Recipe: Vegan Tofu Skin Mock Meat
Time for the third instalment of my guide to cooking with dried tofu skin or beancurd sticks. Do check out the two previous recipes — tofu noodles and braised tofu skin with shiitake and black fungus — if you haven’t already. In this version I am making something akin to Chinese ‘mock meat’.
Now, vegan meat may be very much a growing trend — with innovative brands such as Beyond Meat’s ‘bleeding’ burger hitting UK shelves this year — but let it be known that the Chinese have been making vegan meat for a long time. Indeed, records from as far back as the Tang Dynasty (618–907) detail banquets serving imitation pork and mutton dishes! These culinary innovations are specifically thanks to the presence of Buddhist monks in China, who have been using tofu, gluten or vegetables to imitate the taste and appearance of meat to serve to visitors at their monasteries.
While my meat cravings have staved off over the years, the occasional smell of bacon or Cantonese roast pork (char siu) can set me off! I still avoid heavily processed mock meat, such as seitan. N.B. just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy! Hence here I show you how to make a nutritious, vegan version of my once–favourite pork dish. Beancurd sticks are ideal for mock meat, since their crinkly texture absorbs and holds on to any marinades and sauces, and they have a delightfully chewy texture.
You can eat this as a high protein snack (almost like a tofu jerky!), or throw it into another recipe. It works well in a sugar–free version of the Cantonese classic sweet and sour pork (recipe here).
Let me know if you try this recipe and share your results on Instagram with #CelestialPeach.
Ingredients
5–6 dried beancurd sticks
1 thumb finely minced ginger
2 cloves finely minced garlic
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp plum sauce or honey
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp five spice powder
Instructions
Cover the beancurd sticks room temperature water and soak for at least two hours.
Mix the rest of the ingredients into a marinade.
Chop the sticks into thirds and cover with the marinade. Set aside for half an hour.
Pre–heat an oven to 200C. Spread the sticks out and bake for 15 minutes. Flip each piece and bake for a further 10 minutes.
Depending how chewy or soft you prefer your texture, you can choose to bake it for a bit longer.
