Today, I want to share our secret family recipe, the Buddha’s delight (a.k.a Lo Han Jai, Loh Han Cai, Lo Han Chai, Loh Han Chai, 罗汉斋). My mother-in-law has followed this recipe to serve the family during the past six decades’ first day of the lunar new year. She is now in her eighties, and this is the time that we will take over to prepare it for this coming lunar new year.

This recipe drills more in-depth into the culinary tradition of Chinese food than the typically known dishes to the West like Wonton, Mapo tofu, and Chinese fried rice. Some ethnic ingredients may be foreign to the non-Chinese. Head to Chinatown for the ingredients list if you live outside of Asia.

A brief explanation of the Buddha’s delight or Lo Han Jai

Buddha’s Delight is a delightful vegetarian dish savored by everyone during the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year.)

Lo Han Jai 罗汉斋 is another name for Budda’s delight. (Jai, sometimes called Zhai, literally means a vegetarian meal for the Buddhist). ‘Lo Han’ is the Chinese name for the eighteen Arhats in Buddhism, which are the saints equivalent to the apostles of Christianity. Lo Han Jai means the vegetarian dish eaten by the saints.

There are eighteen ingredients in the authentic Buddha’s delight to represent eighteen Arhats (as opposed to twelve apostles).

There are many variations sprout from the authentic recipe. Many people find it too tedious to get all the ingredients and omit some components without sacrificing the flavor.

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The critical ingredients for preparing the Buddha’s delight

Before we start, I would like to briefly explain some of the less crucial ingredients for anyone unfamiliar.

1. Shiitake mushroom

Shiitake mushroom is used in various Chinese cuisines. The dehydrated version is far more popular than the raw one, which has a refreshing aroma.

Some higher-grade dry Shiitake mushroom is called 花菇, which means ‘flower mushroom because there is a characteristic cracking pattern on the surface of the cap. They have a thick mushroom cap with a very strong fragrance. That is why it is also termed as 香菇, which means ‘fragrance mushroom.’

You need to rehydrate the dry mushrooms for a few hours and overnight for the larger and thicker one before cooking.

2. Dry lily buds

Dry lily buds 金针 are from the lilies, with a faint earthy and sweetish taste, with a bit of tartness.

The dry form has a sharp tip and is golden in color. Therefore, it is also described as ‘golden needles.’

It is a favorite ingredient to cook Buddha’s delights and the Szechuan hot and sour soup. The word golden needles also symbolizes wealth (gold), which is regularly on the menu during the lunar new year.

You must rehydrate the dried lily buds before cooking, just like the dry Shiitake mushroom. The rehydrating liquid has plenty of flavors and can be used as stock to prepare the Buddha’s delight or any other dishes.

The Enoki mushroom’s shape resembles a dry lily flower called 金针菇, which means ‘golden needle mushroom.’ However, they are entirely different from dry lily flowers.

3. Cabbage

Our family recipe uses the regular round cabbage instead of the Napa cabbage mentioned in some recipes. The cabbage should be cut into large pieces as they shrink after braising.

The cabbage may need about ten minutes of braising until it becomes soft. Soft cabbage is more flavorful after absorbing more braising liquid.

4. Bean curd sheet and sticks 腐竹

The same item has many names in English: tofu skin, yuba, bean curd skin, bean curd sheet, beancurd sticks, or bean curd robes.

It is a product made of soybean. When the soybean is boiled in a shallow pan, a soy film will coagulate on the surface. The films are removed and dried to become a bean curd sheet.

The sheets can be folded into robes during production. The one that remains as a thin sheet works better in this recipe since it is easier to deep-fry evenly (and become more crispy) than in the form of a robe.

The result is better with the bean curd sheets, which are crisp and thin. The stick form is thicker and folded, making it harder to crackle and shatter when snapped. If you try deep-frying it longer to get that shattering texture, the bean curd will be over-fried and turn dark brown. It will leave a bitter taste to the braised vegetables.

5. Cellophane or mung bean vermicelli 粉絲

Mung bean vermicelli is usually made with mung beans or potato starch. They are called cellophane noodles or glass noodles because they resemble cellphones (partially transparent) after cooking.

It is not the same as rice vermicelli 米粉/米线 as rice vermicelli is white and not translucent.

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6. Fat choy (black moss) 发菜

Black moss (fatt choy) is a kind of fungi with an appearance that resembles human hair after drying. It is prevalent in various Lunar New Year cuisines due to the phonetic approximation to ‘Fatt Choy’ in Chinese, which means making plenty of money.

Fatt Choy is not included in daily cooking as it is expensive.

7. Wood ear fungus 木耳

Wood ear fungus is a kind of edible fungus usually sold in the dried form. It is also called black fungus.

It swells to more than double its original size after being fully hydrated. It is a favorite ingredient for Buddha’s Delight, hot and sour soup, and various Chinese dishes due to its crunchy texture.

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8. Bean curd preserved 腐乳

Fermented bean curd is another English name for the same item, a Chinese condiment consisting mainly of soybeans, salt, and rice wine.

There are two types of fermented bean curd: white and red.

White fermented bean curd is the type we used in the recipe. We prefer the flavor of the white one for its aroma and color. It will not affect the color of other vegetables to make them look unappetizing.

The other type is the red fermented bean curd 南乳/红腐乳. I have seen some Buddha’s delight recipes use red preserved bean curd. The flavor is stronger than the white counterpart, and you may need to reduce the amount compared to the white one.

9. Bamboo shoots  竹笋

The last on this exotic list of ingredients (but I think most of the Chinese are familiar with them) is bamboo shoots.

You can get it at the chiller section of the Asian grocery shop, and some are in the can. Just remove the shoots from the brine and cut it into slices.

Variation and substitution

The type of ingredients can be changed and substituted if you are not preparing the authentic Buddha’s delights with eighteen items. There is hardly any ordinary Chinese household willing to make Buddha’s delight by using all the ingredients as it is too tedious.

Below is the guideline to select the ingredients to prepare Buddha’s delight.

• Key ingredients are dry shiitake mushroom, wood ear fungus, Chinese cabbage, mung bean noodles, bean curd sheet, and white fermented bean curd. Do not omit any.
• The aromatic ingredients are dry Shiitake mushrooms and dry lily flowers. The dry Shiitake mushroom is more fragrant than the raw one. You can omit dry lily flowers if unavailable. It will not affect the final result too much.
• The crunchy vegetables are bamboo shoots and wood ear fungus, which give a crunchy mouthfeel. Use the wood ear fungus and omit the bamboo shoots to keep it simple.
• The silky vegetables are the mung bean vermicelli and the black moss. It can be challenging to get black moss outside of Asia. Omit it if it is unavailable.

The seasoning

Fermented bean curd is irreplaceable like you can’t prepare spaghetti agleo e oleo without garlic. The flavor of the whole dish entirely depends on the fermented bean curd, plus some sugar.

You can choose either the white or red version or mix both, depending on your preference. Add more fermented bean curd if you want a stronger and saltier flavor. Our secret recipe uses fermented bean curd as the main seasoning and never adds any ‘Chinese’ seasoning like soy sauce, oyster sauce, or salt.

Other ingredients.

Lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts, baby corn, oyster mushrooms, fried tofu puffs, straw mushrooms, snow peas, and arrow shoots are other ingredients for Buddha’s delights. Feel free to make your list of vegetables based on what is available.

The Buddha’s Delight Recipe

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth a thousand images.

Watch the video at the end of the recipe below.

(Note: If you encounter any audio / visual problems with viewing this video, you can view it from YouTube by clicking this link, which will open in a new tab.)