TTFeb: Three new favorite foods

[superborb]

shati prompted: Any new/recent (however you want to define recent) favorite foods? To eat, to make, whatever

I have three for you!

1. Okara / soy pulp pancakes. I loooooove fresh soy milk; if you've only had the boxed stuff, it's a totally different flavor! But none of the grocery stores near me sell the fresh stuff, so I have to make it myself. While you can make it with just a pot and a blender, it likes boiling over; a soy milk maker is a set-and-forget. Combined with the beans being pretty shelf stable and wanting to reduce dairy consumption, it would seem a no-brainer to make it all the time, BUT it always felt so wasteful to have all the soy pulp left over! There's only so much stir-fried okara and hiding it in breads that can be done before I'm totally bored with it. It's also very perishable unless you freeze or dry it.

Enter: okara pancakes. To one batch of okara (~3 cups, not particularly well drained of the soy milk), add 1 c flour, 1 heaping spoonful cornstarch, and whatever diced vegetables and flavorings suits your mood. I usually default to Thai red curry paste with onions since it's super convenient. Then in a well-oiled pan, fry them on both sides until browned, and drain on paper towels.

They're satisfyingly hearty and flavorful. I don't think I'd make soy milk just to have them, but at this moment in time, they're by far my favorite way to use up the leftover okara. And now I can have salty soy milk for breakfast without any guilt about letting the soy pulp go to waste!

2. King Arthur's Easiest Loaf of Bread. My current favorite bread recipe! This recipe creates finer bubbles in the bread, with just enough of a crust for textural contrast without being tough. I'm sure my Bread Opinions will change with time, but this is the current champion! It unseated the KA no knead bread, which kept coming out with bubbles of uneven size and ever so slightly sour in a bad way. This one is more consistent in texture.

3. Serious Eats' Tomato Soup. The baking soda trick is a GAME CHANGER. Cooking it down for hours is pretty annoying, but I regret to inform that it really does make it more delicious as the tomato flavor develops. Actually I feel that way about the ingredients too-- I'm usually a 'whatever, just substitute something else' kind of cook, but all the perturbations I've tried for this recipe have ranged from 'meh' to 'not quite as good'. An energetically stable point on the food landscape.


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Comments

[adevyish]

I am vividly reminded of the period of my life where I was eating soy pulp in everything from mantou to meatballs, oof.

[superborb]

Ahahahahaha, yeah....... The main flaw in making soy milk.

Maybe one day I'll get chickens and I can feed it to them.

[skygiants]

I super want to try this tomato soup.

[superborb]

It is so worth the effort if you like tomato soup even a little.

[chestnut_pod]

The baking soda trick is pure genius!

[superborb]

SO obvious once it's pointed out, but it didn't occur to me that the acidity might be a problem!

[qian]

I did not know soy milk makers were a thing! Which do you use?

[superborb]

I use a Soyajoy G4! I like it well enough, but I didn't conduct a thorough comparison of the options.

[presumenothing]

Oh I really love both Serious Eats' recipes (at least from what I've tried) and tomato soup so I may have to do this…

Also I have never thought of food as a find-the-maxima-problem but no actually you are completely right about that. enter world's most delicious MATLAB plot, yum

[superborb]

I find Serious Eats' recipes hit or miss (and their obsession with brown butter hilarious), but definitely they have a lot of good tips.

[shati]

That's so satisfying! Every week I strain chili sauce and every week I think "I should find a use for this pulp" and I ... never do. Onion curry paste pancakes sound way better than mostly-chili-skins-and-seeds though. I've never had fresh soy milk, is the taste easy to describe?

I'm not sure if I've ever eaten tomato soup, somehow, but that looks great. I always think of sugar when I'm cooking tomato sauce (and then reject it), but I should really try baking soda.

[superborb]

I guess it's also a question of if the chili bits are still spicy. I bet you could do it, though it might need more flour to balance it out?

Fresh soy milk is a bit bean-y, with a clean sweet aftertaste! Often it's either sweetened or soy sauce/vinegar/toppings are added to coagulate it into a thin savory soup with tiny tofu-like bits.

If you do tomato soup, would highly recommend the classic grilled cheese combo.