STAM 💚
Cleverly named by my wife, this is a tofu SPAM. It's paired with steamed jasmine rice, scallions, bachan's, and a mound of sprouts!
Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for this because remaking better-for-you versions of hyperpalatable foods typically leaves me unsatisfied at best. But, it was actually much more enjoyable than I expected. I started with the @thefoodietakesflight recipe, and adjusted to my preference. I changed about half the things, so I'll just list what I did specifically (if you're curious about the differences: I used a full 16oz block firm tofu (pressed) instead of 14oz extra-firm, no oil, low sodium soy sauce instead of regular, 1 tsp tomato paste, no water, no added table sugar, and half the garlic powder). Side note, I don't care for pressing my tofu unnecessarily, but when going for a marinade like this, I at least dry it off if not press a bit so it stands a chance at picking up the marinade more densely. For this I did a proper press stacking seemingly random but carefully chosen stuff in the kitchen on top 📚
Marinade:
3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp maple syrup
Pinch ground pepper
2 tsp hickory liquid smoke
1 tsp tomato paste
⅛ tsp garlic powder
2 tsp beet powder
☝️btw, this stuff looks EXACTLY like human blood 😬🩸
Marinated cubes overnight because that amount of beetroot powder made me cringe they might taste too beety if I didn't let the other flavors do their thing. Cooked uncovered, over medium heat in a ceramic skillet for about 10 minutes.
Finished with bachan's sauce and scallions!
My new tomato paste tube is TRIPLE concentrated, not sure if there's any way to prove that besides dehydrating a teaspoon and comparing it to another dehydrated teaspoon, a project for some other day 😅 so I used just 1 tsp. If you've been eating SPAM regularly, you're definitely going to notice the lack of oil and drastic reduction in sodium, probably best you make something else and come back to this after a year 🤗
#plantbased #vegan #oilfree #stam #sprouts #breakfast