Vegetarian Ragout

During my stint at being a vegetarian, I needed something of substance to fill my otherwise meat-deprived void. Remembering back to when my grandpa was around (who was a strict vegan), I vaguely recalled my aunt making this vegetarian ragout dish for him. Trying to think back on what was in it, I ended up just going with whatever it seemed like.

1. I cut up a block of tofu (the hard fresh kind, not the softer pre-packaged kind in the refrigerated section) into maybe 1" or so cubes, and deep fried them all.

2. Similarly to the tofu, I cut up some russet potatoes and yams into 1" or so cubes and deep fried all of them too (I said this was a vegetarian dish, not a healthy dish!). The reason I deep fry first is so they don't get all mushy (or as mushy) as if it was being boiled.

3. After all of that deep frying, it's time to assemble. Chop up some onions (I happened to only have red onions at this time, but typically use white or yellow/brown onions) and garlic and sautee them until nice and translucent (and slighlty browned).

4. Instead of tomato sauce, I used ketchup. I feel it's less watery and more sweet than tomato sauce (but tomato paste would have been way too thick). I used the entire bottle of ketchup.

5. Instead of water, I used coconut juice (not to be confused with coconut milk; this is clear whereas the milk is white and opaque) to brothen up the mixture. It gives it a nice subtle sweet taste.

6. Once the broth has gotten going, give it a little taste. Do you want it spicier? Saltier? Sweeter? I ended up giving mine just a bit of black pepper. I like this dish a little bit on the sweet side, and using the ketchup and coconut juice made it just sweet enough for me. 

After tasting the broth to your liking (make it a little bit stronger than you'd care for because the other elements later will bland it out), add all the insides: I popped open a can of button mushrooms and let it simmer a little bit to warm up.

7. Next, add the fried tofu, potatoes and yam, and mix it all around. It might look kind of gross, but I love it! Could not stop picking at the potatoes.

8. This step is optional (well, actually all steps are pretty optional... like I mentioned, everything is made to personal liking). But in this case, it really is optional. There really isn't a taste to it at all, but I like the change in texture of the bean curd sheets. So if you want, crumble some pieces on top of the dish and mix (the broth will soften the sheets), or just crumble some on top and leave it. 

Scoop some of the ragout onto a bowl of rice and Enjoy! I love this with white rice.