Green Canteen
As Veganuary and Chinese New Year approach, popular London restaurant Tofu Vegan is a perfect fit for the season.
Zhang Chao, London restaurateur with several popular regional Chinese restaurants in his collection, is especially proud of his vegan restaurant on Upper Street in Islington. Tofu Vegan presents plant-based food from across China. The menu features colourful dim sum from the south, cumin-laced “lamb” from the northwest, fiery and numbing dishes from Sichuan and some rich, savoury stalwarts from the northeast.
“I’ve been wanting to open this for seven or eight years” says Zhang Chao, “But other projects got in the way”.
Zhang originally came to London to study, then worked in a bank, but was always homesick for regional Chinese food. Twenty years ago, a high percentage of Chinese restaurants in London served dishes based on Cantonese flavours. Zhang was keen to introduce cooking from other parts of China.
Zhang has invested in five other restaurants in London - Xi’an Impression, opposite The Emirates stadium, Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles, near Liverpool Street Station and over in West London, Sichuan Chef, together with two branches of Sichuan Popo. Tofu Vegan opened just six months ago.
“These restaurants are a reflection of my life” says Zhang. Born on the outskirts of Ürümqi in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, he grew up enjoying rich, spiced dishes, barbecued meats and satisfying noodles, similar to many of the dishes served in his Xi’an-inspired restaurants. He then spent five years in the Sichuan capital, Chengdu, where his palate became accustomed to the multiple, complex flavours of Sichuan cuisine (although the region is best known for dishes seasoned with numbing peppercorns and enlivened with fresh, dried, scorched or pickled chillies). Today he recreates the food memories of these years in his three, London, Sichuan-inspired restaurants.
So how does the vegan restaurant fit in to his story? “My wife is vegetarian” explains Zhang. “I am a flexitarian but am moving towards full time plant-based [diet]. My motto is: “Every step saves the planet” and I am passionate about that. This is my project and I want to use my resources, the chefs, the quality of the food to inspire and convert people to part time or full time vegan.”
The kitchen is staffed with regional specialists, chefs from Sichuan, southern China (for the dim sum), the northeast and the northwest, allowing the menu to feature show stopping dishes from across China. “It is really important to me that the food tastes authentic” says Zhang “I want to bring different, regional food to the table, just without the meat”.
The skills of his chefs are apparent. The biggest seller is a plate of large wontons, their tender, wrinkly skins enclosing a filling with an extraordinary meaty texture. The dumplings lie in a ruby pool of fragrant sauce, lightly spiced with chilli, with a faint sweetness in the background. Each mouthful is savoury and the umami flavour lingers. The wonton filling yields pleasantly to the bite and has the tiniest touch of crispiness - which lifts the whole dish. Vegan food can struggle when it comes to texture. Too many dishes are damp and soft, lacking chew and crunch.
“It’s a secret recipe” says Zhang, before relenting and letting me know that the delicious crispy texture is provided by chestnuts. Like many seemingly simple dishes, this recipe took a while to perfect. Vegan wontons are prone to bursting during cooking, spilling their innards into the cooking water, as the lack of animal binding agents can cause structural problems. The meaty, chewy texture of the filling is provided by deep fried tofu and mushrooms. The wonton dish is sublime – comforting, warming and delicious. No wonder it is the best-selling item on the menu.
When I lived in Hong Kong, I spent a lot of time hunting down “fake meat” shops and vegan restaurants. I have eaten plant-based lamb kidneys, sweetbreads, goose, liver, duck, tripe, many of which were quite delicious. But when it comes to serving fake fish, plant-based menus often seem to fall down. I once ordered a “fish fillet” in a Hong Kong temple restaurant, which was simply mashed potato with a hint of seaweed powder, formed into the shape of a fish and dusted with orange breadcrumbs. Bland and pappy, I couldn’t finish it.
The UK has started to serve “fish and chips”, where the fish is either made from a wedge of tofu or a chunk of banana blossom, laced with kelp or nori powder. I haven’t been blown away by one yet. I have also tried vegan shrimps, which reminded me of crabsticks – a seafood item that I find tasteless and slightly peculiar.
Zhang’s twice cooked fish features a slice of pressed tofu dressed with skin made from dried seaweed. The “fillet” is then deep fried and seasoned. The marine notes of the seaweed, together with a decent hit of salt give the “fish” a wonderful taste of the ocean. The tofu has a firm, flesh-like quality, there is no damp, flabbiness. One problem tofu dishes often have, is that flavour is only present on the outside of the tofu – the centre can remain bland. In this case, the seasoning has permeated the tofu “meat” all the way through. A slightly fermented, sweet sauce adds some more complex aromas.
A famous cold dish from Sichuan, that has gained in popularity across China, is “mouth-watering chicken” -a mound of tender poached chicken in a punchy, complex sauce made from soy, chicken stock, sesame, vinegar, garlic, ginger and numbing, citrussy Sichuan peppercorns. Zhang has created a vegan version using his own designer meat. A mix of tofu, seitan (wheat protein) and mushrooms – he has managed to recreate the slightly fibrous texture of chicken breast (although mouth-watering chicken is often made with a whole poached chicken, with the bones left in for flavour, chopped into bits). The sauce was not as vicious as I expected, just a gentle lick of flame from the chilli to balance the layers of umami, oil and acidity. I spotted another delicious-looking Sichuan cold dish on the menu “Husband and wife slices” – traditionally made from beef shin and offal (quite often tripe, which I used to adore, when I ate meat) – but will have to taste it on my next visit.
I was intrigued by the Xinjiang inspired “stir fried lamb with cumin and chilli”. Xinjiang cuisine is a relatively new addition to the London food scene – there are a handful of Uighur-run restaurants in the city, but over the last five or so years, the flavours of the region have been sneaking onto menus in Chinese restaurants around town, often in the form of skewered meats. Cumin, white, black, Sichuan and red pepper, along with ginger and garlic are key flavour elements.
Zhang’s dish has an intensity of flavour – the sauce is strongly scented with cumin. The lamb is made in a similar way to the chicken – a mix of tofu and seitan, but it is formed into slices of rich, meaty, dark brown protein. It lacks the fatty, slightly dirty flavour of real lamb – which means that the spices in the sauce dominate. Sweet, crunchy slices of red and green bell pepper balance the dish with a lighter, fruity crunch.
Mushrooms feature as a side ingredient in many of the dishes on the menu, adding much needed meaty texture. But there is one dish on the menu where mushroom is the star – a truly delicious, sweet, spicy, salty, nutty Gong Bao Mushroom. This is a celebration of king oyster mushrooms- huge, silky, meaty chunks of fungus, bathed in delicious, glossy sauce, with cashew nuts for crunch. It was magnificent. There are other vegetable based dishes – stir fried greens with chilli and Sichuan pepper, a selection of crowd-pleasing aubergine dishes including my favourite north-eastern dish “Three Treasures from the Ground”, which teams aubergine with potatoes and bell pepper.
The restaurant is usually fully booked at least two weeks in advance. Currently, waiting times can be up to a month, but if you are willing to visit between 12pm and 6 pm on a weekday – tables are usually available. From March, diners will be able to visit a second branch of Tofu Vegan. Zhang has signed the lease on premises in Golders Green, North London – not far from the tube station. One and a half times the size of the current restaurant, the Golders Green site will not be a “cut and paste” copy. Zhang is working with his chefs to create some new menu items. As for the interior - the new restaurant will have a large room for private dining and a separate, generously-sized karaoke space – perfect for a party.
Zhang is delighted with the success of his restaurants. “Originally, I opened them for Chinese students, as I was once a homesick Chinese student. I didn’t expect them to get so popular. Now the British people love them too.”
Tofu Vegan, 105 Upper Street, Islington, N1 1QN
New Tofu Vegan, 28 North End Road, Golders Green NW11 7PT
Xi’an Impression, 117 Benwell Road, N7 7BW
Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles, 62 Wentworth Street E1 7AL
Sichuan Chef, 15 Kenway Road SW5 0RP
Sichuan Popo 35 Earls Court Road W8 6ED
Sichuan Popo 511 Fulham Road SW6 1HH