Tofu
It is by far my favorite vegetarian dish. In addition to being declined in several forms, cooking methods, and tastes, there is a multitude of recipes that go very well with tofu without it necessarily being a vegetarian steak with little concentrated taste.
For starters, the classic tofu (firm and generally cubic) which can be found just about everywhere with a slightly spicy sauce accompanied by finely sliced chives :
The mapo tofu which can be eaten without meat or with it (for the mysterious name it is Chinese cuisine). It is a spicy sauce that looks like tomato sauce but it is slightly sweet.
- Dried Bean stick. C’est moins connu, c’est pas du tofu mais c’est la même base, à savoir du haricot jaune mais je vais préférer garder le nom anglais parce que la traduction est un peu wtf. Sous la langue ça donne une légère impression de légume à la texture frite. Ça se mange avec des vermicelles, des carottes cuites avec de la sauce soja et des champignons noirs.
Dried Bean knot. It is the same manufacturing process that precedes, however it is not a stick but a knot, hence the name. This difference gives a radically different texture to the dried bean knot since it looks like it has a powdery texture. This one can only be eaten in soup. Here again, the soup content will depend on individual tastes. But there is also an excellent Chinese dish that is served at New Year's Eve. It is a mixture of Chinese cabbage, spinach, carrots, French cabbage, fried tofu, dried knot, shiitake mushrooms and soy saice. It's literally called "the ten vegetables", you put in the vegetables you want and it's super rich in flavor without even adding meat. This is rare because in Chinese cuisine it is the meat that gives the soup taste.
Tofu with 5 flavors. It is basically the main and most famous seasoning in Chinese cuisine. These spices are used as well to season meat (as it is the case of the lacquered duck), as to perfume the tofu. In total and according to Wikipedia, the 5 spices are :
- Szechuan pepper;
- Chinese star anise;
- The cinnamon of China;
- Cloves;
- Fennel.
Seitan. Finally, probably the best known among vegetarians, Seitan is also called the Mock Duck, or the tofu imitation duck meat. Personally, I don't feel like eating duck meat, but since I'm an omnivore and I'm not allergic to gluten either, I mainly eat seitan for its sweet and salty taste but also for its elastic texture which goes very well in a salad that's a bit too bland.
Finally, precisely in Chinese cuisine, there is a plethora of tofu, almost as many as there are regions that, according to their traditions and customs, have developed specialties closely linked to their history. In Taiwan, for example, the fragrant tofu or stinky tofu is subjected to a fermentation process that gives it that special taste. Personally I don't like it, and yes, it stinks... but there are some who like Roquefort cheese, eh?
More original, I didn't put it in my list because I never had the opportunity to taste it, it's the "Shiratak Chinese version". Basically the literal translation in Mandarin is the tofu tuffu (hairy). It looks like cotton and it is after a long fermentation process that fungi grow on the surface of the tofu to populate it and give it that characteristic fluffy look. I think it's not sold in stores because it's very difficult to preserve. If you look at the picture, you could even say that on the scale of the tofu's life, it is mummified tofu..
