Vegan Lemongrass Tofu or Faux Fish



Above: Lemongrass soy/faux fish.  Below: Lemongrass tofu.

We visit vegan Vietnamese restaurants pretty often.  Our favorites are nearby Loving Hut and Thuyen Vien.  Lemongrass soy fish or tofu is on their menu and we love this dish.  I've been trying to develop a recipe that I want to blog but somehow could not get the taste right until I found a perfect sauce to replace the fish sauce.  I found it by way of facebook, a discussion with a fellow vegan about a replacement of fish sauce.  This sauce is called Toyomansi, a Filipino soy sauce with calamansi in it.  Perusing a nearby Asian market, I found it, here is the picture of the bottle below:



Toyomansi, a delicious fish sauce replacement.

I thank my fellow vegan in fb for her suggestion.  This sauce is quiet delicious.

Making it with faux fish or soy fish:
Another discovery, lately, for me, is a store with a lot of vegan faux meat in Monrovia, CA, called Vege USA.  This Taiwanese based company for faux meat and seafood products has been in business since 1998.  They were creating vegetarian products instead of vegan products.  However, visiting the store (the headquarter has a small market or store) and talking to the worker in the store, this company is in the process to turn their products to vegan.  There is a whole freezer section dedicated for vegan products.  The process takes a long time but they are trying.  I was able to get a good vegan soy fish from them.  In the past, I made my own vegan soy fish but lately buying it is easier.  Some people will say that they don't like faux meat or seafood.  Oh well, I grew up eating fish and love the 'seafoody' flavor so I still enjoy eating faux fish.

Making it with spongy tofu:
If faux fish is not your thing, you can make this dish with tofu.  I suggest the extra firm tofu.  I found that tofu can be bland in a stir fry dish unless I soak and marinade the tofu pieces first with the spices.  I fix the problem by freezing the extra firm tofu first overnight and then leave it to thaw the next day on a colander.  Before freezing it, do not squeeze the water out of the tofu.  I usually take out the tofu from the box, wrap it in a saran wrap tightly and put it in the freezer.  The water in the tofu will be frozen and crystallized so when it is thawed, it forms holes as pictured below.  After it is thawed, I squeeze the water out and the tofu becomes spongy.  If the tofu is soft, there are a lot of water in the tofu so when it is thawed, the tofu reduced to half of the original size.  For this dish, I prefer the extra firm spongy tofu. The benefit of using the spongy tofu is that the sauce and spices easily absorbed into the tofu so it is not bland.  The tofu is really like a sponge absorbing the spice and sauce well.   But then again, some people do not like the texture of spongy tofu.  In that case, extra firm tofu can be used in this dish (without freezing and thawing).  It is a matter of preference.


From left to right:  extra firm tofu, extra firm spongy tofu, soft spongy tofu

Vegan Lemongrass Soy Fish or Tofu
Serve 6
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups soy fish or extra firm spongy tofu or extra firm tofu (drained, pressed)
2-3 Tbsp. Canola or Safflower oil
4 garlic cloves
5 shallot cloves
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, use the white stalk only and remove the fibrous and leafy tops, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 medium red jalapeno or 2 red thai chili, optional
¼ tsp. salt, optional
Note: toyomansi or vegan fish sauce can be salty. Salt may not be necessary.
2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp. Toyomansi or Braggs Liquid Aminos or Vegan Fish Sauce
½ tsp. curry powder
1 cup vegetable broth (non-salty kind is preferable)

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Cut soy fish, tofu or spongy tofu to bite sizes. With a brush or oil -spray bottle, apply oil soy fish or tofu pieces (using ½ to 1 tablespoon of the oil).
2. Bake soy fish or tofu until crispy, about 25minutes - for fish and 35 minutes for tofu, flip over about halfway of cooking. The fish or tofu should be brown and crispy. Set aside to cool.
3. Using a food processor, grind lemongrass, garlic, shallots, optional red chili, and salt until it is very fine. Scrape the side a couple times to gather ingredients. The final result is a spice paste.
4. Heat a large wok or nonstick frying pan on a medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp. oil. Then, immediately, add the herb paste (from no. 3). Stir fry this herb paste for 10 minutes. Be patient, this is dry frying process. It needs to be slightly brown and dry before continuing to the next phase. Add a little more oil or water if it starts to stick to the pan. The aroma of browned herbs will be delicious.
5. Add baked soy fish or tofu and mix with the browned herbs, mix well and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
6.  Add toyomansi or liquid aminos or vegan fish sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, and mix well with soy fish or tofu mixture.
7. Add vegetable broth. Let the soy fish or tofu soak all the liquid and stir fry for another 5 minutes. Another option is not to use broth and have this dish as a dry dish. I like it both ways.
8. Take it off heat and enjoy with my perfect brown rice and Indonesian Salad with Spicy Grated Coconut Dressing or Indian Kale-Cabbage Thoran.

Baked soy fish until crispy.

Before



 After:  Spice paste was sticky before.  After 10 minutes, it is brown, fluffy, and loose.

  

Serve Lemongrass fish or tofu with brown rice, Indonesian salad, or Indian Thoran, a perfect combo.

Indian Kale-Cabbage Thoran & Balinese Soy Fish

Continuing my Indian cuisine blog, this one is a South Indian cuisine.  It is a common dish in Kerala (South Indian region).  Thoran is a dry vegetable dish cooked with grated coconut, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds,  turmeric, curry leaves, shallots, chillies, and salt (see my masala dabba).  A thoran dish can have any other combination of vegetables such as spinach, young jackfruit, collard, green beans, etc. cooked with the ingredients or spices I just mentioned.  This time I used the combination of cabbage, kale, and carrots.  I've been told to eat more kale, eat more kale, eat more kale.....so here it is.  This dish is so delicious and nutritious.  It is a good way to cook kale and collard or any other nutritious green vegetable and a good way to get green vegetables into my system.

I found a great way to cook thoran without water at this blog.  I increased and changed the amount of spices since I like them stronger.  It is so EASY and QUICK to make.  The hard work is in cutting up the vegetables.  The kale, cabbage, and carrots need to be cut up thinly (as pictured below).  The hard ingredients to find for most people are the grated fresh coconut and curry leaves.  Unfortunately, they are pertinent to the dish.  Dry unsweetened grated coconut can be used.  I have also seen dry curry leaves being used.   I found the ingredients and spices at a small South Indian market near me.  The small market always has fresh curry leaves (lucky me).  I found the grated coconut in their frozen section.


Thoran ingredients (clockwise from top left):  kale, cabbage, shallots, grated coconut, carrots, red chili, green chili, curry leaves.



Kale and Cabbage Thoran

Serve 4-6

Adapted from Salt and Pepper Cabbage Thoran

Note: try it with any other kind of vegetables

Printable Recipe

Vegetables and spices:

1 bunch kale, about 13-15 stalks, remove the ribs and cut thinly, 1/4 inch thick

     Note: about 4-5 cups cut kale, lightly packed

1/2 medium cabbage, shred or cut thinly, 1/4 inch thick

     Note: about 4-5 cups shredded cabbage, lightly packed

1 cup shredded carrots

1 green chili, slice thinly (or more to add spicyness)

1 red chili, slice thinly

1 cup grated fresh coconut (can use dry unsweetened grated coconut)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp salt

Saute ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped shallots or onions

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric

15 curry leaves

1 tablespoon vegetable or coconut oil

More salt to taste

A large vessel such as a pot or pan with a tight lid.

1. Take out the masala dabba.  Combine the ingredients under Vegetable and spices section above in a very large bowl (such as a large salad bowl).  I use my clean hands to mix them well and distribute the spices and grated coconut among the vegetables.
2. In a very large pot or pan, add oil onto the pan on a medium high heat flame.  When the oil is hot add the black mustard seeds.  Wait until they start to pop and splutter.
   Note: this method in cooking South Indian is important.  It is important to temper the spices in hot oil to bring out the aroma of the spices.
3. Add the shallots or onions, saute for 3 minutes until they are brown.
4. Add curry leaves, saute for 1 minute.
5. Add turmeric powder, mix with the shallots/onions and curry leaves.
6. Add the vegetable and spices mixture (from no.1).  Mix well with the sauted spices.
7. Set a timer for 2 minutes, put on the lid tightly.
8. When the timer goes off, stir the vegetables, set the timer for another 2 minutes, put on the lid tightly again.
9. When the timer goes off again, do no.8  one more time.  Taste for more salt.
10. When the timer goes off again, check if vegetables is done.  Usually it is.   I think 6 minutes are good enough. I don't usually wait until they are completely done because, the vegetables still continue being cooked when they are still hot.  However, if you like them very done, you can add another 2 minutes with another tight lid cooking.  Serve with steamed basmati or brown brown rice.

Now, I also found that Thoran is a great accompanion of a soy fish dish and steamed rice.  Therefore, I present my Balinese Soy Fish recipe below.  The combination of thoran, soy fish dish, and steamed rice is hhmm...hhmm...hhmm....good.

I can get Vegan Fish Steak from my local health food store in the frozen section.  There are a few on-line Asian soy meat suppliers such as VegeKing,  MayWah Veggie World, or Veggie World who sell vegan soy fish steaks.  The vegan fish steak usually looks like the picture below, comes in a box in frozen section:

Balinese Soy Fish is not an Indian dish.  It is an Indonesian dish from the island of Bali.  However, Hindusm is a huge influence in this island.  I suspect that there is an influence of Indian cooking in this island.  Being surrounded by ocean, Balinese eats a lot of fish.  I veganized this dish by using soy fish steaks.

What's good about this dish is that it is sweet, spicy hot, and lemony.  It has the addition of galangal or blue ginger (or lengkuas or laos) which is a spice root like ginger.  This root makes this dish tastes really unique.  I can find fresh galangal at a nearby Asian market.  I usually buy a whole 4-5 inches long and slice them thinly and freeze them, sliced.  When I am ready to use  them I just picked a few slices and defrost them.  It works well this way.  Galangal permiates strong flavor.  A few slices go a long way. 

I understand that it will be hard to find galangal in western hemisphere.  Even if it is omitted, this dish is still delicious.

Kecap manis is also used in this dish.   It is Indonesian sweet soy sauce can be found in Asian market.  We use a lot of kecap manis in our cooking.  For a substitution, combine soy sauce and brown sugar/pam sugar, 1 to 1 ratio.  However, a few spices were added in making kecap manis so it is unique.

Balinese Soy Fish
Serve 4-6
Printable Recipe

6-10 slices vegan soy fish steak (see the above picture), cut into halves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 medium onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped
1-2 teaspoons Chili Garlic Sauce or Sambal Oelek
         Note: use less for less spicy
2 tablespoons Kecap Manis
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 large lemon)
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon rind (from 1 large lemon)
2-3 slices galangal
water or vegetable broth(1/2 -1 cup)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
canola oil spray

1. Turn oven to 400 F. Spray soy fish with canola oil and layer onto a foiled baking pan.  Bake for 10 minutes, turn them over and bake for another 10 minutes.  This is to brown them with less oil.  Deep frying them in hot oil is also another good way to make them crispy and brown.  However, I prefer the bake method.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a hot wok or frying pan on a medium high heat.  Add garlic and ginger, stir fry for 1-2 minutes until brown and fragrant.
3. Add onions and shallots, stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add chili garlic sauce or sambal oelek, kecap manis, lemon juice, grated lemon rind, and galangal, stir fry and combine for 1 minute.
5. Add baked soy fish slices and 1/2 cup water/broth or just enough to cover the entire fish slices.  Lower the heat to simmer.
6. Let it simmer and combine for 15-20 minutes until the water/broth evaporates.  This dish should have a lot of liquid but enough spices and sambal coats the soy fish slices.  Serve with steamed rice.

Enjoy!

How to Make Vegan Fish or Mock Fish - Vegan Unagi Donburi

If you've ever been to Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurants and ordered dishes with 'fish' in it, you probably thought about how the mock fish was made. Below is a recipe that reveals the secret of Chinese Buddhist vegetarian fish. They use fresh or frozen yuba (which you may found it in the frozen or refridgerated sections of an Asian market) that is chopped into small flakes and then seasoned and wrapped in a nori sheet (sometimes a yuba sheet is added on the outside of the nori for a crispy skin). Then, it is steamed, cooled, and sliced into a fillet. Most Chinese Buddhist restaurants deep fry the yuba and nori wrapped 'fish' and then top it with flavored constarch thickened sauce.

Fresh or frozen yuba pockets (pictured) are hard to find in certain parts of this country (or your country). I found it in a nearby Asian market. But it is easier to find dry yuba sheets or sticks in Asian markets near you, probably? You'll have to do a few extra steps with yuba sticks because it is harder to soften them.

2 lbs fresh or thawed yuba pockets OR 2 pkgs dried yuba (6 oz. dried each) - see how to prepare below3 tsp sugar

6 tsp vegetarian bouillon mix powder

Note: I used Harvest 2000 Vegetarian Bouillon Mix chicken flavor or Bill's Best Chiknish1/2 tsp salt (use 1 tsp if using chiknish since it is not salty)
1-2 tsp kelp granules or more, depending on how 'seafoody' you want it to be
6 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
4-6 nori sheets

Glue mixture:
2 Tbsp Cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water

Preparing with dry yuba sheets or sticks:Soak dry yuba in a lot of warm water in 2 large bowl. Make sure the water covers the yuba. Let it sit over night or at least 6 hours.
If they are not soft enough, boil a large amount of water in a large pot, simmer soaked yuba about 5 - 8 minutes. The idea is to make the yuba soft. After soaking, a few sections of the yuba are still hard. Simmering them for a few minutes will help.

Let them cool and then squeeze the water out as much as you can, then proceed to the next step below.

Preparing 'fish' mixture (with fresh or dryyuba):
Chop the yuba with a knife or put the yuba (soaked yuba) in a food processor and process about 5 seconds only. Do not process too long. The idea is to chop them to small flakes.
Squeeze the water out of the yuba (especially if using dried yuba sticks). You may use a piece of cloth or drain the yuba in a colander and squeeze the water out using your hands. Transfer the yuba to a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients, excepts the nori and glue. Mix really well.

'Fish Fillet' :
Layer a piece of nori on a cutting board. Brush lightly with the cornstarch and water mixture (glue mixture). Scoop about 1 1/2 cup of the 'fish' mixture on the bottom half of the nori sheet. Press it down with your fingers or a spoon. You need to press and squeeze the filling tightly so it won't fall apart after it is steamed and cooked. I found out that if you wet your hands, the mixture will less likely to stick on your fingers or you can use a saran wrap.

Then, fold the other half of the nori over and make sure there is a 1/2 inch overlap to cover the fish (see picture). Seal the fish using cornstarch and water mixture that is spread over the 1/2 inch overlap and press and squeeze the 'fish' mixture tight together as much as you can. Repeat with the rest of the mixture for each nori sheet.

Steaming 'Fish Fillet' :
To prevent sticking to your steamer, put a few of cabbage leaves or lettuce leaves on your steamer, arrange fillet on top of the leaves (see picture). I have used Chinese bamboo steamers without leaves and it works nicely (didn't stick). Steam for 20 minutes. Let the fillet throughly cool before transferring it out of the steamer. Put them in the refridgerator to cool off some more for a few hours before cooking it. They freeze well.

Cooking Tips:
It is best to use the 'fish' for cooking after it is refridgerated for a few hours or frozen and then thawed.

JAPANESE VEGAN UNAGI DONBURI ('Eel' On Rice Bowl, pictured above)

Also, featured in Dimensión Vegana in Spanish Language with Video.

I used to order Unagi Donburi when I visited Japanese restaurants before I became a vegetarian. I sometimes missed the 'sea' flavor of Unagi. I was able to re-create this dish after I discovered how to make my own vegan fish. It is best to eat this dish accompanied by vegetable miso soup and vegan kimchi. Since the unagi sauce is so sweet, the saltiness of the miso soup balance it out. I also serve it with hot Genmai Cha (Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice). I am now back to eating Japanese food again.

1 recipe 'fish fillet' above
Note: For Unagi, I added 1/4 cup of reconstituted chopped wakame seaweed when making the 'fish fillet'. This will add more 'sea' flavor to the fillets. This is optional, of course.
vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. Toasted Sesame seeds
Dash of roasted sesame oil

4 cups steamed Japanese rice (short grain rice, white or brown)

Sauce:
1/3 cup Japanese soy sauce
1/3 cup Mirin (Sweet Style Japanese Mirin)
1/3 cup vegetarian Kombu Dashi or vegetable broth
2-3 Tbsp sugar, depending how sweet you like it or use agave syrup


Prepare the sauce:
Put the sauce ingredients together in a small pan. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Set it aside. I only use a small amount of sauce for each fillet. It is a matter of preference. Some people likes lots of sauce on their donburi. If you do, you can double the recipe.
Preparing the unagi:Heat a non-stick frying pan, then add 1/2 to 1 tsp vegetable oil. Pan fry 'fish fillet' in batches,2 fillets each time. Make sure both sides are crispy. Turn down the heat to low, pour 1/3 of sauce over fillets. Let the sauce cover the fillet and immediately take it off the heat. You don't want the sauce to crystalized in the pan. The longer you cook the sauce in the pan the thicker it will be. Repeat for the rest of the fillets.

Divide rice into 4 or 6 bowls. Transfer and divide the fillets and sauce on top of the rice. Sprinkle with dash of roasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds on top.

Yield: 4-6 servings