Sandwiches are often an afterthought in vegan cooking, but the versatility of them can actually be quite astounding. There are almost endless varieties of patties and mixtures that you can put between two slices of bread and have as an easy lunch or a light supper. Some you can prepare in advance, while others need to be made fresh. This mushroom and tofu baguette is more of the serve fresh variety, preferably straight out of the pan and onto the bread while still hot. Served with chilled gem lettuce, raw chillies and mayonnaise, it is the perfect juxtaposition of hot and cold, married with just a touch of heat.
If you enjoy the recipes here, please show your support for this blog by clicking on the ads to help keep the free content coming!
The trick here is to drain the tofu well. Try to get it so that it is as dry as possible using either a dedicated tofu press, or your usual pots and pans stacked on top. The advantage of a tofu press, if you don’t have one, is that it drains the water away from the tofu. You can also leave it in the fridge while it is pressing without filling the fridge with heavy objects. I bought mine at a vegan fair a few years back and haven’t used saucepans since. The dryer you get the tofu, the more crispy you’ll be able to get it during cooking, so I would leave it pressing for at least an hour.
The Chinese sauces used in this dish are readily available in most large supermarkets, including the Shaohsing cooking wine. I’ve listed maple syrup for sweetness, but you can use any syrup or sugar you have. This is a very quick and easy dish to put together and will make a nice change from your usual sandwich.
Mushroom and Tofu Baguettes
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 3 tbsp oil
- 400 g firm tofu pressed for 1 hour and diced
- 250 g large flat mushrooms torn or cut into small pieces
- A handful of frozen edamame beans
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- ½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce use tamari for gluten-free
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce use gluten-free variety, if needed
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp Shaohsing cooking wine
To Serve:
- 3 individual crusty baguettes or gluten-free alternative
- A little vegan butter
- A few leaves of gem lettuce per baguette
- Half a red chilli sliced
- A couple of spoons of vegan mayo per baguette sriracha mayo works well
Instructions
- Heat the oil, until quite hot, then fry the drained tofu for about 10 minutes, until it is quite crispy. Remember to turn the pieces frequently to crisp all sides. Once this had been achieved, add the mushrooms and cook, on a medium-high heat, for a further 5-6 minutes, until they are also browned.
- Throw in the edamame beans and the garlic and give it another 4 minutes or so, stirring often.
- Now it’s time to add the spices and sauces. Put in the five spice, the ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, maple syrup and cooking wine. Stir through and let it bubble for about 4-5 minutes, until you are left with a small amount of sticky liquid, then turn off the heat.
- To serve, cut each baguette in half and butter each half. Line the bottom of each loaf with the gem lettuce leaves, then spoon on your tofu mix. Top with the sliced chilli and the vegan mayo, then place on the top half of the bread. Cut in half and serve immediately.
Want to learn to cook amazing vegan food?
Sign up to my membership site Richard Church’s Vegan Cook School
And get unlimited access to online vegan cooking classes
ORDER YOUR COPY OF MY LATEST COOKBOOK
VEGGING OUT FROM AMAZON
AVAILABLE IN BOTH PAPERBACK AND KINDLE FORMAT
Vegan Enchiladas
To veganise something like Enchiladas now is incredibly easy with the variety of ingredients available in most supermarkets. For this one I have used fresh vegan mince, along with mushrooms and onions for the chilli base. Don’t worry if you don’t like eating vegan mince, you can always substitute this chilli for my Sweet Potato,…
Spanish Lentils with Vegan Chorizo and Black Pudding
I first tried this dish about 25 years ago, when my Spanish girlfriend made it for me in a bedsit we shared in North London back in the mid-nineties. It was cooked on one of those old Baby Belling stoves that you would often see in bedsits back in those days (they might still have…
Vegan Fudge Cookies
We’ve been enjoying packets of vegan fudge in our house for quite a while now and a recent conversation with my wife got me thinking about how great it would be to have the fudge in a cookie, just like it was chocolate chip. This recipe is the product of that discussion: a very simple…
Potato, Courgette and Leek Gratin
With the products available now, a traditional gratin is very easy to turn into a vegan meal. Having good quality alternatives to butter, milk, cream and cheese are essential to giving the gratin its uniquely rich flavour. Thankfully, all of these are now easily obtainable in most supermarkets, giving us the option of having a…
Aubergine Parmigiana
The first thing you will notice when you look at this recipe for vegan Aubergine Parmigiana is that I haven’t used any vegan parmesan cheese. This was a personal choice because I thought the cheese I was using (vegan Cathedral City) had an intense enough flavour that I didn’t need it. That doesn’t mean that…
Sri Lankan Style Vegan ‘Chicken’ and Courgette Curry with Coconut Rotis
This is really three recipes in one. The first part of the recipe is the Ceylon curry powder, which is used as the main spice blend for this dish. The second part is the curry itself and the third is coconut rotis that the curry is served with. Ceylon curry powders can vary depending on…
20
20
20
20