So, as I mentioned in my first ever blog, I have decided to try and stick to a vegan diet for a fortnight to see how I get on. I’m anticipating it to be pretty hard work considering my husband is a hardcore carnivore…
Since the majority of my family are from Grimsby, I felt that I had to find a veggie / vegan fish alternative that didn’t taste like crap!
Inspired by the lonesome, singular sheet of nori I inevitably always seem to have leftover from making sushi, I came up with the following recipe for vegan fishcakes.
They don’t have the same flaky quality of fish, or the exact fishy flavor, but they were close enough to keep my haddock cravings at bay (my favorite white fish before I turned veggie). They are also pretty tasty and the delightfully crispy coating gives them a nice bit of texture without being too unhealthy.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 sheet of nori,
- 2 slices wholemeal bread (stale is better),
- 1 block of firm tofu,
- 1 fresh lemon,
- 1 sprig of fresh parsley,
- 1 splash of non-dairy milk
- Black pepper to taste.
Method:
- Press the block of tofu for 12 hours. You want it to be nice and firm!
- Once pressed and firm, the tofu can be cut into fishcake sized pieces. I got 4 fishcakes out of one block.
- Next, prepare your breadcrumbs. Whiz the bread along with the nori, the parsley and a bit of black pepper in a food processor.
- Once the breadcrumbs are ready, chop the lemon into two. Keep one half as a garnish for later on and juice the other half. Add the juice to a splash of non-dairy milk and mix.
- Dip each side of each piece of tofu into the lemony-milk mixture, before rolling in the breadcrumbs. You might need to gently pat the breadcrumbs onto the tofu to ensure that they stick.
- Place each breaded piece of tofu onto a non-stick baking tray (you can lightly oil the tray if you wish) and bung into the oven at 180oC for 20 minutes. Turn every now and then to make sure they cook evenly.
I served mine with a fresh salad consisting of leaves, tomato, white cabbage, fresh chives and a sprinkling of pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and flax seeds. I also made some vegan tartar sauce by whizzing up some vegan mayo with a squeeze of lemon juice and some mini gherkins. Delish!!!
Carnivorous husband rated these 6 out of 10 because they tasted “too much like fried egg whites”. How a vegan fishcake tasted like egg I’ll never know!
I hope anyone who tries to follow this recipe enjoys their “fishcakes” too.
Flash-Gordonette….x
