30 days of vegan: my favorite vegan eggs

Recently I posted my musings on my favorite breakfast food- the burrito. In it, I blithely said go forth and find one of the many, many copycat recipes on the web that rely on kala namak and turmeric to impart eggy color and flavor. 

But that was lazy of me. And a bit disingenuous. When I first endeavored to go vegan, I knew meat would not be a problem for me. I've never been a meat fan, even in childhood. I always went for the most processed meats: sausages, hot dogs, things that didn't seem like meat. A slab of flesh always freaked me out. One encounters weird flavors, textures, chewy, slimy, stringy bits. Gross.

I always thought cheese would be the really hard thing. I've had love affairs with whole branches of cheese. In the fake cheese realm, varieties such as Swiss do not translate nearly as well as cheeses like Cheddar. Parmagiano and Romano are struggles, too. The substitute recipes often have Italian herbs or spices, as if to say, we know this isn't going to work, the best we can do is remind you of a food with real cheese in it. 

But I got over cheese (thanks in no small part to nutritional yeast). It turns out the very hardest thing for me to abandon was the humble chicken egg.

I have always loved eggs. As a kid, while my classmates sat at tray tables watching cartoons and guzzling down sugar bomb cereals, I was feasting on fried eggs and bacon, scrambled eggs and toast, omelets stuffed with ham and cheese, or my beloved creamed eggs. I come from farmer stock. I spent a lot of days and nights sleeping under the roof of my maternal grandparents. They raised chickens and ate a lot of eggs. So really, eggs are my soul food.  The prospect of giving them up was, ultimately, the most difficult choice. The heavy-handed treatments that are the gold standard for vegan eggs in the online cooking sphere- heavy with garlic and onion powder, turmeric, soy sauce or liquid aminos- while not unappetizing, scream "I am not eggs" to this egg lover. And so a suitable egg substitute has been my philosopher's stone.

I've settled on tofu as a base, just like the most popular variants out there. But I forgo the firm and extra-firm refrigerated packs for the silken tofu-based shelf-stable aseptic packs. All of the aseptic grades you find are based on silken tofu, though you can find soft, firm and extra-firm varieties. My favorite for this dish is firm.

Of all the common flavorings used for tofu eggs, I have found only black salt, nooch and butter to be indispensible. I don't like turmeric for the coloring agent; in terms of flavor, I prefer annato or saffron. Both impart delicate color and flavor- exactly the mood I want to strike with simple scrambled eggs.

There are different ways to achieve the flavor and texture of butter. Cooking the tofu in coconut oil mixed with nutritional yeast works nicely. But I find using a plant-based butter-like spread to be perfectly fine.

I prefer a healthy grinding of black pepper, but that's a personal choice.

So, here's how you make my delicate, simple take on classic scrambled eggs.

Ingredients

• 1 brick of aseptic pack tofu- any grade is fine, but firm is probably best
• 1 tsp black salt
• 1 tbl plant based butter, or 1 tbl coconut oil
• 1/2 cup plant milk- I prefer organic, unsweetened soy milk with no fillers
• 1 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp annato or a healthy pinch of saffron
• 2 tbl nutritional yeast
  

Method

1. If using saffron- heat the plant milk in the microwave for 15 seconds. Add the saffron to the milk and set aside to bloom.
2. Put the tofu, salt, flour, baking powder, nutritional yeast and milk in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
3. At this point, you can add any veggie additions. Some ideas are sliced green onion, diced roasted red pepper or tomato, precooked broccoli florets cut small, or thinly sliced cooked mushrooms.
   
4. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium. add the butter or oil. use a brush to coat the pan entirely.
5. pour in the mix. This will lower the temp of the pan. Give the mix two minutes to cook. Turn heat to medium low.
   
6. This is when you can decide if you want it omelet or sandwich style, or scrambled. If scrambled- break the disc up into large pieces and start tossing them gently. Break them up a second time if you want the pieces smaller. They should be starting to brown, but not completely set. If going for an omelet, begin checking the edges. the flour and baking powder give them a little structure, so you should be able to flip as one whole disc. But be careful to not overcook, this is why we've turned the heat down. The top should be lightly browned. Give the bottom another minute to do the same.
   
7. Remove from the pan to a bowl or plate covered with a lid until ready to serve. If you are melting vegan cheese on top for sandwiches, put it on now and cover.
8. Enjoy!