Question
Lee Adler
Tofu Scramble- too bland last evening. Any suggestions?
Answer
So when I looked at it, I thought to myself, "Okay, here's what I would do with this." Because sometimes when you see a tofu scramble and in your brain there's a big scramble, it's going to look like an egg scramble. And think about what eggs look like and how are you going to replicate the texture and parts of the flavor, because I don't know if you're exactly going to get that same flavor base. So here are my recommendations. With the kale, if you're using kale, kale, in my opinion, always needs to be massaged. And when I say massaged, I don't mean that gentle kale massage. I mean you're putting that kale between your hands, and when you finish, your hands are hunter green. And so then you chop it, and it will be more receptive and open to flavors. So there's that. And then I see the garlic. Bravo on the garlic. Who doesn't love garlic? Throw in four if you like. And then I saw the green onion, and I thought, "Well, green onions are pretty," because when you see those little mounds in a dish, they're very pretty. I personally would look at a medium-sized Bermuda onion, and I might take half of it and fine dice it. Remember, fine dice is going to give you a lot of flavor, so there's flavor there. And then I like nutritional yeast, so I would use the recommended dose that you have, but then think about using another tablespoon to be part of the garnish on the top of it so that it lends more flavor and adds a little bit more beauty. The turmeric, I know that you're adding the turmeric to get that egg-like color. So I think sometimes, and I've been to a million tofu places in my life that make a breakfast bake, but sometimes I think we overkill with the turmeric, and it becomes a really deep, dark, mustardy yellow, and eggs don't look like that. So I would lessen the turmeric to maybe either a quarter or a half a teaspoon and then blend it in really, really well. The cumin looks fabulous. The smoked paprika, two things. I think I would add diced peppers, and the reason why diced peppers is because they're a heavy moisture vegetable, so dice them up, and they're going to change the texture a little bit and not make it look so dry. I also happen to be a person who saves aquafaba, the bean drainage or the bean water, rather, and I put it in an ice cube tray, and when I'm going to make something like a tofu scramble, I'll pop out a couple of the cubes and then use that to add a little moisture to the dish so that it looks a little bit more like something familiar. And then the other thing, I looked at, because I studied this a lot, I would add perhaps some low-sodium tamari or some low-sodium soy just to sort of give it that familiar flavor that you might be seeking. I think it's going to help to elevate the flavor very, very well. But your recipe is great. It sounds delicious. I would eat it. Cut back on the turmeric. Let me know how you make out. Hope you have a great day.
