I once made the mistake of literally translating ‘toad in the hole’ for my homesick French exchange student, only to have a bedroom door slammed in my face. Her seat stayed empty for the duration of my Dad’s lovingly-prepared Sunday lunch, and it was only hours later that I realised un crapeau dans un trou may have been the wrong strategy.
But there’s no need to shy away from re-creating British classics for any pals that are yet to try some of the weirdest (read: best) things British people like to put on their plates. Even if your adaptation strays from tradition by being meat free, gluten free or vegan, give yourself enough time and you’ll have a lovingly updated meal on your hands.
For a vegan take on fish and chips, you're going to need to make 'to-fish'. It might seem a bit tricky to make at first, but as you’re battering it, it doesn’t need to look perfect. If you live near an Asian supermarket or large whole foods shop, you may be able to pick up some ready-packaged tofu-fish, in which case just follow the instructions for battering it. For everyone else, the tofu needs a little love, but you end up with hot, crunchy, salty, light batter, a little nori and rich tofu.
You can make these beer-battered fish bites, sweet potato fries, tartar sauce and mushy peas in about 90 minutes, and it’ll cost you around £10 for a huge dinner for two.
Beer-battered to-fish bites
Serves 2 generously
Ingredients
For the tofuFor the tofu
400g or one pack of tofu
750 ml water
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt
2-3 sheets of toasted nori (look for them in the sushi or World Foods section of the supermarket)
For the batterFor the batter
150g plain flour
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp egg replacer
1 tsp ground black pepper
300ml of very cold beer or fizzy water
What to do
Sweet potato fries
To get the crinkle-cut effect, you can pick up a crinkle-cut knife from Lakeland or online- or you can just make straight-edge fries, no judgement here.
Ingredients
1 large sweet potato
Sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp of any combination of dried rosemary thyme or oregano
What to do
Mushy peas
Ingredients
250g frozen peas
80ml soy cream
Salt and pepper
Tartar sauce
Ingredients
50ml vegan mayonnaise
50ml soy cream
About 3 tbsp of chopped cucumber pieces
A small handful of dill
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
13 Things You Need To Know About Being An Ethical Vegetarian
**Follow Ava on Twitter **@Guacandroll@Guacandroll **or over on her blog **Guac And RollGuac And Roll
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.