This piece was written on Dharawal Land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to get down to Narooma (Yuin Country), nearly 5 hours south of home. Stella the van had never driven so far south, and neither we! The plan was to snorkel at Montague Island (Barunguba) with some friendly seals, but unfortunately the sea was too rough. Having said that, Yuin Country is beautiful and brimming with beaches, seals and rock pools - I call them mermaid pools. So we still got a few (freezing) snorkels in.
So, what better way to celebrate the seaside than to try out something new that doesn’t harm the creatures keeping that ecosystem alive? Fish-less cakes! Tod mun pla was one of my favourites before I became vegan, so luckily I was able to conjure up the same flavours and similar textures while getting to enjoy one of my old favourites.
What’s a pre-vegan favourite that you’d love to veganise? Or if you eat meat, what would you like to challenge yourself to recreate? Let me know in the comments below.
ingredients.
1 x tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 flax egg (1 tbsp flaxseed combined with 1 tbsp water)
Oil, for frying
1 tbsp thai curry paste (I used yellow)
5 kafir lime leaves, finely sliced
1 tbsp chilli
3 tbsp vegan fish sauce (find in Asian grocery stores)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp sugar
Sweet chilli, for dipping
Extra chilli and coriander, to serve
how to.
So easy! Blitz all ingredients except oil and cornstarch in the food processor/ blender, form into patties.
Dip each patty in some starch.
Heat a decent 1/4 cup oil on medium and fry patties until golden brown, flip once.
Drain on paper towel. Serve straight away with some dipping sauce and a Singha!!
These look sooo delicious and the flavors are one of my favorites. Will have to give these a try!
What a fabulous treat for Stella (aka the surely gorgeous adventure) & these savoury cakes for you & yours!
I thought about your question, and it took me a bit. I would say a dry/crumbly/tangyyyy ricotta salata cheese is something I think of fondly from my pre-vegan days. Can't say anything has ever come close, but that's OK. I really can't think of much else - I was so picky back then.
Other than that, big, yeasty cream-filled doughnuts....that's getting closer. I vow that one day I'll make and actually fry a batch of fluffy doughnuts of glory, but wow, what a filling mess that day (s) will be. : )