Bloody Good Tofu

This came from a small book of Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes that was free with a national newspaper this weekend.  L was making Vietnamese Salad and this was fantastic with it, especially with some spiced roast chicken pieces on the side.

Black pepper tofu. Photograph: Colin Campbell / Guardian.co.uk

This tofu dish is a veggie version of a Chinese classic, best served with plain steamed white rice.  If you have an Asian grocer nearby, get the fresh tofu that's set in a tub. It has a wonderful silky, light texture. Serves four.

800g firm, fresh tofu
Cornflour, to dust the tofu
Vegetable oil, for frying
150g butter
12 small shallots (350g), peeled and thinly sliced
8 red chillies, thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped ginger
5 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce / Kecap Manis
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
16 small, thin spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long

Cut the tofu into 3cm x 2cm blocks and toss them in cornflour, shaking off the excess. Pour in enough oil to come 0.5cm up the sides of a large frying pan, and bring up to frying heat. Fry the tofu in batches in the oil, turning the pieces as you go. Once they are golden all around, and have a thin crust, transfer to a paper towel.

Remove the oil and any sediment from the pan and throw in the butter. Once it has melted, add the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger, and sauté for about 15 minutes on low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the contents of the pan are shiny and totally soft. While you wait, crush the peppercorns, using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. They should be quite coarse.

When the shallots and chillies are soft, add the soy sauces and the sugar, stir, then stir in the crushed pepper. Warm the tofu in the sauce for about a minute, then add the spring onion and stir through. Serve hot with steamed rice.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi in London

 

Technorati Tags: Vegetarian,Tofu,Vegan

Vegetarian Rant

I've been meaning to have a small rant about vegetarians.

You know who you are, yes the ones that don't even eat fish.

To be honest I don't care if people want to just eat vegetables. Don't get me wrong I like a vegetable just as much as the next man but, as I may have mentioned to one or two people, the human race didn't spend the last x million years evolving to reach the top of the food chain, just for the privilege of eating more wheat grass.

On the face of it our lofty foie gras munching position is pretty precarious and is increasingly looking like a fleeting moment in time - Global warming, nuclear weapons, bird flu etc etc.

I live with a vegetarian, doesn't make her a bad person, in fact in many ways she's more of an omnivore's vegetarian than most you have to make risotto for in restaurants ( I blame vegetarians for the current risotto plague, but that's for another day).

L just doesn't like animals, thinks they are disgusting, you know they don't have showers ,or clean themselves after a poo. - it's a fair point.

But then you are down to just eating plants. No fun at all.

They deserve to be part of the symphony but not the 12 minute Steve Vai guitar solo.

Try this.

Rosemary and Garlic Pork loin steaks
Braised Fennel
Steamed Carrots
New Potatoes

Weekday supper - 3o minutes

The sweetness of the pork and the carrots balanced with the fennel and the acidity of the lemon juice is great.

It doesn't have to be complicated just good.


Mash up some rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper in a mortar, add olive oil mix and smother over your pork steaks.

Get the potatoes on

Throw a large chunk of butter into a pan, more than you'd think, enough to melt and cover the bottom of the pan. -Cut the fennel into quarters roughly. Cook them for a bit in the butter until they show bits of colour here and there then pour in water to come about half way up the fennel pieces. Add juice of a lemon and some sea salt flakes. Lid on simmer for a bit (10 minutes) then take lid off and keep cooking. Should be done about the same time as the potatoes. Add a large handful of parmesan at the end of the cooking.

I'm sure you can work out how to cook the pork steaks yourself - Use a griddle pan if you can.

Steamed Carrots - see above.

Pour the juice from the fennel over the carrots and potatoes.

Pig - bad for vegetarians, and some religions. Good for the rest of us.

See you in the queue for black pudding.