Agadashi Tofu (vegan)

Serves 4
This delicate recipe makes great use of fresh medium-soft tofu which will be crisp on the outside, soft in the middle. If you feel brave, you can try with silken tofu but this requires VERY gentle handling.

"This popular dish with its mild sauce and array of exotic garnishes is often served in an izakaya - the traditional Japanese bar that the salaryman frequents after work for a drink and a quick bite before making the long commute home."
~ Hema Parekh, 'The Asian Vegan Kitchen'

FOR THE TOFU
2 blocks of medium-soft or silken tofu about 300g (11 oz)
1/2 cup (80g) potato starch
vegetable oil for deep-frying

FOR THE SAUCE
1/2 cup (120ml) kombu  dashi (see method)
2 teaspoons of sake (optional)
2 teaspoons of mirin
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce

FOR THE GARNISHES (choose those you like)
60g (2 oz) daikon, peeled and grated
2.5cm (1 inch) cube fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Nori seaweed, toasted carefully over element, until crisp, cut into strips
Chopped chives
White sesame seeds, toasted in dry frying pan until aromatic
Shishito peppers
Shichimi 7-spice mix


TO MAKE THE DASHI

3 pieces of kombu kelp, each approx 10cm x 5 cm (4x2 inches)
3 1/2 cups of water

Soak the kombu in the water for 1 hour, then remove the kombu, and use the water as dashi. (If short on time, place water and kombu in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. As soon as it starts to boil, remove the kombu, turn off heat.


METHOD FOR AGEDASHI TOFU

1. Wrap each block of tofu in a thick dish towel and place in a flat dish. Let stand for 30 minutes.
2. arrange all the garnishes in small bowls and set them on the table.
3. in a small saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients, and bring to. a boil. Turn the heat down to medium and and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Cut each block of tofu in half. Dab each piece in the potato starch, turning to coat evenly. Set aside on a dry dish. If you can, fry the tofu as soon as it is coated so coating stays on.
5. Fill one third of the frying pan with the vegetable oil and heat to 180 degrees celsius (350 F). Put one coated tofu piece in the hot oil and deep-fry until both sides are crisp and brown. Repeat with the remaining pieces. Drain on a paper towel. 
6. Transfer the tofu pieces to individual bowls. Pour a little sauce around the sides. Garnishes can be added according to individual preferences.

Here is a video tutorial (narrated by dog!) for a recipe for 2 people - or one person, one dog, I guess.

Agedashi Tofu by 'Cooking with Dog'

Falafel

So pleased to have delicious falafel that don't fall apart. I think my previous mistakes were too many wet ingredients and maybe wrong oil temperature. Feel free to skip any herbs and spices you don't want. I keep chopped herbs in the freezer for recipes like this. For the breadcrumbs I just tore a chunk of bread and chopped it in blender before adding the chickpeas.

Chickpeas 3 cups pre-soaked, rinsed, drained and dried off. (1.5 cups dry soaked in 2 litres of water 8 hours / overnight).
OR 2x400g tins of chickpeas, drained, rinsed, patted dry. (the liquid can be reserved for some other recipes)
Onion 1/2 average size (about 80 g) finely chopped
Garlic 1-2 cloves, crushed
Parsley 1 Tablespoon, finely chopped
Coriander fresh, 1 Tablespoon, finely chopped
Coriander powder 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder 1/2 teaspoon
Cayenne pepper powder 1/4 teaspoon
Cardamom powder 1/4 teaspoon
Baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
Breadcrumbs fresh, 1/2 - 1 cup (can be skipped but breadcrumbs or a little flour, 2-4 Tablespoons, helps keep them quite light and bind together, especially if using canned chickpeas.)
Tahini paste 1 Tablespoon (or substitute olive oil)

In a food processor, whizz together the chickpeas, onion, garlic and fresh herbs (if you've washed these make sure to dry well to avoid adding too much liquid to mixture).

Once you have a good paste-like texture, mix in dry spices, baking soda, breadcrumbs/flour and tahini/oil. Mix these in until you have a soft but firm mixture.

with clean, wet hands, form into walnut-sized balls (about 25g). make sure to squeeze firmly enough to ensure shape holds and doesn't crumble. If you will be shallow-frying or baking, these can be flattened into more fat disk shapes. For deep(ish) frying, leave as balls. If you like you can roll them in sesame seeds or flour but they should be fine as they are.

These often benefit from resting in the fridge for a while (to firm up) but if mixture is not too moist they are fine to cook straight away.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add about 7cm oil. Heat to 180 degrees Celsius (or if you don't have deep frying thermometer, until a piece of stale bread dropped into oil browns in about 50 seconds). Fry in several batches until browned on the outside and cooked in the middle (test one). About 3-4 minutes. Drain them in a colander lined with paper towels or on a cake cooling rack while you cook the next batch.

Serve hot.

I will add a tahini sauce recipe and other serving ideas later. x

Borscht

My photo using homemade sunflower cream. Borscht recipe by Alissa Saenz. connoisseurusveg.com

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 medium beets, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups finely chopped beet tops or cabbage
1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced (1/2 inch)
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegan sour cream, yogurt, or cashew cream, for serving
Chopped fresh chives and/or parsley, for serving

Instructions
Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and place it over medium heat.

When the oil is hot, add the beets, carrot and onions. Sauté until the veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and sauté another minute, until very fragrant.

Stir in the broth, tomato paste, beet tops /cabbage and potato. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a boil.

Lower the heat and allow to simmer, uncovered, until the veggies are tender, 15-20 minutes. You can add more broth or water if you like.

Remove the pot from heat and stir in the lemon juice and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with vegan sour cream, yogurt, or cashew cream, and a sprinkling of fresh dill, parsley and/or chives. Serve.

Pumpkin curry wattaka kalu pol (Sri Lanka)

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium red onions, finely sliced
2 sprigs curry leaves
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
3 long green chillies, sliced
½ tsp black mustard seeds, ground
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 kg pumpkin, cut into cubes, skin left on
1 tsp seeded mustard
2 tbsp dark roasted curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1–2 tspsalt
500 ml (2 cups) coconut milk
2 tbsp short-grain rice, plus extra, cooked, to serve
⅓ cupdesiccated coconut

Cook's notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, curry leaves, garlic and green chilli. Fry briefly then add the mustard and fenugreek seeds and continue frying.

Quickly toss the pumpkin in a bowl with the seeded mustard, ground spices and salt and add to the pan along with the coconut milk. Bring to the boil and cook over high heat until the pumpkin is tender.

Meanwhile, heat a small frying pan and dry-fry the rice and coconut until brown and fragrant. Grind to a powder in a mortar or blender.

Add the rice and coconut powder to the curry and cook for a few more minutes. Serve with rice.


Sri Lankan recipe featured on SBS Food Safari Sri Lanka

Walnut Mushroom and Bean Burgers

Walnut mushroom bean burgers

(Approximates as I was just using up what I had)

3/4 cup walnut pieces
10 button mushrooms, halved
Handful (20?) Greenbeans, trimmed
2-3 shallots / 1 small onion, quartered
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon miso paste (I used rice miso)
1 Tablespoon vegan worchester sauce
1 teaspoon thyme
....then to bind....
1 smallish steamed potato, peeled and smashed
2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten

Put all first group of ingredients in a food processor and whizz until quite consistent texture. Transfer to large bowl with potato, mix together then sprinkle over gluten and mix that in last, with hands if needed. Shape into patties. This made 10 small patties. Could be put in fridge/freezer or cooked straight away.
Fry a couple of minutes each side to brown then place on ovenproof tray and bake at 180 for...some time while you look after kids / housework and just get them before they're too dried out! So, another 15 minutes? Check on them...
I used vegan mayo and Indian pickle for sauces but use whstever you think would go well. Something like a garlic vegan aioli or a smoky chipotle sauce or ajvar?
Let us know if you try and have improvements!

Vegan Tuna Salad

Making sandwiches for a picnic. My omni husband is a big fan of the white bean spread (like vegan tuna salad). White beans, vegan mayo, lime juice, red onion, little gherkins, flat parsley, shredded nori, salt and pepper.

Asian coleslaw

It's the dressing that's Asian inspired. I was never much of a fan of the mayonnaise version. So to make the dressing it was something like: Add to a screw top jar: small red onion finely diced, clove of garlic crushed, big handful of either Thai basil or cilantro/coriander chopped. Third of a cup each of palm sugar (I used less), vegan fish sauce or salty alternative like soy sauce (I added a good spoon of accidentally vegan paste to make beef pho soup, as well as tamari), lime juice. 1 tablespoon of oil (I added a bit of sesame oil and the rest a neutral veg oil). 1-2 Thai chillies julienned. Close lid and shake it all up until ready to use (can add up to an hour before if using Savoy cabbage or longer with erm, normal cabbage as it stays crisp better. I have chilli hating kids so kept it separate for those who wanted to pour on. The kids just prefer raw unseasoned veg!