Dabbling in Vegetarianism (& other alt-food fun!)

[anthrobabe]

So what
like McDonalds is like
bad for us or sumpin?
and weenies- they cheap ones wif red food colorin in 'em?

Gack-Gack-Gack

[Opsa]

Nah, the cheap ones is sawdust. Vegan all the way, baybay! 

[anthrobabe]

sawdust-- Oh like in "The Jungle" (Upton Sinclair)-- yeah I can see that.

[Opsa]

Ooops- I originally wrote "sawduct"! That'll be one for the word definition game.

[Aggie]

Does anyone have a reliable recipe for Burmese tofu (chick-pea flour tofu)?

I'm having trouble tracking down one that doesn't have FAIL comments.

[Darlica]

Actually I had never heard of chick-pea tofu before if you find a good recipe elsewhere pleas post it, it seems interesting!

[Aggie]

I'm winging it, but I'll let you know how it works!

The closest Burmese restaurant I can find is in Saskatoon, so no field trips to see what I'm aiming for.

[Opsa]

I've never had it, but it sounds fantastic! I love chick peas. And tofu!

Did you check out this recipe?

[Aggie]

Ayuh, that one seemed WAY too complicated, though.

I ended up with a reasonable product by winging it; no idea if it's remotely authentic, but it's similar in texture to a firm tofu.

I started with 1.5 cups of chick pea flour, a teaspoon of turmeric, added 2 or 3 cups of water (to over-saturate; amount isn't critical), beat it with a whisk to get the lumps out, and let it sit in a (3.5 cup) measuring cup to settle.  I soaked it around 24 hours total, occasionally decanting the free liquid from the top, adding fresh water, and stirring.  I figured this would help leach out any bitter constituents that one sometimes gets with beans (there was quite a bit of foam to start with).  A tall, narrow container with a pouring lip will help here.

_{Note that measurements are completely irrelevant, provided you've got an excess of water and the solids can settle out of the liquid; adjust depending on the size of the pan you will be setting it in.}

About an hour before cooking I gave it one final decant, rinse and stir (probably did 4 or 5 total decants over the entire process?), let it settle, poured off most of the free liquid, and dumped the remaining sludge into a pot. None of that mucking around with filters or retaining liquid. 

I brought it slowly to boil on medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Once it got close to boiling it started to thicken, so I kept heating and stirring for 3 - 5 minutes to make sure the starches were cooked out.  The texture was similar to thick frosting (like store-bought slab cakes).  I poured it into a lightly oiled 9 x 9 glass pan and stuck it outside in a cooler to set (fridge will work fine, but there's more room on my balcony).

I checked it after a couple of hours and it had hardened up and also shrunk slightly so that it was free from the pan.  The finished cake was a little more than an inch thick, and sliced nicely. The taste wasn't awe-inspiring, but that's not the point.  I may be tempted to muck with the seasoning on future batches depending what it's going to be used for; I threw the turmeric in based on one recipe I saw.

I'll be eating it over the next couple of days, if I can decide what to use it for.  I suppose it might work as a straight-up tofu substitute, but I might see what else it plays nice with.  Given that I can get cheap chick-pea flour here, this stuff is even cheaper than tofu as a protein staple.

Christie has requested a less-firm batch for hotpots on the next trial run, which should be no sweat if one adds more liquid during the cooking-out. I think the critical step is to keep cooking it past the point of initial thickening to allow the starches (& probably proteins) to gelatinize before they set.




Hmm....  just occurred to me that this or a similar mix might be a good secret binding agent for veggie burgers or unmeat balls - add some of the hot mix to the remaining ingredients after blending.  One could press the mix into pans, then cut it out with a cookie cutter, or let it cool slightly and hand-mold the patties / balls. Interesting.....

Alternatively, the thick version I've described above could be poured into greased moulds and made in any shape desired. Add a little veggie-based colour (beet powder, more turmeric, tomato powder, spinach powder), and you could do some pretty funky stuff.

[Opsa]

Sounds like truly a labor of love.

Is it sort of like falafel, only not fried?

[Aggie]

Not like falafel at all...  more like a slightly grainy tofu in texture, quite homogeneous (and reputedly, it's also good fried).   Actually less work than I managed to describe above, although it takes some soak time.  I'll try summarize in a less rambling manner:

• Mix 1 - 2 cups of chick pea flour with an excess of water (2 - 3 cups) in a measuring cup or similar container. Add 1 tsp turmeric for colour if desired.
• Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours; periodically pour off free liquid at the top as the solids settle to the bottom, adding fresh water and stirring each time.
• After 24 hours, pour off any free liquids and place the remaining slurry in a saucepan.
• Heat on medium until the mixture starts to boil and thicken while stirring; turn to low heat and continue to stir for 3 - 5 minutes.
• Pour the mixture into a greased cake pan and chill.
• Slice when firm.

I imagine that it could be done in less than 24 hours, but the extra decanting time probably reduces bitterness.


Besides...  most of my cooking is a labour or love. 

[Opsa]

Yum!

Do you serve it like cheese- or saute it and serve it like a main course?

Aw, now I'm hungry...

[Aggie]

Both - Christie & I were throwing ideas around and she twigged on the fact that the taste and texture are very similar to paneer and would make a very good substitute in Indian recipes.  Probably not as good as a sliced raw cheese substitute, although with some work on the flavouring before cooking, it may be able to get there.

Parallel to this, we both figured it'd be very good curried - I'm going to try curry up the actual product by adding spices during the cook-out next time.

I tried frying it plain with a moderate amount of oil in a non-stick pan last night, until it browned slightly on the outside. It's good...  and completely unexpectedly, IT TASTES LIKE FRICKIN' HOTDOGS!    (& texture is similar). I will probably explicitly try to use it to make veggie dogs, adding a little beet powder to pink it up, and either putting liquid smoke in the mix or actually smoking the finished product; I suspect it'd benefit from a little fat as well (high-quality palm oil, perhaps).  _{I could probably get a very delicious flexitarian product if I used bacon fat.} 

Based on the frying experiment, I sliced some thin and am drying it to attempt chip-making (crisps).

For dinner last night, I gave it a tried and true tofu treatment; coated it in cornstarch, dipped it in egg (with grated garlic and sliced scallions) and pan-fried it.  It was good. And didn't taste like hotdogs.


I also think this stuff, in combination with a soft / medium tofu, would make a killer egg substitute in a tofu scramble (not a usual item of consumption for me).  If one really wanted to up the egg factor, adding some asafoetida during the cook-out would pretty much match the taste of an egg.


IOW, it's a vegetarian killer app_(etizer)!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

While not soon, I can see myself eating less beef and then less chicken to the point of practical vegetarianism, but I cannot see myself without eating eggs and -on top of everything else- cheese. I'll get a bloody cow if necessary but I need my cheese.

Perhaps that's why I don't get too close to tofu...

[Pachyderm]

I'll get a bloody cow if necessary but I need my cheese. Zono


I am in full agreement with this statement. I would just add bacon to the list...