Sweet Tofu Pockets with Mirin Dressing and Pickled Vegetables
Kate Mason is marketing manager for a specialty restaurant in Brighton, England.
This recipe is featured in Tolerating Intolerance: A Restaurant’s Guide to Gluten-Free Ingredients
(Vegan and gluten-free, contains sesame)
We always have a version of tofu pockets on our menu as they’re so tasty and always one of our most popular dishes! Tofu pockets, known as inariage, can be bought from Oriental or Asian supermarkets. The tamari is a gluten-free soy sauce.
- Servings Serves 6
Ingredients
For the pickled vegetables:
- 1 carrot
- Half a cucumber
- 100g (3½ ounces) radish
- 100g (3½ ounces) caster (superfine) sugar
- 100ml (6 tablespoons) white wine vinegar
For the mirin dressing:
- 4 tablespoons mirin
- 3 tablespoons tamari
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
For assembly:
- 200g (7 ounces/1 cup) brown rice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Half a white onion, chopped
- 400g (14 ounces) oyster mushrooms, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 bunch of spring onions (scallions), finely chopped
- 200g (7 ounces) roasted mashed butternut squash
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- Salt and pepper
- 1 ripe avocado
- 4 packets of tofu pockets
- Pickled ginger, for serving (optional)
- Enocci (enoki) mushrooms, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
1. For the pickled vegetables: The night before serving, prepare the pickled vegetables. Using a mandolin, finely shred the carrot, cucumber, and radish. Whisk together the vinegar, sugar and 100ml (6 tablespoons) water until all the sugar has dissolved. Soak the vegetables in the liquid overnight.
2. For the mirin dressing: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and set aside.
3. To assemble the pockets: Put 500ml (2 cups) water into a large saucepan, bring it to the boil and add the rice. Cook for 15 minutes. Drain well.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and oyster mushrooms together for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and tamari, and half the spring onions (scallions). Cook until tender and mix with half of the cooked rice. Add the butternut mash, mirin, salt and pepper to the other half of the cooked rice, along with the remaining spring onions (scallions).
5. Open the tofu cases and using a teaspoon stuff them carefully with the two types of rice. Chop the avocado into 2cm (¾ inch) cubes and place these in the top of the tofu pockets; serve immediately with mirin dressing, drained pickled vegetables, and, if desired, pickled ginger and a garnish of enocci (enoki) mushrooms.
Kate Mason
Kate Mason is the Marketing Manager at the award-winning vegetarian restaurant, Food for Friends. Nestled in England’s historic Brighton lanes, the restaurant specialises in tasty dishes using the freshest ingredients while catering to gluten-free and vegan diets. Kate has recently taken up food photography. She loves sea-swimming and yoga, but redresses the balance with a bottle of red and a packet of crisps with friends in the local pub.
Courtesy photo
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