My kids have been begging me to make up some kind of plant-based scrambled eggs recipe. I really didn’t know where to start. Last year I tried a couple of recipes that I found and they were pretty terrible, to be honest. Often steeped in turmeric to add a proper color, or devoid of much flavoring at all, it’s like these recipes were created by people who had never tasted an egg in their lives. And, hey, maybe that’s the case. But my family, we were up to our elbows in eggs just over two years ago and we can still taste the delicate nuances that make eggs… well, eggs. I eventually gave up the dream of ever having a scrambly-eggy-type dish again. It seemed that no one could figure out a way to replicate such a unique flavor. Then one day (!) my mom came to my house with a jar of kala namak that she had just purchased at a local Indian food shop. Also known as “black salt,” the stuff in the jar was minerally-looking and grey. It smelled bland enough, but I dipped into it with my pinky finger and a tasted it and… HOLY COW. It was a perfect replication of a hard-boiled egg. I thought instantly that I could now recreate egg recipes without the eggs! Especially scrambled eggs! (The one recipe everyone already thinks they’ve replicated but it’s missing something! …It’s missing kala namak!) ((thanks, mom!))
So that week I got to work in the kitchen and made up a lovely little mixture that, when sprinkled on crumbled tofu and cooked, tastes so much like scrambled eggs that my kids were all delighted and asking for more! Now it helps deceive your brain just a little bit more if you cook this recipe up with some chopped onion and bell pepper and make a little skillet out of it with hash browns. Also making it into a breakfast burrito is a fantastic idea! But, I tell you, we just had it folded in a piece of toast and we were giddy. Simply giddy.
So here we go; the picture tutorial. For the printable recipe, click here.
Here it is, folks; the stuff legendary eggless eggs are made of! As noted in the printable recipe, if you can’t obtain kala namak, you can omit it and try to use sprouted extra firm tofu instead of regular tofu. Sprouted tofu has an eggy, sulphur-like flavor to it. If you substitute sprouted tofu, you will have to add sea salt to taste once the scrambles are done.
Crumbled extra-firm tofu sitting on sautéed onions, waiting to be sprinkled with seasoning. Note how the texture of this tofu so perfectly mimics scrambled eggs. This is the stuff from the refrigerated section of your grocery store. The shelf-stable tofu in the little rectangular carton does not work here. At all.
The addition of the seasoning.
Once stirred throughout, the seasoning turns the tofu the perfect color. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper to finish it off.
We always used to have our scrambled eggs on toast sandwiches for breakfast. So that’s what I did to serve the tofu scrambles to the kids.
They LOVED it! Yay! Something besides pancakes and cereal to have for breakfast! We plant-eaters get particularly left out at the breakfast table, don’t you think? No bacon, sausage, eggs, yogurt, milk, cheesy casseroles, quiches, etc, etc, etc. Well we’re taking breakfast back, baby!
Breakfast burrito with the scrambles: Just add fried potatoes, diced green chile and salsa! Enjoy!
Tags: breakfast, burrito, eggs, kala namak, kid friendly, salt, scrambled, tofu
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