O.k. so this isn't going to be quite the erotic feast of words I had planned for this entry but rather more of a quick summary for completeness.
Hawaii has imported a number of significant food crops, pineapples are extremely well known but actually on the decline as a major agricultural effort. In their place have come large plantations of Macadamia nuts. There is a similar nut tree indigenous to the islands but the nuts are coarser and not so lucrative on the world market. Macadamias have therefore assumed a key role in the island's cuisine.
Macadamia crusted Tofu is surprisingly good. Marinade slices of firm tofu in lime and salt for an hour or so, top with a crust made of melted vegan fat, crushed macadamia nuts, coarse large breadcrumbs (panko style) and a few green herbs and bake in a hot oven for 20 or so minutes.
We served this with a Potato and Celeriac mash (to substitute for Poi) and some foil wrapped parcels of cabbage leaves wrapped around vegetables in a slight imitation of Lau lau. Lacking ti leaves or even banana leaves to make the outer wrapping and without taro leaves for the inner casing meant authenticity was lost entirely but I was still pleased at the way the vegetables turned out and it's a great way to pre-prepare everything. We just popped the parcels of veg into the oven with the tofu steaks and everything cooked while the cocktails were going down.
As a side Lomi Tomatoes, a sort of salsa made from peeled well chopped tomatoes well mixed with finely chopped onion which was a vegan attempt at another Hawaiian favourite Lomi Lomi Salmon.
Still to come - pudding. Don't hold your breaths.
No comments:
Post a Comment