A Quron is Born

You’ve heard of soy chicken, you’ve heard of konnyaku octopus, and now you’ve heard of QUORN!

Whether you’re a vegetarian because you can’t bare the thought of blood spraying out of the neck of the poor little wee lamb that was just bouncing across the paddock this morning, or because you can’t cope with the fact that one cow will produce environmental waste of 20 – 40 human beings per day, or because you need to cut down meat so that you don’t get heart disease of bowel cancer, or that you are just a die hard fan of Linda and Paul McCartney, you are still likely to be in the fake meat market because you are still psychologically driven to want to look at, smell, and taste the flesh of another dead animal. So in our strange world of the clashes of the determined will and uncontrollable lust, we are constantly looking for substitutes for a nice slab of meat. Or you’re just a meat eater and wants to know what all the fuss in about cos its just damn bloody fun isn’t it?

QUORN is a weird little product that is made out of mycoprotein made out of fungus (not mushroom but just a form of pure gunky greyish brown stuff that will grow anywhere wet and dark – yup). Once hugely suspected and mistrusted in the vego community across the world – largely due to rumours that it is a) genetically modified and b) the product uses battery hen eggs. Apparently since then QUORN has cleaned up its act and did some proper PR and marketing to defuse those concerns, and now it seems like every yuppy vego or vego-curious is experimenting with QUORN.

Here is one recipe from the divine Ms Curlz and one from myself.

QUORN LAB (Ms Curlz)

250g QUORN
150g Firm Tofo – cut in 1 x 4 cm cube strips. (pre-soaked in some soy sauce while the onion and garlic are cooking)
1 onion – diced
3 cloves garlic
500g baby spinach
1 vine cherry tomatoes (approx 16)
Soy sauce
Fish Sauce
Sesame Oil

1) Saute onions and garlic in shallow pan in sesame oil till clear and translucent.
2) Remove the onions and garlic from the pan and let them sweat in a bowl covered with gladwrap
3) add the tofu to the pan and fry till light brown
4) Remove the tofu from the pan and add QUORN, then adding a swill (prob between 1-2 tbsp) of both fish sauce and soy sauce and cook for a few minutes
5) Separately sear tomatoes on the vine in olive oil till skin is lightly broken
6) Toss into salad bowl with baby spinach and let the leaves wilt with existing heat of the mixtures.

MaQUORN ToFU (WaWa)

250g QUORN
150g Silken Tofo – chopped in large squares
2 cloves garlic diced
2 – 3 sprigs spring onions chopped
100g green beans chopped
2 – 3 Tbsp Garlic Chilli Paste (best from Lee Kum Kee)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 - 2 tsp pepper
2 – 3 Tbsp corn flour mixed well in 1 ½ cup cold water

1) Sauté garlic in oil in pan till lightly cooked. Add in beans, then QUORN, then soy, pepper and chilli paste. Mix and stir fry for 2 – 3 minutes till well mixed in.
2) Add in spring onions
3) Turn heat to low. Slowly add the corn flour water in gradually and well spread across the pan. This will start to goo slowly and make sure you stir well but slowly to encourage the gravy. Add more water or corn flour to get consistency you desire
4) Add in tofu at the end, careful not to break it up too much.
5) Serve on piping hot rice.

Turkish Apple Ice cream

I am still trying my hardest to understand Turkish ice cream. Its a lot thicker and stickier than the European version/ gelati, and also I suspect a different sugar is used to make them. Anyway its a funny odd thing and I must say the variety I bought just got a little bit too sickening. So I blended it up with some apples (the Turks are ofcourse famous for their apples/apple teas) and lemon juice, and surprisingly it gave it a great kick and its recommendable!!

You will need:
200g Turkish ice cream (plain or vanilla)
1 apple - cored but not skinned, chopped in pieces
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Blend all and serve with mint garnish