan-fried tofu, and mix quickly so that the ingredients are covered evenly with the sauce. Keep tossing and stirring for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to break the noodles.
When the noodles are cooked, add gai lan leaves and basil, and stir for another 30 seconds to 1 minute before serving.
Jiang xiang bing (savoury pancake)
This dish, which translates to pancake with fragrant sauce, is often enjoyed as a quick breakfast or a light lunch. The rich sauce is brushed on the flat dough, which is heated on a griddle. Once cooked, the outer layer of the dough becomes slightly crisp while the inside is tender.
Traditionally vegan, jiang xiang bing is defined by its rich, tangy sauce, which brings all the other ingredients together in a delicious package. Doubanjiang, a spicy, salty condiment made from fermented broad beans, is an essential condiment in Sichuan cuisine. The most famous variety is from Pixian, a district of Chengdu.
Makes 4
Ingredients
110ml canola (rapeseed) oil, plus extra for brushing
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
10g fresh ginger, finely chopped
50g onion, finely chopped
300g plain (all-purpose) wheat flour, plus 50g extra
½ tsp salt
½ tsp thirteen-spice
2 spring onions (scallions), sliced
1 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
2 Tbsp doubanjiang (fermented broad bean and chilli paste)
1 Tbsp soybean paste
1 Tbsp tomato sauce
2 Tbsp vegan oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp chilli flakes
½ tsp Chinese five-spice
Method
To make the sauce, mix the doubanjiang, soybean paste, tomato sauce, vegan oyster sauce, sugar, chilli flakes, five-spice and 90ml of water in a bowl and set aside.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add 30ml (2 Tbsp) of the oil, plus the garlic, ginger and onion, and stir until aromatic. Add the sauce and cook for 1 minute.
Using a chopstick, mix the flour, salt and 80ml (⅓ cup) of hot water in a bowl, then add 80ml (⅓ cup) of room-temperature water and knead to form a dough. Brush with a little extra oil, then place in a clean bowl, cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
In a separate heatproof bowl, mix the extra 50g of flour with the thirteen-spice. Heat 50ml of the oil in a small saucepan over high heat until very hot (about 170°C). Pour it over the flour-spice mixture and mix well to combine.
Brush the kitchen surface and your hands with a little extra oil to prevent sticking, then separate the dough into 4 portions and shape each into a round (put more oil on your hands if the dough starts to stick). Add 2 tablespoons of the oiled flour to each round. Using a rolling pin, roll out each round into a thin sheet to form a pancake.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and, once hot, add 30ml (2 tablespoons) of oil. Add a pancake and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the bottom is golden and crisp, then flip. Brush a thin layer of sauce on the pancake and cook until the other side is also golden and crisp. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Sprinkle with spring onion and sesame seeds to serve.
Vegan fish sauce
Fish sauce is one of the essential condiments in Southeast Asian cooking, and its not always easy to find a vegan substitute. This simple recipe, with only five ingredients, enables you to make your own vegan fish sauce at home. The soy sauce and vegan oyster sauce give it a good savoury flavour, the shiitake and kelp provide the fish-like element, and the yeast extract paste gives it an extra umami boost.
Makes 400ml
Ingredients
5 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 kelp sheet about 10 x 15 cm
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp vegan oyster sauce
2 tsp yeast extract paste (for example, Vegemite or Marmite)
Combine the shiitake, kelp and 600ml of water in a large pot and soak for 1 hour.
Place the pot over low-medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Take the kelp and shiitake out and discard. Turn off the heat and stir in soy sauce, vegan oyster sauce and yeast extract paste.
Set aside to cool then transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
