Vegan Curried Scrambled Tofu with Bok Choi

 I have to keep telling myself it's 2011 because I simply don't believe it. Is it really 28 years since I appeared on this planet? Has it really been 11 years since we all thought the universe as we knew it would collapse because every computer in the WORLD wouldn't recognise the year '2000'? Am I now nearer my thirties than I was yesterday? I'm frightened, hold me!

Ahem. Minor freak out over. It's 2011, and I welcome the year with open arms, well the food I am about to eat this year anyway. I'm loving how my tastebuds have evolved over the past few years and in particular how they totally changed in 2010. Last year was my first full year as a vegetarian, I tried my hand at a vegan diet, embracing it more and more each month, and I can't wait to see what 2011 brings, even if I'm sort of in denial about turning 28 in May.

For this, my first blog post of the new year, I thought I'd bring you a very simply but oh-so-satisfying dish that I have gotten very fond of: scrambled tofu.

The only thing is, it sort of looks like scrambled eggs.

Do you like eggs? I don't. I've never eaten scrambled eggs - well, maybe I nibbled at a bit once but it was enough to put me off for life. I think I might have tried a fried egg once too, but I've generally been of the opinion that eggs were simply not for me. I did eat (lots of) cakes with egg in them, and I even had a crepe once or twice - but I was never able to finish one. And then there was an incident with a cheesecake-chocolate muffin that had a distinctly eggy taste and was followed by hours of vomiting out of a car window while travelling from Galway to Sligo....I never quite looked at a muffin the same way again.

So, as you can see, I'm not an egg fan. But I love this recipe, even if it is usually seen as a vegan alternative to scrambled eggs. Trust me, even if you can't stand eggs, you'll love this. And if you like eggs - well, let me know what you think!



What's so great about this recipe? Well for starters, there's a serving of greens in it - not just any old greens, calcium-rich bok choi. Vegans generally eat a lower amount of calcium than lacto-ovo veggies or non-vegetarians, so it's something they - I! - really need to keep an eye on. I learned this while reading the excellent vegan nutrition book, Becoming Vegan, last night (really, I can't recommend it enough, whether you're vegan or veggie - or even if you're an omnivore. It has so much fantastic nutrition information in it).

As I'm pretty lactose intolerant I was never too hot on dairy products growing up so I'm keen to keep an eye on my calcium intake. Bok choi is a great source of calcium, as is calcium-set tofu, so if you use both of these with this recipe, this goes far towards your recommended level of calcium.

For this dish, if you use one cup of bok choi per person, (around two heads of bok choi each), you get 74mg of calcium. While calcium in calcium-set tofu varies, it can go from 120mg to 750mg. Snack on a few figs after, drink a glass of calcium-enriched orange juice later in the day and you're doing well! Not to mention all the other vitamins and minerals you're getting. It is better to space out your calcium intake then eat it all at once, by the way, as your body absorbs calcium better that way. Also, too much acidic foods or drinks - meat, coffee, fizzy drinks - can inhibit calcium absorbtion. So it's all a matter of balancing intake of calcium with the rest of your diet.

Nutrition...a minefield or what?!

But back to the recipe.

Here's what you need for 2 servings:
1 - 2tsp olive oil 
One medium onion
One standard block of tofu (firm)
Four heads of bok choi
Curry spice mix - you can use a pre-mixed powder, as I did here, or a combination of turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, garam masala, etc. Around 1tsp of each should do you but don't be afraid to use more! Tip - about 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon of turmeric is a must for the yellow colour! This is usually included in pre-mixed curry spice packets.


Get scramblin'!

Dice your onion, then chop your bok choi. I like to gather the leaves together, roll them up and do a sort of rough chiffonade. The leaves will reduce when they are cooked but it's nice to chop them into bitesize pieces. Sit your block of tofu on a clean kitchen towel to soak up some of the moisture (you can press it if you'd like).

Add a little oil to the pan, then bring to a medium heat.When it has reached the desired temperature, add your onion (if it starts to sizzle, it's hot enough). Sauté your onion until it starts to go translucent and soft.

Add a couple of teaspoons of your curry powder - sometimes I add up to a tablespoon but I'm a fiend like that.

 Mix your onion around into the powder so it is all coated. The turmeric will turn the onions a pleasing shade of yellow. Then continue to cook for another 2 minutes, while it's doing this go and grab your tofu.

Here comes the fun part. I want you to - with clean hands, please, my dear - take the tofu, grab a large chunk, hold it over the pan and squeeze. Crumble it in as if you hated tofu with a passion, while knowing you secretly love beancurd to bits.

Once you have all of your tofu smushed into the pan, mix around with the onions until your tofu is coated in the lovely yellow curry. If it's looking a bit pale, just chuck a little more powder in. Unless you're using extra-hot curry powder (which I probably wouldn't do for this dish), you can't go too wrong with adding more.  You want your tofu to be sunset-yellow and looking scarily like scrambled eggs.

I usually leave this to cook for about five minutes, stirring every minute or so. Tofu cooks quite quickly. Then add the chopped bok choi. Stir to ensure it is all combined.

What I do next is a bit unorthodox - I usually put a lid on top of the dish for few minutes. I'm sure I read to do that in a macrobiotic book once....! I usually just leave it steam for another minute or two before taking the lid off and stirring again. If you think I'm crazy, ignore this step.

 You know your tofu is ready when your greens are wilted into the tofu, and bits of the tofu have started to crisp up a little.

When it's done, you want your tofu to look like this:

I caught a little bit of the steam rising off the tofu in this pic, which I took at a very odd angle!

Serve for brunch, and marvel at the fact you have already eaten your greens that day.

Have you eaten tofu scramble? What's your favourite way of cooking it?