tofu scramble

When I was still eating eggs, my Sunday morning soft-boiled egg was one of the culinary highlights of my breakfast week. It's a simple thing to prepare, and it's oh-so delicious. Back then, I used to buy organic, free-range eggs, and thought I was doing good. After all, the chickens could run around in open air, as they're designed to do by nature. They would have enough space: according to EU standards, eggs with the print code '0' as the first digit (organic free-range eggs) have to come from chickens which are held at a maximum of 6 individuals per square meter in the hen house - as opposed to 18 (!) for battery chickens -, and 1 chicken per 4 square meters in the outdoors area which they would have at least 8 hours per day access to; they would be fed with organic, GMO-free grains and greens, not with fish meal and other stuff they wouldn't find in the wild; they would have an uninterrupted night rest of at least 8 hours; and for every 8 chickens, there would have to be a nest. Also, their beaks wouldn't be allowed to be chopped off, as is the case by cage-free barn eggs where the hens have way less space and would otherwise start pecking each other. This lulled me into believing I was displaying animal-friendly behavior. I even tried (without success) to convince the university caterer to upgrade their eggs from 'scharrelei' (with the print code '2'), where 9 chickens have to share one square meter in a coop and never see the sun because there's no outside area they can roam, and where they are de-beaked and fed with farming residue and artificial coloring.

What I didn't consider was that for every egg-laying hen that is grown, another one has to die. As is the case with most vertebrae (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish), the birth rate of male and female individuals is approximately 50:50. And since male chickens aren't able to lay eggs, they are considered useless by the industry and are killed right after birth. This happens in the hatchery, either by gassing them or by grinding them up alive, lately also via electrocution. If you can stomach it, watch this undercover video taken in a hatchery which uses a grinder. Warning: it's graphic. This practice of killing male chicks is not tied to the cage hen industry. It's the same for all chickens, whether they are battery chickens or organic free-range chickens. The little guys have to die, because the industry has no use for them. Granted, some German Demeter farmers lately came up with a model where they let the male chicks grow for a few months into young roosters - but only to then slaughter them and sell them as broilers. And, as we are increasingly aware of, there is no such thing as animal-friendly meat.

Another striking reason to abstain from eating eggs is that the laying hens are usually slaughtered after 2-3 years, because that is when egg production declines and the break-even point for the farmer starts to topple: Keeping a hen which only lays one egg per week instead of 5 is more expensive than replacing it by a young, fresh one which can produce at full capacity. Naturally, chickens can reach an age of 8 or more years. In egg production, chickens gets slaughtered before they even reach mid-age.

Since I went vegan, I've been experimenting with tofu scramble as a replacement for my Sunday morning egg. My method has now reached a quality level that creates the same amount of happy anticipation of my Sunday breakfast as I used to have for my soft-boiled organic free-range egg. The secret, as usual, is in the ingredients. Here, in particular, it's one ingredient which transforms the otherwise bland tofu into something that closely resembles the taste of eggs. It's called kala namak or black salt, and it originates in the salt ranges of the Himalayan mountains in India and Pakistan, even though it is nowadays mostly produced by altering table salt. What makes it different from the latter is its sulphuric aroma that closely resembles that of cooked eggs. Which makes it perfect for savory vegan dishes that are supposed to resemble eggs - such as tofu scramble.

Here comes the recipe for 2 persons:

250g of firm tofu (here in Europe, all tofu is non-GMO - in other countries, make sure to get organic tofu) drained and pressed between paper towels
1 small chopped onion (may be omitted if you don't like onions)
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup of chopped greens (I used spinach today)
1/4 tsp kala namak
1/4 tsp turmeric (to give it a yellow look, but also to help digestion)
1 Tbsp canola oil (I love Brassica Culinair which has this amazingly yummy buttery taste)
optional:
1/4 tsp asafetida powder(devil's dung - this is my pet spice, but not everyone likes it, so omit as you please)
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder (this is my other pet spice, same as above)

• Wash hands
• Squeeze the drained tofu block through the fingers of your hand by forming a fist until you have crumbles which are 2-3 mm in diameter
• Mix them well in a bowl with the kala namak, turmeric, and (optionally) asafetida and fenugreek
• Heat the oil in a non-sticky frying pan
• Add the onions and sauté for a minute on high heat
• Turn down to medium heat and stir in the tofu mixture
• Let everything simmer for 2 minutes or until bottom side of tofu crumbles gets light-brown, then stir it upside down and let simmer for another minute
• Add the chopped tomato, stir well, and let simmer for another 2 minutes
• At the very end, stir in the spinach and stir-fry for another minute
• Serve hot with fresh buns, bread, or crackers.

In case you're interested, the bowl in the photo contains soy latte, and the glass holds a fresh spinach-grapefruit-pineapple smoothie.

When I was still eating eggs, my Sunday morning soft-boiled egg was one of the culinary highlights of my breakfast week. It's a simple thing to prepare, and it's oh-so delicious. Back then, I used to buy organic, free-range eggs, and thought I was doing good. After all, the chickens could run around in open air, as they're designed to do by nature. They would have enough space: according to EU standards, eggs with the print code '0' as the first digit (organic free-range eggs) have to come from chickens which are held at a maximum of 6 individuals per square meter in the hen house - as opposed to 18 (!) for battery chickens -, and 1 chicken per 4 square meters in the outdoors area which they would have at least 8 hours per day access to; they would be fed with organic, GMO-free grains and greens, not with fish meal and other stuff they wouldn't find in the wild; they would have an uninterrupted night rest of at least 8 hours; and for every 8 chickens, there would have to be a nest. Also, their beaks wouldn't be allowed to be chopped off, as is the case by cage-free barn eggs where the hens have way less space and would otherwise start pecking each other. This lulled me into believing I was displaying animal-friendly behavior. I even tried (without success) to convince the university caterer to upgrade their eggs from 'scharrelei' (with the print code '2'), where 9 chickens have to share one square meter in a coop and never see the sun because there's no outside area they can roam, and where they are de-beaked and fed with farming residue and artificial coloring.

What I didn't consider was that for every egg-laying hen that is grown, another one has to die. As is the case with most vertebrae (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish), the birth rate of male and female individuals is approximately 50:50. And since male chickens aren't able to lay eggs, they are considered useless by the industry and are killed right after birth. This happens in the hatchery, either by gassing them or by grinding them up alive, lately also via electrocution. If you can stomach it, watch this undercover video taken in a hatchery which uses a grinder. Warning: it's graphic. This practice of killing male chicks is not tied to the cage hen industry. It's the same for all chickens, whether they are battery chickens or organic free-range chickens. The little guys have to die, because the industry has no use for them. Granted, some German Demeter farmers lately came up with a model where they let the male chicks grow for a few months into young roosters - but only to then slaughter them and sell them as broilers. And, as we are increasingly aware of, there is no such thing as animal-friendly meat.

Another striking reason to abstain from eating eggs is that the laying hens are usually slaughtered after 2-3 years, because that is when egg production declines and the break-even point for the farmer starts to topple: Keeping a hen which only lays one egg per week instead of 5 is more expensive than replacing it by a young, fresh one which can produce at full capacity. Naturally, chickens can reach an age of 8 or more years. In egg production, chickens gets slaughtered before they even reach mid-age.

Since I went vegan, I've been experimenting with tofu scramble as a replacement for my Sunday morning egg. My method has now reached a quality level that creates the same amount of happy anticipation of my Sunday breakfast as I used to have for my soft-boiled organic free-range egg. The secret, as usual, is in the ingredients. Here, in particular, it's one ingredient which transforms the otherwise bland tofu into something that closely resembles the taste of eggs. It's called kala namak or black salt, and it originates in the salt ranges of the Himalayan mountains in India and Pakistan, even though it is nowadays mostly produced by altering table salt. What makes it different from the latter is its sulphuric aroma that closely resembles that of cooked eggs. Which makes it perfect for savory vegan dishes that are supposed to resemble eggs - such as tofu scramble.

Here comes the recipe for 2 persons:

250g of firm tofu (here in Europe, all tofu is non-GMO - in other countries, make sure to get organic tofu) drained and pressed between paper towels
1 small chopped onion (may be omitted if you don't like onions)
1 chopped tomato
1/2 cup of chopped greens (I used spinach today)
1/4 tsp kala namak
1/4 tsp turmeric (to give it a yellow look, but also to help digestion)
1 Tbsp canola oil (I love Brassica Culinair which has this amazingly yummy buttery taste)
optional:
1/4 tsp asafetida powder(devil's dung - this is my pet spice, but not everyone likes it, so omit as you please)
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder (this is my other pet spice, same as above)

• Wash hands
• Squeeze the drained tofu block through the fingers of your hand by forming a fist until you have crumbles which are 2-3 mm in diameter
• Mix them well in a bowl with the kala namak, turmeric, and (optionally) asafetida and fenugreek
• Heat the oil in a non-sticky frying pan
• Add the onions and sauté for a minute on high heat
• Turn down to medium heat and stir in the tofu mixture
• Let everything simmer for 2 minutes or until bottom side of tofu crumbles gets light-brown, then stir it upside down and let simmer for another minute
• Add the chopped tomato, stir well, and let simmer for another 2 minutes
• At the very end, stir in the spinach and stir-fry for another minute
• Serve hot with fresh buns, bread, or crackers.

In case you're interested, the bowl in the photo contains soy latte, and the glass holds a fresh spinach-grapefruit-pineapple smoothie.

tofu scramble