Game-changing Vegan Egg Salad
I'm a food nerd. I read cookbooks like they are novels — I mean, some of them actually have pretty fascinating biographical, historical, and cultural information — and I really enjoy trying to figure out how a dish has been made when I'm eating out in a restaurant. So one of my greatest joys is when different bits of food knowledge come together from different parts of my life, inspiring a new recipe. This is one of them.
I was recently in Ireland on vacation and I bought a cookbook from Cornucopia Restaurant in Dublin, which has been serving vegan delights for 40 years. I've already been cooking from the book and have marked a couple of dozen other recipes I'm eager to try. I'd noticed that their recipe for a vegan "Egg Mayonnaise" — what we would refer to as egg salad in the United States — called for the use of finely chopped cooked rice noodles, which I thought was a really interesting idea and would bring a fantastic textural element to the dish. Textural issues are often the biggest problems with vegan dishes that are inspired by those made with dairy, eggs, or meat.
Then, last week, I was at the Plant Based World Expo in New York City and happened to sample a vegan chicken salad at the Edward and Sons booth; Edward and Sons has been around since 1978, producing and marketing a range of plantbased foods, from miso to coconut cream, so I'm a big fan of their products. The "chicken" salad that I sampled was really delicious, and it turned out that they had cooked their canned jackfruit in their no-chicken bouillon, to infuse flavor into the jackfruit. This seemed like such a smart idea, and it got me thinking about Cornucopia's "egg mayonnaise" recipe. Their recipe used chick peas as the base ingredient, but I've always really loved a tofu egg salad, so I decided to take crumbled tofu, simmer it in Edward and Sons no-chicken bouillon, then took a cue from the Cornucopia recipe by combining the tofu with a smaller amount of chickpeas and the rice noodles. The result was, quite simply, the best vegan egg salad I've ever had. Definitely a game changer.
Ingredients:
454 grams block of extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1 "no-chicken" bouillon cube
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
100 grams rice noodles
85 grams chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon kala namak (black salt)
Place the crumbled tofu in a 2 quart saucepan with just enough water to cover; crumble the bouillon cube into the pan and add the ground turmeric, then bring to a boil, stirring occasionally as the bouillon cube dissolves. Lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes, then let cool completely and drain (the broth is delicious, so be sure to reserve the broth and drink that as a little treat for yourself).
While the tofu is cooling, boil the rice noodles in a saucepan with three cups of water for about 6 minutes, or until tender. Drain completely and rinse in cold water. Chop finely and set aside.
Mash the chickpeas with a fork so that they are crumbly but not mushy. Set aside.
Place the cooled tofu in a large bowl with the chopped rice noodles and mashed chickpeas, then add the chives, black pepper, celery seeds, smoked paprika, and nutmeg, mixing together until everything is incorporated, then add the mayonnaise and mix thoroughly until all the ingredients are coated. Finally, add the kala namak and mix thoroughly. Cover and chill for 1 hour before serving. Can be refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to one week.
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