tofu and sushi

[RaZoRbLaDe KiSs]

im kinda trying out this vegan thing and i was wondering if there was any way to make tofu and sushi at home??

[jabumbo]

take some hard salami from the deli, roll it up, and consume.

[cosmo105]

seriously, you don't know what you're getting into. are you vegetarian already? even if you are, it's a BIG change. it took me two failed tries before i finally went completely vegan. you have to be REALLY dedicated. i have to take specific supplements and extra protein so i don't pass out (i do pretty regularly) or go blind or anything. a lot of people don't know what they're doing when they go vegan and then end up losing tons of weight and completely screwing up their bodies. you've got to be ready to make almost all of your own food...kiss fast food goodbye (for the most part). and you'll be a pain in the ass to people around you because they have to make concessions for you wherever you go. i usually end up eating beforehand or bringing along food with me...or calling ahead to find out what's available. anyway, it really is a bigger change than you might think, and it's been one of the most difficult things i've ever done. i'm really glad i did it, but it's not easy.

can i ask why you want to go vegan? you really need a good reason.

and uh yeah. tofu is really easy to cook. it's like a blank canvas, it takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. there are a zillion things to do with it.

[adrockmelanie]

update: i'm not a vegetarian anymore

why?
1. i'm lame
2. there was nothing to eat on tour except meat and i didn't eat for a day and 1/2 already, so i had to eat a chicken strip or starve
3. i'm lame
4. yeah
5. most of you probably didn't even know i was one to begin with anyway.

[hellojello]

im kinda trying out this vegan thing and i was wondering if there was any way to make tofu and sushi at home??
um i think technically fish is like an animal product and therefore u can't eat sushi unless ur eating vegetarian califorian rolls without the mayonaise. OR unless u want to be one of those lame/vegetarians/vegans who thinks its ok to eat fish and seafood cuz their not bred specifically for that purpose, they spend half their life out in the ocean.. but yeah, u can make them at home...you'll need to go to an asian grocers and pick up some Nori sheets, rice vinegar, mirin and Kyuupi) get some nori (seaweed) sheets, get ur sushi rice
MAKING SUSHI RICE
rinse 2.5 cups (550g 1lb 2oz) of short grain white rice under cold water until the water runs clear...drain in the strainer for 1 hour
transfer to a large saucepan with 3 cups (750mls/ 24fl oz) water, bring to boil and cook for 5 -10 mins, without stirring, or until tunnels form on the surface, reduce heat to low, cover cook for further 12-15mins or until tender. Remove from heat, place a tea towel over the rice/ leave for 15 mins. Combine 5 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of mirin, 2 teaspoons of seasalt and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl and stir until sugar disolves. Spread the rice over a flat-nonmetallic tray, top with the dressing and stir to mix through. Spead out and cool to body temperature. If the rice gets 2 cold it will turn hard and be difficult to work with. Spead a damp tea towel over the rice and keep it covered as you work. To prevent the rice sticking to ur hands, dip your fingers in a bowl of warm water with a few drops of rice vinegar added. Makes 6 cups. (1.2kg-2lb6.5oz)
CALIFORNIA ROLLS...
get your nori, u need 4 sheets. 3 cups of cooked sushi rice, 1 sliced avacado, 1 sliced cucumber, (cut long ways into 8ths so u get long strips) 1 sliced red pepper - cut into long strips (capsicum), grated carrot, lettuce..whatever u feel like putting in there really... (IF you want to make non-vegie version, get some fish row, peeled and cooked prawns, some crab meat, some salmon -raw or smoked- tuna.etc AND you want some KYUUPI - japanese mayonaise)
Place 1 sheet or nori on a bamboo mat..Spread 2-3 tablespoons of rice in the middle of the nori, leaving a 2cm/.75ince border along the end nearest you. Make a slight indentation along the centre of the rice to hold the filling in, then (non vegan...spread a small line of mayonaise along the ridge, add your fish roe, and prawns etc at this point) Place your vegetables along the centre of the rice...where your indent is (remember the more u use,,the harder it will be to roll..and in the case of sushi..less is more), if you like wasabi, spread a VERY thin line along the cucumer before placing it in the roll) ROLL the bamboo mat over to enclose the filling..then roll the mat back and forth pressing gently to form a firm roll. Slice the role in half, then each half into 3. Makes 24. GOOD LUCK

[RaZoRbLaDe KiSs]

i dont know why im thinking about this, but i seriously dont want meat anymore. i mean, if its not steak, its not appealing to me, to tell the truth. and for the most part i dont eat that mess. ive always been the person to just love meat, but i honestly wanna try this for a bit to push myself and see how far i can take it. ive been changing alot, and i dont know. i guess this is just something thats coming with it.

and fish isnt a "meat" it doesnt walk on the land! :mad:

and, ah jubumbo, dawg, your the greatest.

[lil richard]

How could someone eat sushi? I'll take tofu that's for sure. ;)

[paulk]

Why is it that when someone starts a thread and mentions "vegan", everyone has to start bitching and whining.

While not eating dairy, honey, eggs, doesn't make sense to me, excluding animal flesh from the diet is really not that hard to do. Good Capitalists have already introduced tons of animal product free alternatives to capitalize off this recent fad.

At the very least, don't eat the heart-clogging cow muscle tissue.

[paulk]

It just occurred to me, maybe the bitching and whining is caused by the increased consumption of phytoestrogens in soy products.

[ms.peachy]

It is very easy to make lots of different types of vegan sushi. I highly recommend giving it a try, whether you go the whole vegan lifestyle route or not, it is certainly not going to hurt anyone to go without meat for a meal or two now is it.

It can also be kind of fun, and not difficult (although you might bungle it on the first or second roll- practice makes perfect) and also, people are really impressed when you serve it because it looks great and they probably have no idea how simple it is.

The recipe I am giving you now is the one I use, and to give credit where credit is due, it is about 99% nicked from the Moosewood Low-Fat cookbook by Mollie Katzen, a book that is kind of like my cooking bible and well worth making a part of your cookbook collection.

First of all, you MUST get yourself a sudore. It's a small bamboo mat that is used for rolling the sushi. If you have a Japanese grocery near you, or a good health food store, or even a regular supermarket that has a repectable 'ethnic foods' section, you should have no trouble finding one of these, and they're dead cheap. Do not even think about trying to do this without one, OK?

Also in this Japanese grocery/health food store/supermarket, you should be able to pick up a few of the other sushi ingredients you'll need.
sushi rice is, just as it indicates, rice processed to be used especially for sushi. It is slightly different from other regualr short grain white rice in that it is slightly starchier, so that it is sticker. You could also use regualr short grain white rice or brown rice, but I've had best results with the sushi rice.
wasabi paste (or powder that you can use to make a paste)
rice vinegar
mirin which is a sweet rice cooking wine (like a sherry)
black sesame seeds not entirely neccessary but are tasty, nutritious, and look fancy schmancy
sheets of nori seaweed.

Preparing the sushi rice:
Cook the rice according to directions. (I use 1.5 cups rice:2.5cups water, cooked for @15 mins, but there may be variation between brands.) When rice is cooked, add 4 tsp rice vinegar and 4 tsp mirin, stirring after adding each teaspoon. If you like you can also add in a heaping spoon of the sesame seeds.
Put the rice aside to cool whilst you prepare your fillings. You don't want to let it cool too much though, just to a 'handling' temperature. (What I usually do is keep it in the microwave with the door closed.)

Fillings:
whatever you want! Experiment with different combinations. Here are some of my faves.
carrot and fresh dillweed - cut the carrot into thin sticks (@1/4 inch wide) and steam them lightly to crisp tender. You can chop the dill if you like, or you can just kind of 'lay' it in when rolling.
cucumber, scallion and wasabi a spicy treat - careful with that wasabi though!
red, green and yellow pepper cut them into thin slivers and steam lightly to crisp tender. When you slice the rolls, the colours look awesome.
smoked tofu, black sesame and grated radish if you can get a Japanese radish, called daikon (looks kind of like a fat white carrot) so much the better. I've done this one both with and without wasabi, depending on how 'hot' the radish was.

To roll:
Set yourself up with a logical assembly line. Keep a bowl of water nearby for rinsing your fingers. You'll soon appreciate why this is so important.
Lay out your sudore and place the sheet of nori on it. Align the bottom edges.
Moisten your hands and take a small handful or the rice and spread a thin, even layer on the nori, but leaving about 1 1/2 inches at the top and about 1/2 inch at the bottom. (Don't worry about getting it exactly up to the side edges, or about exact measurements - a little Zen goes a long way).
About 1/3 of the way up from the bottom, make sort of a little 'groove' or depression parallel to the bottom edge - this is where you will lay in your fillings. The numero uno novice mistake in making these rolls is trying to cram in too much filling! So, try to restrain yourself. Also a tip I've learned is if you are using wasabi in the roll, put that in first - use your finger to kind of run a small glob of it along the groove so it spreads kind of evenly.
Once your fillings are there, you are ready to roll! It's easier to show than to explain, but here's how my friends in the Moosewood cookbook have written it:
"Take the bottom edge of the sudore and lift it up and over, as if beginning to form a jelly roll. Use the sudore to guide the nori wrapper until it contacts the rice (forming a circle). Lift the edge of the sudore out of the way and tuck in the bottom edge of the nori with your fingers to begin the roll. Once again, bring the sudore up and over the roll, but don't tuck in. Allow the bottom edge of the sudore to move gradually away from you towards it's top edge as you continue rolling. Press evenly and steadily on the sudorewith the palms of both hand while rolling to produce a well-shaped roll. Don't worry if a bit of rice squeezes out the sides. Continue rolling until the sudore is completely turned over - its top edge is now at the bottom and closest to you and a firmly packed nori roll emerges from beneath it. If it hasn't already selaed itself, seal the roll by spreading a little water with your fingertip along the uncovered top edge."

When you slice the rolls, kae sure your knife is sharp, and wet the blade after each slice (or the sticky rice makes it all gunky).

Your first try may well turn out to be a lumpy, misshapen thing that falls apart when you try to slice it. Take courage, soldier on! As I said earlier, practice makes perfect and you will pick up the hang of it in no time. The first time I made these, it was because I had organised for someone to come in to the museum I worked in at the time and do a demonstration for a day of special events we were having. And the day before this person cancelled, but the programs for the event were done and it was all sorted so I said "Right, well... I guess I better learn this right quick." And so I had a go at it and it was actually easier than I expected, once I got the hang of it. Now I can even do them fancy inside-out ones!

[Whois]

im kinda trying out this vegan thing and i was wondering if there was any way to make tofu and sushi at home??

Yes, buy a book on making sushi...

Tofu:

http://www.soymilkmaker.com/making_tofu.html (but you have to buy a soymilk maker)

or

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~hansen/recip/tofu.html

[Whois]

How could someone eat sushi? I'll take tofu that's for sure. ;)

You put it in your mouth and chew...YUMMY!

[Space]

ill eat anything

[jabumbo]

ill eat anything

word.

i think im more concerned of all the waste that comes as a by product from stupid packaged meals opposed to eating animal flesh...

[little j]

and fish isnt a "meat" it doesnt walk on the land! :mad:



so then its ok chicken and turkey? cuase they kinda fly right?

i thought VEGANS ate no animal products, or by products?

me, i dont like sushi, something to do with the texture.

and i love meat, something to do with the taste.

[Johanna]

and fish isnt a "meat" it doesnt walk on the land! :mad:

no offence, but that's the stupidest thing i've ever heard

[cosmo105]

so then its ok chicken and turkey? cuase they kinda fly right?

i thought VEGANS ate no animal products, or by products?


exactly. vegan = NO ANIMAL PRODUCTS whatsoever. some even go so far as to say no honey or even beeswax in cosmetics...but me...i'm cool with bees, and i eat mostly organic honey, so i know they're not mistreated or anything (y)

seriously, kid. you're too young to do this, and you really have no idea what you're getting yourself into. it's not something you can just jump into. you can seriously fuck up your health, i've seen it. i'm able to do it because i know how to get the nutrition i need.

[Mr. Boomin'Granny]

everyone knows where she gets her protein from.

[cosmo105]

SOY PROTEIN SHAKES


shush

[little j]

hahaha you two.

shutthefuckupalready :mad:



j/k

:D

[jabumbo]

fish is the best meat substitute...i look forward to lent because it forces me to eat fish once a week, which makes my life all the more better

[little j]

eating fish makes you smarter

[jabumbo]

eating fish makes you smarter

then i gues i should start now for finals?

[cosmo105]

fish oil is high in omega-3, -6, and -9 fatty acids, which is excellent for concentration and focus. it's really great for kids with ADD/ADHD, and for all around mental health and balance. it also has tons of benefits for crohn's patients :) but vegans need not fret, you can find similar (though unfortunately less complete) omega-3s in flaxseed oil (among other types of oils). the only kicker? it tastes like ass. i finally found a good organic flaxseed oil in veggie capsules, but it was hard to get my hands on. unlike boomin's wang.

[jabumbo]

i think i had ADD...at least somewhat...

[RockabillyGrrl]

fish is the best meat substitute...i look forward to lent because it forces me to eat fish once a week, which makes my life all the more better

It's not a meat substitute. It is a meat.

Meat

n 1: "the flesh of animals (including fishes and birds and snails) used as food."


Meat/ Protein substitutes would be peanuts, almonds, soy/ tofu.. etc.



But, fish IS much better than other meats.. generally has very little fat/ cals.. has the fatty acids and tastes really good.

Yet.. I do not eat it where I am a vegetarian.


And another thing.. I wish any of you the best of luck with the vegan thing.. That's really tough. I don't know if I could last very long with that. (y)

[sisterbeast]

Lots of people I know don't like tofu, but I say it's cuz they never had it cooked right. I don't understand how people eat that stuff cold and raw.

They have different types of tofu - firm, soft, supersoft or something along those lines. The firm ones I use for frying. The soft ones I use in soups.

The supersoft ones, I usually heat in the microwave and then eat with soy sauce, a little vinegar, sesame oil, green onion, sesame seeds, and some hot pepper flakes.

There are tofu patties that I make, but it requires eggs...

[Whois]

mmmm...miso with little tofu squares and toasted seaweed.