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All recipes, Asian foods, vegan, Vegetarian Foods

Sweet and Sour Tofu Meatless Balls

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Think of the tofu as a mince that you add diced vegetables to, coat with a batter and fry or bake. Dip those into any sauce you like (here, Sweet & Sour) and you have a low fat, high-protein meal that freezes well.

There are three steps:

Prepare the tofu

Prepare a sauce

Combine

Ingredients

For the Meat-less Balls

  • 2 packages of extra firm or firm tofu
  • ½ – 1 cup of minced vegetables
    • (a mix of seasonal vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, turnip, onion, bell pepper, sweet potato, pumpkin)
  • ¼-½ cup of starch (corn or potato
  • Seasonings
    • ½ each teaspoon onion, garlic, chili powder, salt
The tofu is like a mean mince that you work vegetables and seasonings into, then shape.

For the crust

  • ½ cup of starch
  • 1 tsp – 1 tbs onion powder (to taste)
  • 1 tsp – 1 tbs garlic powder (to taste)
  • 1 tsp – 1 tbs chili powder (to taste) (optional)
  • 1 cup of bread crumbs/panko
  • 1 cup milk or plant based milk
Once your tofu is shaped, bread it to add flavor and texture.

For the sweet and sour sauce

base

  • ¼-⅓ cup sugar (brown or white)
  • ¼-⅓ cup rice vinegar
  • 1 tbs catsup
  • ¼ cup soy sauce (light is preferred, but dark will do)

+

slurry

  • 1 cup liquid (water or pineapple juice or a blend)
  • 2 tablespoons of starch (corn or potato)
You can either add the sauce to a stir fry and add the slurry to thicken it or combine both to create a sauce you dip the tofu into.

Directions

  1. Drain the water from the package of tofu.
  2. Place between a dish towel and place something heavy upon it.
  3. Let the tofu press for 30 – 60 minutes while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.
The finer the dice, the easier the tofu balls will hold together.

Prepare the crust

  1. Combine ½ cup of starch with the spices and sift. Set aside.
  2. Pour 1 cup of milk or plant based milk in a bowl and set next to the starch.
  3. Pour 1 cup of bread crumbs into a bowl and set that next to the milk.
Seasoned flour, a liquid, and the bread crumbs all neatly lined up.

Prepare the sweet and sour sauce

  1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, catsup and soy sauce in a bowl and stir to dissolve the catsup and sugar. If the sugar does not dissolve, you can heat it in a small sauce pan.
  2. Combine 1 cup liquid with the starch and stir to dissolve. (The starch will settle at the bottom. This is normal.)

For the meatless balls, fried

  1. Peel and mince your vegetables. The smaller the cut, the easier they are to incorporate into the mixture.
  2. When the tofu has pressed, crumble it in a bowl and mix in the vegetables. 
  3. Add ¼ cup of starch and mix. Squeeze a handful of the mixture in your hand. If it holds together, shape into balls. If not, add more starch until you can form balls. You can also press the mixture into shapes.
  4. Roll the balls in the spiced starch.
  5. Dip the balls into the milk.
  6. Coat the balls in the bread crumbs and set aside.
  7. Heat oil in a pan to fry.
  8. Fry the tofu balls in the hot oil until well browned. 
  9. Drain on paper towels.
  10. In a saucepan combine the sweet and sour sauce and the slurry. 
  11. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. It will thicken after the boil. 
  12. Dip the fried tofu balls into the sauce and serve over rice. 

For the tofu balls, baked

  1. You can either mist the tofu with oil or bake directly in a very hot 250C/400F oven for 30-40 minutes. The oil will give the tofu a very firm crunch.
Add the vegetables to the stir fry in order of cooking time.

Alternatively 

  1. After the tofu balls are fried, stir fry 2 – 3 cups of sliced vegetables in hot oil. 
  2. When done to your liking add ¼ of the sweet and sour base and bring to a boil. 
  3. Add the slurry. 
  4. Bring to a boil. The sauce will thicken. 
  5. Add the tofu. 
  6. Serve over rice. 
Or dip your tofu into the sauce.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. As I’m learning how to blog, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve, please write them in the comments below. Also, let me know what you think of my recipe.

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All recipes, vegan, Vegetarian Foods

Mushroom Tarts:

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Flakey tart shells filled with sweet potato or pumpkin puree and topped with grilled or fried mushrooms.
Any mushroom will do but here I’m using Japanese mushrooms.

I came across a picture for a beautifully plated, grilled ‘Hen of the Woods‘ (aka Maitake) mushroom months ago. These are inexpensive where I live and so I started grilling them. Maitake have a wonderful mouthfeel and are full of umami; I wanted to turn them into a healthy, inexpensive meal, and so started making them into tarts. Here the tarts are put on a puree of sweet potato or winter melon (I use Japanese kabocha) to fix the mushrooms into place in the tart while adding a new texture and layer of flavors.

For the Mushrooms

Size varies by location. Any mushroom will work but we enjoy maitake and shimeji mushrooms because they grow as a unit and are much easier to shape because of it.

Shimeji
Hen of the Woods

Directions

  1. In a well oiled iron fry pan, layer your mushrooms.
  2. Salt to taste.
  3. Cover them with something heavy (such as a smaller fry pan) and put them on high heat for five minutes and check. They will be fully cooked. Cook them to your desired color and texture.
  4. Flip the mushrooms and cook till they reach the color and texture you want

You want them to be a beautiful color.

Sweet Potato Filling

Sweet potatoes are delicious in savory dishes. A steamed sweet potato has more moisture and, in my experience, is easier to work with. But you can make a delicious filling with a baked sweet potato.

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet potato (about 400 -600 grams), steamed or roasted.
  • Salt to taste

(optional ingredients)

  • Up to ¼ butter or up to ¼ cream
  • ½ tsp cumin or ½ tsp each thyme and tarragon
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Up to ¼ cup chopped walnuts

Directions

  1. Puree the sweet potato in a food processor with the salt and any combination of options ingredients (except the walnuts) and process until smooth.
  2. Mix in the optional walnuts, if using, after the sweet potatoes are pureed.
  3. Layer the bottom of a tart shell
  4. Layer on top of the shell grilled mushrooms and any other roasted vegetables you like.
Sweet Potatoes are excellent as a savory dish.

Winter Squash/Kabocha Puree

If you can not find Japanese squash in your markets, a pumpkin, butternut or other winter squash will do nicely.

  • 400 – 600 grams of Winter Squash/Kabocha, steamed or roasted
  • Salt to taste

(Optional Ingredients)

  • Up to ¼ cup butter
  • ¼-½ tsp chilie powder
  • roasted garlic (to taste) and ½ tsp thyme
  • 1 tsp sherry vinegar
  • Up to ¼ cup walnuts

Directions

  1. Puree your steamed or roasted squash with salt and whatever combination of the optional ingredients you like (except the walnuts).
  2. Mix in the optional walnuts, if using, after the squash is pureed.
  3. Layer in the bottom of a tart shell and layer with mushrooms and your favorite roasted vegetables.
Steamed pumpkins have more moisture than roasted.

After you’ve made your fillings, simply spread one of your fillings into a tart shell and layer the mushrooms on top. I add lots of other roasted vegetables to make pleasing presentations.