Peanut-crusted Thai Tofu with Cucumber Salad

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”] Bare-chested chef – who is not so bare-chested these days since we moved to chilly New Zealand – has guest starred in the Vegan Chickie kitchen tonight and come up with this beauty of a recipe. It was a huge hit, the spicy peanut crust on the tofu was delicious and a great match with the crunchy salad and beautiful salad dressing. All in all an excellent dish, I can’t wait to try it again! For the health conscious amongst us, the step where you brown the tofu in a frying pan can be skipped. Recipe below serves 4.

Peanut-crusted Thai Tofu with Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

2 pkg tofu, pressed
1 cup roasted unsalted peanuts
1/4 cup red curry paste
1/2 teaspoon tamari
4 tbs sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
1 cucumber, sliced
2 cups bean sprouts
1/3 cup fresh mint, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, sliced
2 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/4 cup water
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbs canola oil (for the dressing)
Jasmine rice, prepared as per packet directions
Peanuts & fresh coriander to garnish

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Firstly in a blender or food processor, grind your shiitake mushrooms to powder then, in small saucepan combine the ground mushroom with a 1/4 cup of water, bring the mixture to the boil, stirring occasionally and then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

2. In a blender process the peanuts, curry paste, 1 tbs of sweet chili sauce, tamari, coconut milk and half the coriander until combined.

3. Slice each tofu block into two slabs (as pictured below), heat 1 tbs of oil in a fry pan and fry the tofu for approximately 5 minutes – until it is browned, then flip and brown the other side. Place the tofu on an oven tray, spread the peanut mixture on each piece, roast uncovered for about 20 minutes.

4. While the chicken is cooking, cook your rice as per the directions on the packet and prepare your salad and salad dressing.

5. In a large bowl, combine cucumber, carrot, sprouts, mint and remaining coriander. In a screw-top jar combine the mushroom mixture, lime juice, sesame oil, 3 tbs sweet chili sauce and remaining canola oil, shake well to combine and then pour over your salad, toss well.

6. Remove the tofu from the oven, slice into 1 cm strips. Serve with salad & jasmine rice, garnish with coriander and peanuts.

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Vietnamese Pancakes rolled with Vegetables (vegan)

[tweetmeme source=”VeganChickie”]The cookbook calls this one Vietnamese Pizza, but it’s about as far from pizza as you can get while still having vegetables on a doughy base! It was good though, and the Vietnamese dipping sauce was a very nice surprise. We will most certainly be using that one again. The pancakes are savory, chewy and a little bit crispy. Rolling them out was a bit fiddly but I suspect that will get easier with time.

Pancakes Rolled with Vegetables
Served with Picked radish and carrot and Vietnamese dipping Sauce
(The Asian Vegan Kitchen)

Ingredients:

2  cups rice flour
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of baking powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion leek sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced
50g Daikon radish, julienned
1 carrot julienned
1 cup bean sprouts
4 tablespoons chives, chopped
Vegetable oil for drizzling

Method:
In a bowl, mix the rice flour, cornstarch, and turmeric with the coconut milk. Add the salt and baking powder and stir until smooth. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Heat the oil in the saucepan and saute the onion leek and garlic briefly. Add the daikon and carrot, stir over high heat for a minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. reserve the oil.

Heat a frying pan and grease it with a little oil. Pour in a quarter of the rice-flour batter and spread it out to make an even layer. Take a quarter of each of the sauteed vegetables, bean sprouts and chives and spread over the batter. drizzle a little oil around the edges of the pancake and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, until the underside is golden brown.

Fold in half and slide onto a serving plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and vegetables. Serve with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce or Pickled Radish and Carrot (or both!).

Pickled Radish and Carrot:

Ingredients:
100g white radish
1 carrot
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon castor sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon water

Method:

(this dish can be made with julienned cucumber, sliced chilies, water spinach stem or garlic cloves)
Slice the radish and carrot in julienne strips, in a bowl, mix the salt, sugar, vinegar and water and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the radish and carrot and leave to start for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce:

Ingredients:

3 Dried shiitake Mushrooms
3 cups water
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons castor sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Method:

place your mushrooms in a pan with water, boil for 10 minutes, then, saving the water, puree the mushrooms in a blender. In the saucepan, combine the dashi with the soy sauce and the mushroom puree and bring to the boil. turn down the heat and simmer for 2 – 3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Serve at room temperature. (we added a bunch of chilies to this one.. we love it hot!)

(the mushroom water can be frozen and used as a stock).