In all its glory

[VouvrayHead]

Behold! Tofubuco.
I think especially of you, Thomas.
It's actually Daikon I hollowed-out and stuffed with browned tofu seasoned with onion, garlic, cumin, brown mustard seeds, porcini powder, mustard powder, smoked paprika and sherry vinegar. Then I covered them up with the tops of the Daikon and toothpicked them back on. Then braised for 90 minutes or so in Mirin, wheat-free soy sauce, a pretty decent faux-beef bouillon (really more mushroomy than meaty, but good), rosemary, peppercorns and a couple of garlic cloves.
In the pic you can see two open and one with the "lid" on.
It turned out pretty well, actually.
Served with saffron rice, curried split peas with kale, and I made some bastardized spring rolls with the leftover browned tofu, sliced orange peppers, and a vegetarian peanut-hoisin sauce.
The wine was a Montsant.
I'm sure I broke countless foodie laws, but it was fun and tasted good.

Here's the pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8412312@N05/4283509877/sizes/l/


[This message has been edited by VouvrayHead (edited 01-17-2010).]

[Thomas]

What kind of animal is Daikon? [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]

[TheEngineer]

We use to go eat with the monks when I was in HK. You should see what they can do with Soy.

[andrawes76]

I'm stumped guys...really! Interesting, wondering how it compares to the real deal?

[VouvrayHead]

Foodie, the Daikon-beast lurks 'neath the surface of the stormy Adriatic, where it is hunted for its single horn. Very dangerous and rare.

Engineer, I would love to see what they can do with it. I'm no tofu-slouch (21 years vegetarian), but I'm quite sure those monks could teach me a thing or fifty.

PW, I can assure you it doesn't compare at all to the real deal [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img] It's just what it is, which is pretty good. For me, one of the keys to good vegan cooking is to look through all meaty cuisines for inspiration, not attempted replication. I could have done more to try to make it more like the real thing, especially if I ate wheat and could use Seitan, but I feel a little about faux-meat like that old saying about translating poetry, that is, the poetry IS what gets lost in the translation. So I try to make things that just taste good and keep the poetry intact, even if it isn't much like the original.


[This message has been edited by VouvrayHead (edited 01-18-2010).]

[wondersofwine]

Kudos to you Vouvray! I was visiting a friend in West Virginia and her boyfriend at the time fixed a vegetarian meal for us. I liked the cous cous but the tofu tuna substitute didn't do it for me.