Ashy's vegetarian recipes ©2002
These cutlets are very simple and quick to make but I found them a bit plain and decided to try making a sauce with them. I struck lucky and produced a sauce which went exceptionally well with the cutlets. The cabbage and tofu give a crunchy dry texture with a slightly bitter taste which, combined with the smooth texture and sweetness of the sauce, creates a nice balance.
Most of my recipes involve a mixture of different culinary influences. In the case of the sauce in this recipe, the source of inspiration is itself a sort of hybrid cuisine: 'British Chinese restaurant'.
Ingredients
For the cutlets:
Equal amounts of raw grated cabbage and tofu
A half teaspoon of paprika
Salt
For enough sauce for about four people:
1 onion
1 carrot
1 green pepper
2 cloves of garlic
Half a teaspoon of ground ginger
A pinch of aniseeds
A few sprigs of green coriander
Vegetable oil
2 teaspoons of flour
5 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of honey
2 mugs of water
First mash the cutlet ingredients together then leave the mix aside while you make the sauce.
Finely chop the onion and pepper and grate the carrot. Fry the onion and pepper together with the ginger and aniseeds until the vegetables are soft, then add the grated carrot and crushed or chopped garlic. Fry for another two minutes then add the flour. Stir the ingredients around for a minute or so to cook the flour then add the water, honey and soy sauce. When the sauce starts to boil, turn down the heat and simmer it for ten minutes. Add the chopped coriander at the end.
While the sauce is simmering you'll have time to fry the cutlets. Using your hands, form small cutlets with about one and a half dessertspoons of mixture for each. Two or three per person will be about right. Fry the cutlets on a medium heat for 4 or 5 minutes on each side.
These cutlets are good served with boiled rice. Put the sauce
in a bowl and let everyone help themselves.