What if we spiced up our everyday dishes a little by digging into the great diversity of Asian cuisines? This is what Morgane proposes in her work Asian cuisines. My 100 delicious and unmissable recipes (Albin Michel, 2023). After the success of her YouTube channel “Cooking with Morgane”, followed by more than 650,000 subscribers, she brought together, in a beautiful book, a compilation of recipes from multiple horizons: first, China and Laos, where her parents are from, then Thailand, where she grew up, but also Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea and Japan.
In addition to accessible recipes, the book provides numerous tips and basics for choosing the right sauces and condiments, not missing out on cooking rice or calmly preparing baos, spring rolls or gyozas. If these cuisines are generally meat-based, a chapter of the book is devoted to dishes containing less meat, or even none at all, like these three vegetarian recipes.
Mapo tofu
This dish originates from the Chinese province of Sichuan and means “grandmother’s tofu”. It is known and appreciated for its spicy flavor, and traditionally prepared with ground meat. Here I offer you a delicious version low in chili and vegetarian.
Preparation time : 15 mins
Cooking time : 9 mins
Ingredients for 4 persons :
- 500 g semi-firm or tender tofu
- 25 cl of vegetable stock or water
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon ginger
- 1 Thai chives or chives
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon Sichuan pepper seeds
- Ground pepper
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon and ¼ tsp. teaspoon of salt
- ½ tsp. tablespoon miso paste
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp. teaspoon of sugar
- 2 tbsp. tsp tapioca or corn starch
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp. tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tbsp. tablespoon of sunflower oil
- 1 chopped mini pepper
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon dry sweet pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp. tablespoon of chili puree or 1 mini pepper (optional)
- 1 tbsp. teaspoon dry chili flakes (optional)
The preparation :
Grate the ginger, chop the garlic, slice the chives. Dilute the starch in 60 ml of water. Cut the tofu into 2cm cubes.
Toast the Sichuan pepper seeds over low heat, stirring regularly. As soon as a nice citrus scent rises from the pan, after about 1 and a half minutes, turn off the heat. Mix the seeds to reduce them to powder.
In a pot of boiling water, with the dark soy sauce and 1 tbsp. teaspoon of salt, blanch the tofu for 1 minute, then drain it.
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