Sunday, February 06, 2005
Tofu Curry
If I were a vegetarian, I would eat Wildwood Natural Foods products every day. Seriously. They have three things in particular that I totally love. I certainly don’t work for them, and have no interest in your buying their food other than I just really think there is something to be said for an exceptionally good product that is also environmentally friendly, healthy and tasty. The first (no surprise here!) is the Curry Tofu. It is just a block of their really high quality, fresh, firm, organic (gotta love that) tofu, but seasoned with curry powder turning it a really terrific shade of yellow and giving it that great kick. The second thing I love is their hummus and I’m sort of fussy about hummus if I didn’t make it myself. Some brands are too pasty, or too watery or sometimes it just tastes like garlic, but the kids at Wildwood seem to have it down just right. Its creamy, and tangy and fresh tasting. The perfect topping for a bagel or with carrot sticks. The last item, and this is the one I really wish everyone could try (but since I have no idea how far they ship their stuff, I don’t know if you can…) is the Original Tofu-Veggie Burger. Now I should clarify and say that I think a burger is a good thing and meat substitutes are pretty funky, but with this, you just have to just realize it is its own entity and not trying to be meat. What it is though is super-delicious. They are pattys of dense tofu with some carrots (that still have some texture of their own) and onions in them and they taste outrageously good. The outside is golden fried, (which might be the key to their yumminess) and has a good chewiness to it. Their website says they are like Egg Foo Young, and I think I agree. The color inside is also a little yellowish giving the feeling of eggs being included, but since they are vegan, there isn’t any. They are also only 110 calories each, which amazes me!
Now, you may be wondering what you could DO with curried tofu…well, here is what I do. Its simple (or so I always claim) and tasty. If you don’t have curry tofu at your market, I guess you could ask them for it (now I DO sound like I am shilling for them!) or you could just add some curry powder to the dish.
¼ cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon fish sauce
½ cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
½ pound firm curry tofu, diced
2 carrots, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper cut into thin strips
1 chile pepper, minced
½ cup bamboo shoots
½ cup fresh (or frozen) peas
Combine the chicken stock, coconut milk and fish sauce in a bowl and set aside
In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat sauté the onions garlic and ginger in the peanut oil until soft and lightly browned (about 3 minutes). Add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry until just cooked (about three minutes). Add the stock mixture and allow to come to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes until slightly thickened. Serve over white rice.
Makes 4 servings
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