Tofu

An Audience with the Sultan

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Hello again, everyone. Today, we’re looking at a brand new addition to my sidebar. Another company who’ve sent me something free to feature. And, this time, it’s not a sauce.

It’s a pair of curry kits, containing all of the necessary spices for two full meals and their sides:

Two of the most popular products from The Spice Sultan – Their Thai Yellow and Sri Lankan Coconut & Lime flavours. Both tangy, coconut-forward curry styles, based on authentic spice blends from the founder’s asian backpacking adventures.

Let’s have a look, shall we?

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Seven Pepper Tofu

Spicefreak7 Comments

Hey there everyone, it’s recipe time again and, this month, I’m keeping things simple. A simple recipe for one of my favourite chinese side dishes that shows off a non-chilli spice that I’ve not featured before.

But, more interestingly, today’s recipe doubles as a review. A test to see how other versions of the spice affect the heat and flavour of my dish. Because I bet you didn’t know that there were more than two breeds of pepercorn.

This time around, I’m going to feature a whopping seven in my salt and pepper tofu but don’t worry – I’m still going to make a batch with the standard black that we all know and love.

And, while I enjoy the dish as is, you can easily swap out the tofu for fried chicken bits if you fancy something with more meat. Or just a different texture since I know that, even at its crispiest, tofu isn’t for everyone.

I’m not going to tell you how to fry that chicken in this post but there’s always my chipotle korma one if you need some pointers.

And, with all that out of the way, let’s get started, shall we?

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Cooking With Vanilla

Spicefreak2 Comments

Hey folks, it’s the last weekend of the month so it’s time for another recipe. This one, however, is a little different to most.

It’s an adaptation of something I found in Janet Sawyer’s vanilla cookbook, kept mild and made vegetarian (vegan even) to suit the relatives I’m eating with. Yet, for those who do want it, I’ll be giving instructions on how to sub the meat back in.

The tofu may add texture to the dish and it’s an unusual but lovely vanilla curry either way but, for those who do eat it, chicken would most definitely help to bring the flavours together and give them a base on which to build.

Regardless of which version you choose to make, though, I’ve made a few other tweaks to ensure that you get the best possible flavour from the curry, while also highlighting a more interesting chilli.

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Mapo Tofu

Spicefreak7 Comments

Welcome back everyone, and welcome to the new year. The chinese new year!

To celebrate, I’ve been doing some chinese cooking and can offer you not one, not two, but three versions of my favourite oriental dish:

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Mapo Tofu. A dish that, despite its vegan-sounding name, is one of the most highly meaty-tasting main courses in china. Yet there’s actually only a very small amount meat in it.

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Regular Mapo Tofu

Spicefreak3 Comments

Hey there heat eaters! Today we’re making one of my favourite chinese dishes, Mapo Tofu.

Before we jump right into the recipe, however, I’d like to give you the opportunity to read up on the backstory to this dish and pick which of my three versions you’d prefer from my overview here.

This particular version is my “basic” one. A nice, medium heat and only minimally adapted from the recipes you might find were you to turn on a cooking show in China’s Szechuan province.

Here’s what you’ll need:

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Vegetarian Mapo Tofu

Spicefreak5 Comments

Hey there heat eaters! Today we’re making one of my favourite chinese dishes, Mapo Tofu.

Before we jump right into the recipe, however, I’d like to give you the opportunity to read up on the backstory to this dish and pick which of my three versions you’d prefer from my overview here.

This particular version is my vegetarian one as, despite its tofu content, most recipes for this dish don’t actual cater to the vegetarian diet. Most restaurants will insist on using ground pork but, as one particular place in London (sorry I don’t recall the name) proved to me, it’s not really necessary. Properly made Mapo Tofu gets its strong, meaty flavour from its signature fermented bean paste more than any actual meat.

So, in honour of that one restaurant and for the benefit of all you vegetarians out there, here’s my take on a meat free Mapo Tofu.

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Anime Style Mapo Tofu

Spicefreak2 Comments

Hey there heat eaters! Today we’re making one of my favourite chinese dishes, Mapo Tofu.

Before we jump right into the recipe, however, I’d like to give you the opportunity to read up on the backstory to this dish and pick which of my three versions you’d prefer from my overview here.

This particular version is my anime inspired one. A powerful version with a little more depth of flavour to compliment its high heat.

The particular anime that inspired this recipe is the one that first introduced me to the dish, Angel Beats, in which only one small girl is actually capable of finishing it and it plays a small but surprisingly important role in the story.

Here’s what it looks like in the show:

mapo

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