mei stuff

mostly recipes, sometimes other small thinks

Notes:

It can be pretty difficult to find different varieties of Japanese curry roux in Iceland. My favourite, personally, is Vermont Curry (medium spice), but I haven't been able to find it yet. Costco sells Golden Curry in LARGE packages.

I don't really know how to spell worcestershire, but hopefully you know what I mean. Sometimes I will substitute tonkatsu sauce, which gives the curry a fruitier flavor.

The chocolate / coffee may seem like a weird ingredient, but I promise it adds a really interesting depth to balance the sweetness of the Japanese curry roux. I learned from my friends in Japan that it's fairly common for Japanese moms to have a “secret ingredient” for Japanese curry —– something like an apple, pear, or bit of chocolate.

Ingredients

  • 50g bacon
  • 1 whole onion
  • 1 medium sized carrot
  • 10g butter
  • 400ml beef broth
  • 200ml hot water
  • 35g curry roux
  • 1 tsp curry powder (preferably, S&B)
  • 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp white sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp coffee OR 20g dark chocolate
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Slice the onions, carrot, and bacon into thin strips.
  2. Melt the butter into a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Once the butter is starting to splutter, sautee the onions, bacon, and carrot until the onions are fully soft and start to brown. Make sure that the bacon is cooked all the way through.
  3. Add water and beef broth and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the carrots are fork-tender.
  4. Take the pot off heat. Move the contents to a blender and blend until smooth, or blend with an immersion blender until smooth. All of the solid ingredients should be thoroughly dissolved.
  5. Put the contents back into the pot and replace on low heat. Add curry roux and curry powder and stir until the curry roux is breaking apart in the pot.
  6. Add worcestershire sauce, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, rice vinegar, and coffee. Stir until integrated.
  7. Continue simmering on low heat for 15-20 minutes, or longer. The curry's flavor will deepen the longer it simmers. Simmer it as long as you can hold out your patience.
  8. Serve with rice and enjoy!

This is my vegetarian take on mapo tofu.

It can be hard to find soft tofu in Iceland, so sometimes I use firm tofu or even paneer. Soft tofu has the best melt-in-your-mouth texture, so I've been trying to make my own lately instead of substituting. I highly recommend using soft/silken tofu if you can get it.

On the topic of soy mince -

I really like the taste and texture of pork in mapo tofu, but obviously, pork is not suitible for vegetarians. :) Soy based beef minces, like Trader Joe's beefless bef, tend to be the best replacement for the texture of pork in my experience. I have also tried other plant-based vegan beef options, like Beyond ground beef. It's usually too soft and adds too much “vegan beef” flavor.

Minced portabello mushrooms or okara (soy pulp discarded from making tofu) are also good options. Just fry the mushrooms or pulp bits separately until they're really dry and crispy.

See my recipe for homemade Sichuan peppercorn chili oil for maximum flavor!

Ingredients

  • 3 tbps Sichuan chili oil
  • 1 tbps sesame oil
  • 1 tbps ginger (minced)
  • 2 tbps garlic (minced)
  • 8 oz soy mince
  • 1 tbps ground Sichuan peppercorn
  • 1 tbps red pepper flake (omit for less spicy)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2 tbps doubanjiang (spicy bean paste)
  • 2 tsp red miso
  • 1 tbsp michiu (rice wine)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 tbsp corn starch (sliced into cubes)
  • 8 oz silken tofu
  • 2 green onions (thinly sliced)

Instructions

  1. Heat 2 tbsp of chili oil and ½ tbsp of sesame oil in a wok over medium high heat. Let it warm up until you can smell it.
  2. Add ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant.
  3. Add soy mince. Stir around until it starts to brown.
  4. Add Sichuan peppercorn, pepper flake, and sugar. Fry it for a minute until fragrant. Be careful not to cook it too long, because Sichuan peppercorn burns easily.
  5. Add doubanjiang and miso. Stir it in until evenly incorporated. Fry for five minutes.
  6. Add michui to deglaze the pan. Scrape the brown bits off the wok.
  7. Add water and corn starch and stir together. Let the sauce cook together until it starts to thicken.
  8. Add the tofu and stir it into the sauce. Let the tofu simmer in the sauce for another five minutes to warm all the way through.
  9. Take the wok off the heat and top with green onions. Enjoy with rice :)

Ingredients

  • 3 tbps butter
  • 1 vegan steak (I like juicy marbles, you can use shitakke mushrooms instead)
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup of cooked rice
  • 8 oz can of sweet corn
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 green onions. thinly sliced
  • Handful of shredded mozerella
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Sauce

  • 2 tbps soy sauce
  • 1 tbps honey
  • 1 tbps vegetarian oyster sauce (it's made from mushrooms)
  • 1 tbps mirin
  • a ton of black pepper

Instructions

  1. Stir the sauce ingredients together. Set aside for later.
  2. Cut the vegan steak into slices. Sear in a cast iron pan on high with 1 tbps of butter. Set aside on a plate after it's brown and crispy on all sides.
  3. Melt the remaining button in the steak pan. Stir the onions around in the pan until they're soft. They should turn a little brown to collect the flavor of the steak.
  4. Add the garlic. Let it cook until the house smells like garlic.
  5. Add the rice and corn to the pan. Drizzle all the sauce on top. Stir around until everything is incorporated together.
  6. Leave the heat on high and let the rice sit for a second. The rice should get a little crispy on the bottom. Wait until most of the sauce liquid cooks off.
  7. Remove from heat and top with cheese, then green onions, then steak.
  8. Enjoy :)