Tofu Triangles, Spring Rolls, Gyoza

Dinner 1/11

Tofu Triangles

Spring Rolls
(red cabbage, carrot, scallion, jalapeno, celery, ginger, garlic, pepper)

Gyoza
(napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, sesame oil)

I love the way the tofu changes when it's deep-fried -- it gets all balloon-y in the oil and then once it begins to cool, you can watch it collapse on itself in front of your eyes. The marinade of tamari, gin, szechuan pepper and cornstarch gives the tofu a great texture along with the sweet/sour/spicy dipping sauce of agave, tamari and rooster sauce (which also doubles as the sauce for the spring rolls).

The spring rolls were made with rice paper sheets, which were soaked in warm water for a minute or so, then stuffed with the filling listed above, and sealed with a little of the cornstarch slurry/marinade that was left over from the tofu triangles. This was as close to restaurant style spring rolls as we've ever made.

We often get asked about where to find wrappers that don't have dairy (either milk or whey hiding in the ingredients). They're not always easy to find -- you may need to search around for a bit -- but we found these at our local Korean grocery store. They're simply wheat flour, rice flour, water and salt.

The gyoza / pot stickers were filled with lightly sauteed napa cabbage and shiitake mushrooms with a little sesame oil -- then pan-seared and then steamed with a little tamari in the wok. Served with a ponzu dipping sauce.

Tags: ponzu, tofu, gyoza, pot stickers, napa cabbage, red cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, spring rolls, rice paper, tamari, vegan, food, dinner, tofu666