Best Dinner Recipes

I really enjoy trying out recipes from other blogs, so I thought I'd write a best-of. These are the best dinners I've cooked and managed to take a photo of in the last few weeks. First up: Better-than-Tuna salad on The Fig Tree, originally from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. This salad is great on sandwiches, in pitas or on its own. It's also a great way to get your veggies - it's full of celery, capsicum and carrots.

I also recently made this Sambar from Hungry Desi, a food blog full of delicious-looking and mostly vegan recipes. You can put nearly any vegetable you like in your sambar. I used onions this time and it was very good.

And because the recipes on Hungry Desi are just that appealing, I made another one, Kadai Tofu. It was wonderfully spicy and flavourful. I replaced the milk with soy milk. I expect a little coconut milk would also work great.

That's all for this week, hope you enjoyed the recipes! Let me know if you try any of them out.

Tofu with Black Vinegar

I had this tofu drizzled with black vinegar in a restaurant while stopping over in Hong Kong airport. It was simple but tasty, and hit the spot perfectly. We then had some snacks and beer while watching the sun "setting" into the smog above the horizon... It started out orange, melted into a deep red, and then disappeared.

You can find black vinegar, which is also called Chinkiang vinegar, at an Asian supermarket. I really like to eat this with red-cooked eggplant and some rice: it's an impressive combination and everything is done in less than half an hour.

Tofu with Black Vinegar

Serves 2

Ingredients

450 g tofu
2 tbsp black vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari

Method

1. Cut the tofu into slabs. Heat a generous amount of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry tofu for a few minutes on one side, until deep golden brown, then turn and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels.

2. Mix together soy sauce and vinegar. Lay the pieces of tofu on a plate and drizzle sauce over them. Eat with your favourite Chinese vegetable side, or just with rice.

New Zealand Beer Battered 'Fish' Burgers & Tartar Sauce

This is a vegan version of the kind of burger you find in a New Zealand fish and chip shop: Crunchy battered 'fish', fresh vegetables and creamy tartar sauce.

New Zealand Beer Battered 'Fish' Burgers & Tartar Sauce

Makes 4 burgers and 150 ml tartar sauce

Tartar Sauce Ingredients

150 ml vegan mayonnaise, ready-made or made according to this recipe with silken tofu
2 tbsp minced onion
2 tbsp minced pickle
1 tbsp minced capers

Burger Ingredients

250 ml flour
250 ml beer
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper
450 g tofu
120 ml vegetable oil
4 burger buns
red onion (optional)
tomato
lettuce
tomato sauce

Method

1. First, make the tartar sauce: mix all the ingredients and set aside.

2. Heat the oil over medium heat. Mix flour, beer, salt and pepper until smooth. Pat the tofu dry with paper towels. Cut the block into four slabs of tofu.

3. Make sure your oil is good and hot. If it's still not hot, give it some more time to heat. Dip two of the tofu slabs in batter, shake off excess batter and place them in the oil. Cook until golden on both sides. Drain on paper towels and salt. Scoop out any bits of batter still in the pan. Fry the other two slabs.

4. Wash the lettuce and cut the tomato and onion into slices. Cut the burger buns in half and toast the cut sides briefly in a pan.

5. Stack the burger with tofu, tomato, tartar and tomato sauces, a few rings of red onion, and lettuce.

Delicious Kimchi Recipes: Part 1

So you made some vegan kimchi last week. Now what should you use it for? Well, you could eat it straight, or you could make one of these great recipes. Kimchi-based recipes taste complex, but are usually quick and easy. So if you find yourself wanting to get dinner on the table fast, it helps if you have some kimchi in the fridge.

Firstly, if you haven't had kimchi before, this kimchi fried rice (with the bacon and egg omitted) is a great introduction. It's tasty and comes together very fast if you have leftover rice.

Or, if you're in more of a mac and cheese mood, you could cook up a creamy pan of kimchi mac & shews, by replacing the sauerkraut with kimchi. Add some more chili flakes if you want this to have a kick - the kimchi doesn't make it very spicy. Warning: this recipe, although wonderful, does take some time to make.

If you're feeling the cold and want a bowl of spicy stew, this kimchi jjigae along with some rice might hit the spot. It's my favourite winter meal, and, best of all, it comes together in less than half an hour, since we don't have to cook the meat. You'll end up with more than you see in my picture - this is the pot minus one serving, and I was a bit short on kimchi.

Looking for more Korean recipes?

Jjajangmyun (Korean-Chinese Black Bean Noodles)

Easy Vegan Kimchi (Mak Kimchi)

Jjajangmyun (Korean-Chinese Black Bean Noodles)

Jjajangmyun is a Korean-style Chinese takeaway meal of meat and vegetables cooked in a delicious thick black bean sauce on noodles. I'd been looking forwards to trying it for ages, so I adapted it to be vegan by using some baked tofu. It turned out pretty good!

If you have leftover sauce the next day, but ate all the noodles, you can make jjajangbap by eating the sauce on rice. I topped my version with cucumber, but it's also nice to eat with yellow pickled radish.

Jjajangmyun

Serves 4

Ingredients

450g tofu
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp Korean soy sauce or tamari
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pack udon or sutamyun
2 onions
2 potatoes
1 zucchini
2 carrots
vegetable oil
250 ml chunjang (Korean black bean paste)
500 ml water
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cucumber

Method

1. Dice the tofu, toss with the sesame oil, soy sauce and pepper, and put in the oven at 200 C for 30 minutes, turning once.

2. Cook noodles. Dice the onions and zucchini. Peel and dice the carrots and potatoes. Heat oil over medium heat in a pan and add all the vegetables except the cucumber. Fry for a few minutes.

6. Add some more oil and the chunjang. Fry for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water, bring to a boil, and simmer until the vegetables are done. Add the tofu.

8. Mix the cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cold water. Add it and cook for a few minutes, until thick. Add sugar and turn off heat. Julienne the cucumber.

9. Place the noodles in bowls. Top with sauce and garnish with cucumber. Mix up and eat!