It's not difficult to notice that here in Australia we
have openly embraced Chinese cuisine, well the style we find in our Chinese
restaurants anyway. Chinese takeaway is a staple of our mutli-cultural cuisine.
Certainly as a Caucasian growing up in Australia it has coloured many of my
childhood dining-out memories.
In my life I have a developed a real appreciation of the
aesthetic found in many Asian cultures - from the art and crafts, to the
spiritualities and philosophies, to the martial arts, to the vibrant and
colourful celebrations and the wonderful food that always plays a part in
these.
I can spend quite a time wandering through a Chinese
grocery store, discovering an array of items to try, often wonderful and
sometimes seemingly weird. As a vegan there are always lots of things to
experiment with and with such a strong Buddhist influence found within many of
the Asian cultures there are usually various varieties of mock meats to cook
with.
Quite commonly found within Asian cuisines is tofu. For
me it's a staple of my diet, I love it and find it versatile to cook
with, and it's also packed with protein. For the first time user it can seem
daunting and for some people it seems to be either a love or hate experience.
Often it's because of the texture. One of the tricks to using tofu is
changing this texture, and in doing so it changes its ability to being able to
really soak up the flavours it's paired with.
The trick is to freeze your firm tofu, then defrost it.
Once it's completely defrosted you can either gently press it, which can be
done by placing it between two cutting boards and gently pressing down, or
simply squeezing it, and doing this until all the water within the tofu is
released. This then leaves you with a tofu that will readily absorb flavours
into those air bubble like pockets where the water once was.
So with Chinese New Year upon us I thought I would offer
a Chinese inspired recipe that I love to make from time to time. There are a
few steps, and it needs some preparation time, but they're all easy and even a
beginner could master this recipe.
Chinese inspired Tofu and Rice, with braised Asian Greens
and Crispy Beancurd
Serves 2 to 4
Ingredients:
-1 x 450gm pack of firm Organic Tofu.
-2 Lengths of dried Bean Curd sticks, broken into lengths
(found in Asian Grocers).
-2 Cups of water.
-2 Tablespoons of Chinese cooking rice wine.
-2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce.
-2 Teaspoons of crushed Ginger.
-1 Teaspoon of crushed Garlic.
-2 Spring Onions chopped into inch long pieces.
-2 Teaspoons of a dried vegan Chicken-Style Stock Powder
(I use Massel).
-Asian Greens of choice.
-A long grain style of Rice (enough to give everyone a cup
of cooked rice).
Method:
For the best results freeze, defrost and press your tofu.
Cut the tofu into serve-able size pieces.
In a bowl combine the water, rice wine, soy sauce,
ginger, garlic and the spring onions. Then into this place the pieces of tofu
and the lengths of bean curd and marinade for at least 2 hours.
Clean and prepare your Asian greens. Place these in a
frypan and get a light colouring onto them.
Next pour you marinade and the spring onions into the pan
of Asian greens, gently stir in the stock powder and cover, simmer gently until
cooked.
While the greens are simmering place the soaked dried
beancurd into an airfryer on high for about 10 minutes, or onto a lined baking
tray, until starting to colour and they are crispy.
As both these processes are happening put your tofu onto
either a frypan or in the oven and cook until it begins to get a light
colouring also.
Once these are all ready place a cup of rice onto each
plate, with a serve of greens and tofu. You can spoon a little of the braising
liquid over the greens and tofu, along with some chilli and some darker soy
sauce. To garnish add the crispy bean curd, the slices of cucumber and salad
veg like shredded cabbage and beanshoots.
Enjoy!
#Chinesenewyear #vegan #healthycooking #recipe
@the.anima.project