VEGAN TALK & FERMENTED CULTURES
BREAKFAST
Upon arriving at Hin, Kai Yee brought his micro greens into Wholey Wonder for delivery while Peder and I signed-in for the Life Love Vegan workshop with Chen, who was leading the workshop. After being served some vegan treats from Wholey Wonder, we went up to the yoga studio to begin the workshop. The first 1 1/2 hours was a talk and discussion led by Chen.
She broke the session into four parts: This one, Tradition, Food, and Answers. First, she told us her personal story of becoming vegan. She is the only vegan one in her family which can be quite difficult. We talked about how most people are raised with the tradition of eating meat and that traditions are difficult to change. It can also be a challenge living with people who do not understand a new tradition, such as being vegan, in one's life. Chen told us how her mom used to sabotage her meals and put meat on her plate. However, now her mom is on the journey of becoming vegan! I really enjoyed how interactive this talk was.
After chatting we went down to the cafe and saw a food demo! Claire, one of the many great people I met at Wholey Wonder, is a dessert chef and yoga teacher here. She taught us how to make a raw vegan cheesecake! It was surprisingly simple. The basic recipe was two parts: the crust and the base. I'll post the recipe of her delicious cheesecake later on in this blog. After getting hungry watching the food demo, we had lunch.
For lunch, we had vegan pizza that was topped with microgreens from Kai Yee's farm! It was super fun seeing his produce served at this workshop. We had two types of pizza which were both very tasty. Next, Jonathan brought out a vegan take on shepherd pie. We started talking about the recipe and he said the top section was made from sweet potatoes and American potatoes. American potatoes! Peder and I thought it was so funny and interesting that what seemed to be russet potatoes are called American potatoes here.
After a delicious lunch we went back up to the yoga studio for an activity. Chen had us each draw a vegan dish. She encouraged us to be really creative. After we drew for roughly 30 minutes we each went up to share our dish. The group was very diverse, which was highlighted in each meal. There were Indian, French, Italian, American, Malay, and fusion dishes that people came up with. Chen awarded a prize (vegan soap) to a west/east fusion wrap dish. She also gave us each a snack of Korean seaweed.
Finally, we took a short break and then had a great Yin yoga session. Huge thanks to Chen and Wholey Wonder for organising this fun free event!
For more resources on veganism check out mercyforanimals.org
PHARM GARDEN WORK
Our final stop for the day was going to visit Anna, yet another person we met at In-Between Art Festival eager to share her knowledge. We talked about so many interesting things, it is difficult to choose what to share here. First, she showed us around her home, full of plants and culture growth. On her balcony she has seven coconut trees. Yes, you read that correctly, seven coconut trees! The balcony was not huge like you may be picturing in your head. She also has lots of moringa seedlings, pumpkin, aloe vera, and more. She is using coffee sacks to hold the trees and some other plants because pots were too heavy to carry up to her apartment! Anna got these directly from a coffee roaster for very cheap. Next, she showed us her cheese that is hardening. She made a little nest for it wrapped in a curtain. Every day she needs to soak the cheese in a salt bath and then rub it with oil. She sells this cheese at the Sunday Hin Pop-Up Markets. She then showed us that she and her partner are re-wiring their house to lower the voltage and use much less power. They will be using barely any power and be able to generate their own power with a small battery if that is ever necessary.
Next, she showed us her Kombucha set-up! She has many different jars of different sizes making Kombucha. Finally, she showed us her milk Kiefer and fermenting cleaning products. Beneath her kitchen sink there are many different bottles of fermenting food waste she uses for different purposes. Some are general cleaner she uses for household cleaning. Another, which is strictly orange peels, is what she uses to clean her hair. She let me smell this one and it was delicious! Different mixes are for different purposes and take different amounts of time to ferment. Anna told me that for many, three months of fermentation is ideal. She also captures the rinse water from her washing machine and uses it to water her plants and clean her apartment. She used to capture both the wash and rinse water but it was more water than she can use! Anna aspires to waste as little as possible and give back to the place she is in. She told me that even if you don't want to use fermented cleaning product that fermenting your food waste and pouring it down the toilet will help clean the sewage system!
We went on to chat about all the amazing ways fermentation is beneficial, traveling light, the future of the internet, the importance of sharing ideas, and so many other things that planted so many seeds in my brain. I imagine that many may sprout and show up somewhere later on this blog. We left Anna's house full of inspiration for the future. Last night I cut up some pineapple and have already started fermenting it! If you want to learn more about fermentation and culture check out a book called The Art of Fermentation and Anna's chat room, both linked to the right. The entire text of The Art of Fermentation is also available through her chat room. She shares a huge amount of resources here!
DINNER AT SRI ANADA BAHWAN
MULTI CUISINE GARDEN CAFE
CLAIRE'S MANGO PINEAPPLE PASSIONFRUIT CHEESECAKE
Today we went into Penang so Kai Yee could deliver his produce of micro greens, edible blue flowers, roselle, and lettuce. Before we left, I had a quick breakfast of toast, mini bananas, and fresh papaya. While Kai Yee was delivering his produce today, Peder and I attended a vegan workshop at one of our favorite places in Penang, Wholey Wonder. This cafe and yoga studio is located in the Hin Bus Depot Art Center, a hub of art and health in Georgetown. After the workshop we planned on meeting Anna, a master of fermentation that we met at the In-Between Arts Festival.
VEGAN WORKSHOP @ WHOLEY WONDER
[photos taken by Rohith Doraiswamy and Tan Seoh Chen]
When I was taking the yoga class, Peder opted out and went to help Nicole put down some manure and compost in The Pharm garden, located on the other side of Hin Bus Depot Art Center. This garden is in the early stages of preparing the soil. It has just a few plants in it so far with plants to be incredibly gorgeous once fully planted. As of this visit, there four different plants in the garden. First, Bunga Kantan aka Torch Ginger. It has spectacular flowers and its flower buds are often used in Laksa, a local dish. Second, Gelanggan, which is part of the Senna family and can be used as a laxative, pesticide, and to calm itchiness and bug bites on the skin. Both these plants were donated by Fred and Xin from the Serukam Farm! Third, the garden has seven Moringa seedlings. These trees are planted to create a green fence. The leaves can be harvested and eaten every month! Fourth, they planted some Sea Almond seedlings that they found in the leaf litter compost.
This project is an inspiration to me because it shows how much can happen in just a small piece of land if the community is driven to grow food. Nicole told us the impressive future plans for the garden include having an herb garden in the center bed that has a pond on the outside for marsh plants and then spirals up into an herb garden. Plants that need more water will be placed on the bottom and plants that need less water will be on the top. I can't wait to see the continued success of this garden!
CULTURE EXCHANGE WITH ANNA
For dinner we went to Sri Anada Bahwan Multi Cuisine Garden Cafe. The menu was incredibly long and took me awhile to decide what to get. After awhile, I asked Kai Yee to have the waiter recommend the best vegetarian dish from the Northern Indian Cuisine section. He choose Veg Dahl Plazi which was delicious. Peder got Veg Kuttu Parotha, Kai Yee got a chicken dish, and we all got Mushroom Masala, garlic naan, garlic cheese naan, and another apetizer to share. To drink, Peder got a starfruit lassi, I got watermelon juice, and Kai Yee got tea. Yet another delicious meal in Penang. We went home to Sungai Petani happy and full. In the following days, I could see that Anna's passion has inspired Kai Yee. She has inspired me too, I'm about to go taste my first batch of fermented pineapple juice! It is easy to forget how beneficial idea sharing is, especially when one is wrapped up in their own projects. I am excited to continue to share ideas with a wide variety of people during this trip! If you have any ideas to share with us, please do! We've got a comment section down below.
WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE?
Have you ever wanted to try a homemade meal? How about let's start with some desert! Here's the recipe Claire shared with us. It looks simple to make and is extremely tasty!
RAW VEGAN CHEESECAKE RECIPE
First, put 1 cup oats into a food processor. Blend these to your preferred consistency, and then put in 1 cup of dates and 2 tbsp coconut oil. Add 1 teaspoon of oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Blend until the mixture will stay together when you grab a handful of the mixture. If it is not staying together add a bit more oil. Next, press it into the bottom of a springform pan that is lined with waxed paper. Claire puts then puts the crust in the fridge while she makes the base. This is so the crust firms up a bit.
For the base, put 1 1/2 cups of soaked cashews into a food processor. Claire recommends soaking these the night before. She stressed it is VERY IMPORTANT that you use soaked cashews. Next, add in 1 cup of coconut cream and some liquid sweetener such as date syrup or maple syrup. Claire used 4 tbsp date paste and 4 tbsp coconut oil. Finally, add in a teaspoon of vanilla, the juice of 1 lemon, and some sea salt. Blend this all together in the food processor. Once it has reached your desired consistency, pour over the crust. Claire suggests blending the base more in a blender if you want a super creamy smooth texture. Finally, pop this all in the fridge for a bit and then serve!
During the demo, Claire emphasised you can make substitutions and play with the recipe to make it taste as you like. She often plays around with different toppings or fillings. For example, you could blend in some blueberries to the base and top it with peanut butter to make a pb&j cheesecake. Another idea would be to blend in some pineapple and top with passionfruit! Be creative and have fun with it and use the local products you have access to. If I had more time here, I would certainly experiment with roselle cheesecake!
