Soy is a good source of protein and has about zero fat content. This gets it touted as a meat substitute. As far as nutrition goes, this may be so. But as far as texture and taste goes, it mostly doesn't work. Here and there you find pre-made dishes using soy which claim to taste just like beef or chicken, but all too often they're loaded with beef or chicken fat (a great deal of beef's flavor comes from fat, after all).
Just the same, I thought it was a reasonable ingredient to try in my diet. It took some doing, but I found ways to make it rather tasty. The problem lies in the fact that textured soy is almost devoid of flavor. The remedy lies in the fact that it absorbs flavors of things it's mixed with.
Please let me know if you try this recipe and like it, as I have a few other all-textured soy recipes, as well as some consisting of textured soy mixed with ground beef.
To begin with, textured soy (or textured soy protein, as it's often called) requires some preparation. First you need to hydrate it by soaking it in water for a few minutes. Then you drain it, and finally you squeeze the excess water out of it. You're left with a spongy stuff that looks and feel a little like cooked ground beef (but it doesn't taste like ground beef).
How to squeeze it best is a matter of some contention. I drain it into a large colander and squeeze it by hand. Some people put it in a clean rag and squeeze that. I suggest you look up the means online and choose whichever works for you.
However, in all my textured soy recipes, I assume the soy has been hydrated, drained and squeezed beforehand. if you sue it dry, the results will be disastrous.
Well, then.
Ingredients:
300 gr. of prepared textured soy (its about 125-150 gr. dry, give or take)
2 red tomatoes, peeled (you can remove the seeds, too, though I opt to leave them in)
2 cloves of garlic, quartered
1/5 onion, quartered
A handful of cilantro leaves, stems and all, chopped
1 cube chicken bullion cube, low fat and low sodium
1 or 2 whole chipotle chiles in adobo and some of the thick juice from the can (these are common in Mexico, naturally, and I think they are not too hard to come by in the US).
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 bell pepper (whichever color you like), chopped
1 or 2 stalks of celery, sliced.
Peel the tomatoes by whatever means you prefer (I blanch them, which makes the skin just peel off easily), remove the core, quarter them and put the in a blender. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, chicken bullion cube and chipotles with their juice, along with a trickle of water. Liquefy in the blender. The mix will be a little chunky, especially if you do not seed the tomatoes. Set it aside.
In a deep saucepan or a pot, heat the olive oil and then saute the bell pepper and celery. If you like, you can add some chopped onion and/or garlic as well.When done to your taste, add the textured soy and cook for about five minutes, stirring constantly so it won't burn.
Reduce the heat and add the sauce you prepared in the blender.Mix very well, and let it come to a slow boil. Then simmer for a few minutes, all uncovered.
Ideally, it should look like this:
Now, I must warn you I use even more chipotles and don't find it very hot. But I was raised on hot, spicy food and snacks. If you can't take hot, spicy food, use a single chipotle, or even half of one. However, be advised chipotles have a subtle, smoky flavor, so the less you use, the less savory the end result will be.
Finally let me leave you with some trivia:
Chipotles don't exist in a "natural" state. They a re actually dried, smoked Jalapeño peppers. The canned variety are coked at a processing plant with some tomato paste and spices to produce the adobo juice you'll see in the can.
Just a little tidbit picked up working in the food distribution business...
PS this dish goes rather well with Mexican rice. I'll post the recipe for that shortly.
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