my family’s simple Buddha’s Delight (lo han jai)

Buddha’s delight, or lo han jai, is THE vegetarian dish that my family enjoys on the first day of Lunar New Year. After New Years’ Eve’s abundant feast, it’s part of their tradition to eat vegetarian on the first day as a light, fresh start to the new year.

What vegetables should I use for Buddha’s Delight?

Like any Chinese dish on a holiday, certain foods in this dish hold special symbolic meanings. For example, Chinese cabbage represents prosperity and wealth because the Chinese word for cabbage, (白菜, bái cài) sounds like “hundred wealth.”

In addition to Chinese cabbage, other common additions are lotus root, bean curd or tofu puffs, mushrooms, carrots, black moss, snow peas or snap peas, and definitely mung bean thread vermicelli (glass noodles). Fermented bean curd is also a common addition that adds a ton of salty, umami flavor — but my mom isn’t the biggest fan of it in this dish, opting to keep it simpler.

My mom always did either 6 or 9 items (including the bean thread vermicelli), and I know other families who do much more (even up to the 20’s)! For today’s recipe, we’re using lotus root, woodear (or cloudear) mushrooms, carrots, bean curd sticks, fried tofu puffs, Chinese celery, Chinese long napa cabbage, snow peas, and mung bean thread vermicelli.

Every family does this dish a little differently, so feel free to customize with what you like!

You may also like these other recipes:

• Panda Express Mushroom Chicken
• Tender Chicken and Broccoli
• Chinese Beef and Broccoli

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Simple Buddha’s Delight (Lo Han Jai)

This vegetarian tradition on day 1 of Lunar New Year is packed with crunchy, tender veggies — the perfect way to balance the indulgent feasts from the night before. My family makes it simply with 6 or 9 items, and it's easily customizable with what you can find or like!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutesmins

Cook Time 15 minutesmins

Soaking / Rehydrating Time 1 hourhr

Total Time 1 hourhr35 minutesmins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Servings 3

Ingredients

1x2x3x

Vegetarian ingredients

• 2bundles bean thread vermicelli~4 oz
• 2long Napa cabbage leaves
• handful of fried tofu puffs
• 10-15snow peas
• 1segment of lotus root
• 1/3of a carrot
• 1bunch of Chinese celeryor sub regular celery
• small handful of woodear mushroomsor other mushrooms
• 2strips dried bean curd

Sauce:

• 1/3cupwater or low sodium veggie broth
• 1.5tbspsoy sauce
• 1.5tbspvegetarian oyster sauce
• 1/2tspsugar
• 1/4tspmushroom bouillon powderskip if using veggie broth

For cooking:

• Neutral oil for cooking
• 1/4tspsalt
• 1/2tspsesame oil

Instructions

Prepare the veggies

• In separate bowls, soak the dried bean curd and woodear mushrooms (if using dried) in warm water. Dried bean curd will need 1-2 hours of soaking, while woodear mushrooms need just 5 minutes.
  2 strips dried bean curd, small handful of woodear mushrooms
• In another bowl, soak the bean vermicelli in cold or room temp water. After 5 mins of soaking, cut the long vermicelli in half for easier stir frying later. Keep the vermicelli in water until we need it for cooking.
  2 bundles bean thread vermicelli
• Prep the veggies: wash and peel the carrot and lotus root, then slice into thin rounds (1/8” or thinner). The lotus root may need extra cleaning, as the holes can collect dirt easily.
  1/3 of a carrot, 1 segment of lotus root
• For the snow peas, peel from one end to the other of the to remove the tough fiber. This tough string is more prominent in more mature, firmer snow peas.
  10-15 snow peas
• Slice the Chinese celery and long Napa cabbage into 2 inch pieces.
  2 long Napa cabbage leaves, 1 bunch of Chinese celery
• Slice tofu puffs in half or into strips. Once the bean curd is rehydrated (they should be soft and flexible), slice into 2 inch pieces, discarding any tough ends that don’t fully rehydrate.
  handful of fried tofu puffs

Prepare the sauce

• Mix all of the sauce ingredients together, and set aside.
  1/3 cup water or low sodium veggie broth, 1.5 tbsp soy sauce, 1.5 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp mushroom bouillon powder

Stir fry the veggies and vermicelli

• Heat up a pan on medium high heat and add neutral oil.
  Neutral oil for cooking
• Stir fry carrots and lotus root together for 2-3 min. Add a splash of water to help them soften slightly.
• Add the greens: Chinese celery, snow peas, and Napa cabbage. Stir fry for another 1-2 min. Add water if the pan seems dry.
• Once there’s just a slight char on the veggies, remove them from the pan.
• Add a bit more oil, and stir fry the bean curd and tofu puffs for 2 min or until the bean curd gets some color.
• Add all the veggies back to the pan, including the woodear mushrooms.
• Season with salt and HALF of the prepared sauce. Stir fry altogether for another minute or until some of the sauce has absorbed into the veggies.
  1/4 tsp salt
• Check that the veggies (especially the root veggies) have softened to your liking. They should still maintain a light crunch.
• Add the bean vermicelli straight from the bowl of water to the pan (do not drain well, excess moisture is good here). Make sure to separate and spread the strands across the pan to prevent clumping.
• Add the rest of the sauce, sesame oil, and toss until everything has mixed together, and the vermicelli softens slightly. Don’t stir fry for too long, as the noodles will risk clumping together. Enjoy!
  1/2 tsp sesame oil

Video

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Keyword buddhas delight, lo han jai, lunar new year vegetarian dish, stir fry vegetarian dish

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