3 Put the mixture into a liquidizer with the tofu, and blend thoroughly.
4 Chill, and serve sprinkled with chopped chives or spring onions (scallions).
Tofu gumbo
Deep-frying tofu makes it light and chewy, adding a terrific texture to some classic soups. Gumbo comes from the American Deep South and uses okra (ladies’ fingers), which is now much more readily available in Britain.
| IMPERIAL/METRIC | AMERICAN | |
| ½ lb (225g) | medium or firm tofu | 1 cup |
| 2 tbs plus | vegetable oil | 2 tbs plus |
| additional for | additional for | |
| deep-frying | deep-frying | |
| 1 | onion | 1 |
| 1 small | green (bell) pepper | 1 small |
| ½ lb (225g) | okra (ladies’ fingers) | ½ lb |
| 1 tin (about 14 oz [400g]) | tomatoes | 1 can (14–16 oz) |
| 1½ pints (850ml) | vegetable stock or water | 3¾ cups |
| 1 | bay leaf | 1 |
| 2–3 tbs | chopped parsley | 2–3 tbs |
| as required | sea salt | as required |
| as required | freshly ground black pepper | as required |
1 Chop the tofu into small dice and deep-fry in the oil until golden brown. Drain well and set aside.
2 Chop the onion and green (bell) pepper. Clean the okra (ladies’ fingers), top and tail them, and chop each one into 2–3 pieces. Sauté these ingredients in the 2 tbs oil for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3 Add the tomatoes, stock or water, and bay leaf to the okra (ladies’ fingers) mixture, bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15–20 minutes.
4 Add the fried tofu, parsley and seasoning, cook for a couple of minutes longer, then serve.
Mulligatawny soup
There are numerous variants on this Anglo-Indian classic, but most of them don’t include tofu…
| IMPERIAL/METRIC | AMERICAN | |
| 1 | onion | 1 |
| 2 sticks | celery | 2 sticks |
| 1 | carrot | 1 |
| 1 | apple | 1 |
| ½ lb (225g) | tomatoes | ½ lb |
| 1 oz (30g) | vegetable margarine | 2 tbs |
| 1–2 tbs | curry powder | 1–2 tbs |
| 2 | cloves | 2 |
| 1 tbs | chopped parsley | 1 tbs |
| 1½ pints (850ml) | water | 3¾ cups |
| 1 tsp | yeast extract | 1 tsp |
| 4 oz (115g) | medium or firm tofu | ½ cup |
| as required | vegetable oil for deep-frying | as required |
| ¼ pint (140ml) | soya (soy) milk | ⅔ cup |
| 3 tbs | wholewheat flour | 3 tbs |
| as required | sea salt | as required |
| as required | freshly ground black pepper | as required |
1 Chop the onion, celery and carrot finely. Peel and chop the apple; skin the tomatoes and chop them. Sauté all these ingredients in the margarine for about 5 minutes.
2 Stir in the curry powder and cook for a further 1–2 minutes. Add the cloves, parsley, water and yeast extract. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about half an hour.
3 Meanwhile, chop the tofu into small dice and deep-fry in the oil until golden. Drain well and set aside.
4 Mix the soya (soy) milk and flour together.
5 Pour half the contents of the saucepan into a liquidizer and blend thoroughly. Return to the saucepan. Add the milk and flour mixture and stir well. Add the tofu cubes, season, heat thoroughly and serve.
Lentil and smoked tofu soup
Smoked tofu adds a new dimension to an old-fashioned lentil soup. (Note that there is no fat added to this dish.)
| IMPERIAL/METRIC | AMERICAN | |
| 6 oz (170g) | smoked tofu | ¾ cup |
| 2 cloves | garlic | 2 cloves |
| 1½ pints (850ml) | water | 3¾ cups |
| 4 oz (115g) | red lentils | ¾ cup |
| 2 | cloves | 2 |
| 2 tbs | chopped parsley | 2 tbs |
| ¾ lb (340g) | potatoes | ¾ lb |
| as required | freshly ground black pepper | as required |
| as required | sea salt (optional) | as required |
1 Dice the tofu finely. Crush the garlic.
2 Put the water, lentils, tofu, garlic, cloves and parsley in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
3 Scrape or peel the potatoes and dice them very finely. Add them to the saucepan. Lower the heat, cover the saucepan, and simmer for about 20 minutes, by which time both lentils and potatoes should be very soft. Add pepper to taste (salt should not be necessary, but add a little sea salt if it is). Serve immediately.
Sea vegetable bouillabaisse
This is almost a stew rather than a soup, and I serve it with wedges of wholewheat bread. Frozen tofu adds texture and protein, while the flavour comes from the mixture of sea vegetables. As the sea vegetables expand so greatly it would be easy to make large quantities of this; just quadruple the ingredients.
| IMPERIAL/METRIC | AMERICAN | |
| ½ oz (15g) | wakame | ½ oz |
| ¼ oz (7g) | kombu | ¼ oz |
| ½ oz (15g) | arame | ½ oz |
| 6–8 oz (170–225g) | frozen tofu | ¾–1 cup |
| 1 small | onion | 1 small |
| 1 | leek | 1 |
| 2 tbs | vegetable oil | 2 tbs |
| 1 tin (about 14 oz [400g]) | tomatoes | 1 can (14–16 oz) |
| 2 | bay leaves | 2 |
| 1 tbs | soy sauce | 1 tbs |
1 Put the wakame and kombu in a bowl and cover with ¾ pint (425ml, 2 cups) cold water. Leave to soak for 10–15 minutes.
2 Put the arame and tofu into another bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover the bowl and leave to soak for 10–15 minutes.
3 Drain the wakame and kombu, reserving the liquid. Chop them coarsely, discarding the inner stem of the wakame.
4 Drain the tofu and arame, and chop the tofu into small chunks.
5 Chop the onion and leek. Sauté in the oil in a large saucepan for 2–3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, wakame and kombu, arame, tofu, soy sauce, and the soaking liquid from the wakame and kombu. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes before serving.
Devilled tofu and celery spread
Tofu makes a terrific base for spreads and dips. This one is particularly good on toast or crispbread, but it can also be used in sandwiches. It is certainly flavourful.
| IMPERIAL/METRIC | AMERICAN | |
| 1 lb (455g) | medium or firm tofu | 2 cups |
| 4 sticks | celery 4 | sticks |
| 4 tbs | soya (soy)-based tartare | 4 tbs |
| sauce (or ‘Duchesse’ Sandwich Spread) | ||
| ½ tsp | paprika | ½ tsp |
| 1 tsp | ground coriander | 1 tsp |
| 1 tsp | ground cumin | 1 tsp |
| 1 tsp | curry powder | 1 tsp |
| 3 tsp | mustard | 3 tsp |
1 Mash the tofu. Chop the celery finely.
2 Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and chill.