Vegan Tofu ‘Caprese’ Salad & a Live Sake Tasting with Sorakami
(This post is part of a paid partnership sponsored by Sorakami).
I’ve written quite a bit about sake in my latest book, Omoiyari, but over the past few years I’ve really wanted to formalise a lot of that knowledge. I completed the Level One in Sake a couple of years ago, but in lockdown I found myself being a bit more adventurous with my sake choices.
It was really great to connect with Robin, a sake sommelier and the founder of Sorakami, an online sake marketplace. Working in partnership with them, over the next few months I will be developing recipes to pair with their latest sake selections.
The sake we’re highlighting this month is the sparkling ‘awa’ sake – Mutsu Hassen 8000 Brut Nature. Light, dry and refreshing, it’s a perfect accompaniment for a summery day.
Our friends at Hachinohe recommended a pairing of Caprese Salad, and we were excited about the combination of the tart sweetness from the tomatoes coupled with the rich, creamy texture of mozzarella. Caprese salad is such a satisfying meal for hot days, but we wanted to create a recipe that we’d be able to share with our vegan friends, too! Hence we’ve come up with a Vegan Japanese ‘Caprese’ style Salad, swapping the usual mozzarella out for some pressed tofu.
To give it a further Japanese-inspired twist, we topped the salad with a shiso-leaf pesto.
Ingredients:
Shiso Pesto
50g Shiso Leaves (you can substitute basil)
25g Spring onions
25g Pine nuts
30ml Lemon juice
20ml Extra virgin olive oil
20ml Sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a blender until it becomes a smooth paste.
Tofu ‘Caprese’
4 Tomatoes, sliced into rounds
396g pack Tofu, drained
Handful of shiso (or basil leaves), torn
Salad leaves
The most important part of this recipe, which truly just involves a lot of slicing, is the preparation of the tofu. An hour before serving, remove and drain the tofu from it’s packaging and wrap it in a paper towel, with something heavy pressed on top – something like a plate. This will essentially press the excess water out of the tofu so it is firm, and the texture more like mozzarella. The longer you do this, the better, just to get rid of additional moisture and so that the tofu holds it’s shape.
When combined with the sweet acidity of the tomato and the flavours in the pesto (nutty sesame oil, delicate EVOO, the slight heat from the spring onions), it’s a great accompaniment for the dryness within the Mutsu Hassen sparkling sake.
If you’re finding the world of sake a bit tricky to navigate, then be sure to keep the 23rd of June at 7pm BST free in your calendars to join me and Robin for an Instagram Live sake tasting!
There will be opportunities to win a bottle, find out more about sake - how it’s made, how it should be served, all the good stuff. The competition is live on my Instagram over @ErinNiimi, so be sure to enter!
Join the Sorakami sake club! To find out more, be sure to visit them here. By using the code ‘ERIN’ at checkout, you’ll get 10% off of bottles and accessories.
This post is part of a paid partnership with Sorakami.
