Chow Vegan

It’s inevitable that anything that’s good but fried, I will somehow try to bake it. Yeah, it’s healthier but it’s also because I’m kinda lazy and don’t want to clean up a big greasy mess (the real reason).

When I first made Homestyle Vegan Cajun Chicken Fingers, I pretty much followed The Vegan Ronin recipe posted here with a few minor changes. Today, I made a “shake and bake” version. It’s just as tasty, doesn’t have as much of a coating but still came out crispy – the thinner pieces did, the thicker knot part was nice and chewy. I like both versions. Of course, the lazy part of me likes the baked version better.

Baked Vegan Cajun Chicken Fingers
Serves 2 – 4 as part of a meal

1 package fresh soy knots
3 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon onion granulates

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Rinse off the soy knots and drain. In a bag, combine the rest of the ingredients. Add the soy knots and shake to coat well, place on an oiled baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over and bake another 12 minutes or until golden and crisp.

I apologize if anyone encountered any weirdness while visiting my blog lately. Last week, there was a “denial of services” attack on the server hosting my blog. I just don’t get why anyone would want to do such a thing.

It’s been quite the experience, first one thing gets fixed, then something else goes wrong, that gets fixed, then another thing is broken and now it’s working again. Have I mention I don’t like roller coasters?

Anyways, on to the food. Once again, I’m just cooking whatever looks good at the weekly farmer’s market. This week it’s long beans, also called yard-long beans, Chinese long beans or asparagus beans. They look like really long, super skinny green beans.

I always see them at the chain grocery stores and they usually look like they’ve been there forever, all shrivel up and way past their prime. I don’t know why those stores even bother to put it out there or even who buys it. If it’s in season, then the farmer’s market is the place to go.

Two types are available around here, a thicker light green one and a skinner dark green one. Sometimes there’s also a purple variety, while it was a beautiful color amongst the green at the farmer’s market, they sadly do not stay purple when cooked but turned a dark green.

For a vegan version of the popular Sichuan dried-fried long beans dish, I use the tempeh filling from Tempeh Stuffed Yellow Chile Peppers to replace the traditional pork and Sichuan preserved vegetable.

Dried-Fried Long Beans With Tempeh
Serves 2 – 4 as part of a meal

1 bunch of long beans, about 12 ounces
1/4 cup tempeh filling
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Snap off the ends of the long beans, break into 3″ pieces and wash in several changes of water. In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Heat a wok until hot, add the oil and then the long beans. Cook until crisp-tender and the skins a little charred, about 6 – 8 minutes, stirring frequently. (The wok will become very, very hot, so be careful around it.) Transfer the long beans to a bowl.

Lower the heat to medium and add more oil if necessary. Add the garlic and the tempeh, stirring for about 15 seconds. Add the long beans back in and the sauce ingredients. Stir to combine until everything is well-coated. Serve immediately.

Like so many other places, it was rather warm here last week and I haven’t felt like firing up the kitchen because of the heat. Or if I do, I’m try to limit the use of the stove and the oven is definitely a big no.

So, salad is good.

Chinese Veggie Chicken Salad is one of my favorites – I love the taste combo of the Chinese 5-spice flavor in the dressing, the crispy veggie chicken pieces and the pickled leeks.

Chinese Veggie Chicken Salad
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1 Romaine lettuce heart, shredded
3 ounces spicy breaded veggie chicken or tofu, chopped
2 stalks green onions, chopped
8 pickled leeks, sliced

Dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice

Toasted sesame seeds

In a bowl, combine the first four ingredients for the salad. In a smaller bowl, combine the dressing ingredients and mix well. Just before you’re ready to serve, add to taste the dressing to the salad and combine well. Serve immediately, topped with the toasted sesame seeds.

At this week’s farmer’s market, I couldn’t resist these beautiful yu choy sum. Also known as:

• choi sum
• pak choy
• yau choy
• yu choi sum
• yow choy sum

I’m sure I missed a few of the other names that they go by as well. Since there’s a lot of different varieties of Asian greens and they all kinda look similar, it can get confusing. I get confused if it’s called by one of its many other names, but I can recognize it by sight.

Yu choy sum looks like gai lan (chinese broccoli) but skinnier. Of course, if you don’t know what gai lan looks like, then that doesn’t really help you. In which case, never mind, just look at the picture below.

Another member of the bok choy family, but so much more tender and sweeter than the larger bok choy, yu choy sum taste like a cross between broccoli and spinach. They can be used in stir-fries and soups. As usual, I prefer just a quick and simple stir-fry as part of a meal.

Stir-fried Yu Choy Sum
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1 bunch yu choy sum
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt

Wash the yu choy sum in several changes of water, trimming off any old leaves, tough stems and the bottom 1/2″ from each stalk. Cut the stems into 3″ pieces, halving the bigger stalks lengthwise.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the yu choy sum and stir. After about 30 seconds, it’ll start to wilt down. Stir bringing up the greens at the bottom to the top. Add salt to taste. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until the stems are tender. Serve immediately.

I had intended to serve roasted red potatoes with the Chicken-Fried Tofu I made last week. But I was wavering between mashed potatoes or something else. I decided roasted potatoes would be good but then the oven was busy with the tofu.

Both taste best hot right out of the oven when they’re nice and crispy. If only I had a fancy kitchen with two ovens, but I don’t so I didn’t make the potatoes until later and had it as a snack.

Roasted Red Potatoes
Serves 2 as part of a meal

1 pound red potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and scrub the potatoes with the skin on. Cut into 3/4″ – 1″ wedges and put into a mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to coat each piece, then pour out onto a baking pan.

Roast for about 15 – 20 minutes on each side, flipping over the potatoes about halfway through until the potatoes are tender on the inside and nicely crisp and golden on the outside.

Chicken-fried steak and I go way back. I have fond memories of making and eating them at my grandparents’ place as a youngster. Not so much the eating of the meat part, but the whole experience of visiting the kitchen of my grandparents’ Chinese and American food cafe.

While I haven’t had chicken-fried steak for many, many years now, I thought I could apply the same cooking method to tofu. Chicken-fried doesn’t actually have chicken in it; it’s a cutlet, battered and fried in a skillet like fried chicken, hence the name. Except I’m baking mine for a healthier version, it still came out very tasty and nostalgic.

Chicken-Fried Tofu
Makes 8 pieces

1 pound fresh firm tofu
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Old Bay seasoning
Salt

Cut the tofu into 1/4″ slices and wrap in paper towels. Place a weight on top for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a shallow bowl, combine the nutritional yeast and breadcrumbs and mix well. Dip the tofu slices in the soy sauce and place in the breadcrumbs mixture, coat well on both sides. Place coated pieces on a oiled baking pan.

Season to taste with Old Bay and salt. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over, season and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve immediately with creamy gravy on the side.

Creamy Gravy
Makes 1 cup

1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup soy milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Poultry seasonings (a mix of sage, oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme and salt) to taste

In a saucepan, melt the butter then add the flour. Whisk the flour and butter together to form a roux. Add the soy milk gradually, whisking constantly until smooth and lump free. Lower the heat and continue stirring until the gravy reaches desired thickness. If necessary, thin with a bit more soy milk. Add the salt and pepper and poultry seasonings to taste. Stir to combine and serve.

Tofu Robots are my kitchen slaves. Just tell them what you want to eat and they will turn tofu into scrumptious, mouth-watering, culinary delights to tempt your taste buds.

If only it was true.

I can’t figure out how to make the Tofu Robots go. Why won’t they work? They just stand there, mocking me with a “cook-your-own-darn-tofu” look about them. I guess I’m stuck making my own dinner.

Inspired to create a fun, cute Japanese style food character, Kazuko Shinoka designed Tofu Robot for Spicy Brown. The premier extra firm Tofu Robot first appeared on the scene in the summer of 2005.

The 4″ tall vinyl robot now comes in two more ready-to-serve forms, medium and soft. Besides toys, Spicy Brown also serves up a full t-shirt line of food-inspired characters from tofu to sushi to miso soup and beyond.