Happy Vesak Day! Today is a public holiday in Singapore and the event is pretty much the biggest celebration in the Buddhist calender. It is a celebration/remembrance of Buddha's birth, his enlightment and passing away. It is common to eat vegetarian food at this time as a way to show compassion for all living things. Therefore, today's recipe is vegan and suitable for strict buddhist vegetarians who don't eat the 5 pungents. However, I add a small amount of leek as I had it in the fridge but omit if required. Even better, this dish is gluten free which all my recipes this week will be as part of the Coeliac UK's Awareness week.
I love these little beancurd skin rolls which are really quite meaty and tasty. They are called Ngoh Hiang in Singapore after the five spice powder used to season them and more commonly called Lor Bak in Malaysia. The first time I tried one it was under the guise of a vegetarian sausage roll which is kind of how I think of them now. This recipe owes a lot to Rasa Malaysia's recipe for vegetarian Loh Bak but with extra ingredients to make it closer to the versions I have tried in Singapore.
