Tag Archives: tofu

Tofu banh mi tacos

08 Friday Jul 2016

Posted by in gluten free, healthy, Mexican, quick and awesome, spices, Street food, tacos, vegan, Vegetarian, Vietnamese

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banh mi taco close up

I’ve been experimenting with flavorful (flavorsome?) tofu tacos and this combination of Vietnamese flavors with the corn tortilla works really well. You can even prepare the filling ahead of time as these are delicious at room temperature–no need to keep the tofu warm. For a vegan version, leave out the mayo or use a vegan mayo of choice.

Ingredients
Prep and cook time: 20 minutes
Makes 4-6 banh mi tacos
soft corn tortillas
1 block firm tofu
1 large jalapeno, thinly sliced
4-6 radishes, thinly sliced
2 small persian cucumber, sliced
1 carrot, julienned (or pickled carrots and daikon radish)
thinly sliced red onion
mayo (optional)
fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped
2-3 limes
sriracha or other chili sauce

For the tofu marinade:
good quality soy sauce (or mushroom soy sauce, found at Asian market)
1 stalk lemongrass
2 birds eye chilies
1 tbs fresh grated ginger
2 fat garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
sesame oil
olive oil
pinch of sugar (optional)

tofu

tofu with carrot and cucumber

banh mi tacos from above

1) First, prepare the marinated tofu. Cut the tofu into small cubes or strips and set aside.
2) Peel the outer layer off the lemon grass stalk and then whack it a few times with the back of a knife or a wooden spoon. Cut the lemongrass into 3 or 4 pieces. Cut a slit into the birds eye chilies.
3) Add the lemongrass pieces, chilies, garlic, ginger, and pinch of sugar to a large bowl. Whisk in 1 tbs of sesame oil, 1 tbs of olive oil, and about 3 tbs of soy sauce (or 1 tbs of mushroom soy sauce, which is stronger).
4) Mix in the tofu strips. Stir a few times and leave to marinate while prepping the other veg.
5) Prepare the vegetable toppings. If you don’t have pickled carrot and daikon radish, mix julienned carrot with a splash of rice vinegar and set aside. Mix the sliced cucumber and radish with a 1-2 tbs of mayo.
6) After the tofu has marinated for 20 minutes or so, heat up a wok and fry the mixture (including the marinade) on a high heat. Stir frequently to keep anything from burning, but long enough to give the tofu a nice color. When cooked and heated through, discard the stalks of lemongrass. They are tough to chew on!
7) Assemble the tacos. Fry each corn tortilla till golden on both sides (no oil is necessary) and fill with the fried tofu, the cucumber and radish with mayo, the pickled carrot, a bit of red onion and sliced jalapeno (if you like spice) and the fresh cilantro.
8)Top it all with a splash of soy sauce, a drizzle of sriracha and a generous squeeze of lime.

 

Vegan Thai ginger gravy

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in comfort food, gluten free, healthy, jasmine rice, quick and awesome, rice, Sauces, Thai, vegan, Vegetarian

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finished gravy-1
There are some recipes I’ve discovered over the years that are just so so so very good. People, this tofu and mushroom ginger gravy is one of them. A dinner staple in my house for two reasons, it is 1) easy and cheap to make and 2) fricking delicious. It is probably one of the gingery-est things you will ever eat and undeniably delicious even to ginger haters.

First let me honor one of my favorite food blogs, High Heel Gourmet, for turning me onto this home-cooked Thai dish. This lovely lady is an amazing talent and resource and if you want to learn how to cook real Thai food, please check her out. Here is a link to her original recipe for Khao Na Gai, which uses chicken and oyster sauce and fried eggs and sausages. I’ve taken her recipe and adapted (also simplified!) it to make it vegan for my family.

Ingredients
Serves 2 as large portion or 4 as a small portion
3-4 fat garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs sliced ginger and 3 tbs minced ginger (or more! the more, the better)
6 tbs good quality, aged soy sauce (or 3 tbs sweet dark soy sauce and 3 tbs light soy sauce)
2 tbs Chinese wine
White pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Sesame oil
1 block of extra firm tofu (if you don’t like tofu, use extra mushrooms)
1 box of mushrooms (or 1-2 cups assorted mushrooms)
Olive oil
2-3 tsp corn starch (or potato starch)
1/2 vegetable boullion cube and 2 cups water (or 2 cups veggie stock)

Serve with rice or noodles and any of the following:
Sliced cucumber
sliced green chili
fresh cilantro

1) Chop the garlic, ginger, mushrooms and tofu. If you do not like to bite into a large piece of ginger then mince all the ginger instead of leaving half of it sliced.
2) Put the mushrooms, tofu and half the garlic and ginger into a bowl. Add the soy sauce, chinese wine, 1 tsp white pepper, sugar, 1 glug of sesame oil. Mix and leave to marinade for 30 minutes.
3) While that is marinating, make the rice or noodles according to their directions and set aside. Use asian noodles or jasmine or sticky rice.
4) Heat up 3 tbs of olive oil in a frying pan or wok and fry the remaining garlic and ginger. Do not brown. After a minute, add in the marinated tofu and mushroom, including all the sauce.
5) Fry on high heat while stirring occasionally for about 10-15 minutes or until all mushrooms are cooked.
6) Add in the half veg stock cube and 1 cup of water and simmer.
7) Mix the corn starch or potato starch with another cup of water till blended and add that in. The gravy will thicken and turn glossy. Cook for another few minutes and taste. Add more soy sauce or white pepper if needed.
8) Add another tsp of sesame oil just before serving.

Eat with chili for heat and cucumber for cooling.

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