I recently saw a recipe on Mob Kitchen cooked by Seema and wanted to eat it for dinner but wanted to make it veggie as I had already eaten meat that day. I do eat meat but I am trying to listen to my body and also try to consume less meat. It also means I am more creative and I am always striving to try and do versions of dishes in a meat free form. This dish gives me Thai Laab vibes with the flavours of fish sauce and mint. It really is delicious such a good weekday meal.

I changed the recipe slightly and in place of the sausages in Mob’s recipe for a mix of chestnut mushrooms and Shimeji mushrooms. The addition of lentils not only bulks this out but adds texture to the dish as well. If you don’t have access to Shimeji mushrooms then just use what mushrooms you have access to, but I do like the mix just for texture and colour.

If you want to make this vegan, then omit the fried egg. I would recommend maybe a couple of squirts of vegan aioli for this recipe to evoke the same silky mouth feel that the yolk gives.

Once you make this you’ll be thinking about making it again, trust me.

Ingredients Serves 4

6 Cloves Of Garlic minced

1 x Shallot diced

3 Thai Red Chillies diced

1/2 Savoy Cabbage cut finely

Large Handful Mint

2 Tbsp Vegan Fish Sauce

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Vegan stir fry sauce

2 Tsp Sugar

1 x juice of a lime

300g or 1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms diced

1 pack of Shimeji mushrooms (150g) *optional or use different mushrooms if you want a mix/Shitake etc

100g Puy/Green Lentils

4 Eggs

Rice to eat alongside stir fry

Method:
1. Prepare all your veg. Finely chop the garlic, shallots, chillies and mushrooms. Thinly slice your cabbage and pick your mint ahead of cooking.
2. Wash your lentils and cover with water in a pan. Cook the lentils till they are cooked (this takes about 15-20 minutes) in some salted water. Once they are cooked, drain the lentils and
3. Combine the vegan fish sauce, soy sauce, vegan stir fry sauce, sugar and lime in a bowl.
4. Get your rice washed and cooking ahead for plating up.
5. On a high heat, with a little veg oil ,fry off your garlic, chillies, shallots and mushrooms. Add your lentils and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Remove the mix out the wok/pan and set aside.
6. Add some more oil in the pan and stir fry your cabbage for a few minutes to get it crispy and remove some of the water from frying. Add your lentil and mushroom mix back into the pan, adding the bowl of vegan fish sauce, vegan stir fry sauce, lime etc. Coat all the veg evenly with the sauce, cooking out the mix so that it isn’t too watery.

7. Get your fried eggs going and rice ready for plating up.
8. Add half the mint into your delicious lentil and mushroom mix, give it a mix.
9. Plate up your dishes with rice, lentil and mushroom stir fry on top and your crispy egg. Tear up some more mint for garnish, I also added crispy onions and coriander but are totally optional.

Veggie lentil and mushroom stir fry