It would seem that all good things must come to an end. Today is the last day of Vegan MoFo, and while I’m sad to see the end of so many great posts from around the world every day, I’m also looking forward to relaxing for the next few nights. I must have communicated my need for relaxation to Chadwiko with some enthusiasm, because I came home today to find him giving the kitchen a much needed deep-clean, so that I wouldn’t have to do it myself tomorrow. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the end of MoFo!

I had intended to finish off our street food world tour with a stop in Venezuela for arepas, but it wasn’t to be, as the masarepa flour that I’d ordered online still hasn’t turned up. I was a little disappointed and wasn’t sure what to do- enter Chadwiko to save the day, with the suggestion that where better to end our tour than home? There was only one street food that I could make.

Our hometown, Adelaide, is well-known for one laughable, and honestly fairly nauseating street food- the pie floater. A pie floater is a meat pie in a bowl of thick pea soup, smothered in tomato sauce (ketchup for the Americans). And no, it’s not intended to be eaten while sober. Although Anthony Bourdain loves them (or so says Wikipedia), the thought of eating one was never something that I’d seriously entertained. Until now.

Pie floater

For the pies, I used the recipe for rustic tempeh and spinach pie from 500 Vegan Recipes, and made three mini pies instead of one full-sized one. It’s an interesting recipe, with orange juice and zest in the filling. The recipe also originally called for orange marmalade, but I chose to omit it- a good choice for my tastes, as any more orange would have been overpowering. I also cheated and used store-bought puff pastry because it’s a Monday night and I’m tired, okay? The verdict? Good pie! I’d like to make these a bit smaller next time, as the pastry is the best bit and pastry-to-filling ratios are very serious business.

The pea soup was an accidentally vegan recipe I came across online- essentially just peas, potato and spinach cooked and blended together. I can’t vouch for whether or not this was good because I hate peas with a burning passion and it was always going to taste awful to me. But despite the sludge-like appearance, Chadwiko seemed to enjoy it.

So we’ve been around the world, and ended up at home. It’s been a great month, and my thanks go out to everyone on Team MoFo, as well as everyone who’s stopped by here to say hi or just to look around. That’s it from me for now, see you in a few days- after I’ve enjoyed a nice dinner cooked outside of my kitchen, and by someone other than me. What luxury!

I’m of the belief that everyone, no matter how good a cook they may be, has one culinary nemesis. One thing that, by all logic, they should be able to cook without a problem- but can’t. Mine is pancakes. That’s right, something that small children can make with ease is something that foils me almost every time. With this in mind, it was probably never a great idea that I attempt crepes tonight.

But crepes are becoming a more and more common street food. They’re popular in Japan, and last time I was home in Adelaide I noticed that a crepe shopfront had opened in the city. But I chose to go the traditional route, paying homage to the home of crepes, France.

Crepes

Two of the most popular fillings for French crepes are fruit and nutella. With this in mind, I decided to whip up two different types- one filled with vegan mascarpone and cinnamon baked apples, and the other with chocolate mascarpone and hazelnuts. However, there was one flaw in my plan- two types of filling really aren’t necessary when your crepe-making skills leave you with very few intact crepes to actually fill.

I used the recipe from Vegan Brunch. The majority of the crepes that I attempted tore into pieces when I tried to flip them. Chadwiko stepped in to help/stop me from breaking something out of sheer rage, and managed to keep a few intact, but they were so thick that they weren’t quite reminiscent of the delicate real thing. But better this than nothing, right? They may not have been pretty, but the pieces didn’t taste too bad at all.

The fillings were a greater success. I used the recipe from the Urban Vegan tiramisu for the mascarpone, with rad whip instead of pre-made Soyatoo. The chocolate mascarpone was a combination of this recipe and the Sweet William chocolate spread that ‘fell’ into my trolley at the supermarket a couple of weeks ago. Chadwiko powered his way through the chocolate hazelnut crepe on this plate without stopping to breathe, let alone ask if I would like to share. I’ll take it as a compliment (but only because I had another one set aside- things could have ended badly otherwise).

So, my pancake/crepe nemesis seems to have bested me once again. I think Chadwiko can stick to weekend morning pancake duty in our house. I don’t mind being relegated to filling-maker- it’s probably for the best.

African street food isn’t something particularly well-known. I had originally hoped to put together a street food feast from the sparkly new Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food zine, but alas, my copy hasn’t yet arrived- it just wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps it’s trapped on a grounded Qantas flight somewhere (I’m anticipating that it turns up on Tuesday, just after MoFo ends). Rather than do Ethiopian food an injustice by using an inferior recipe, I cast my eyes to the west of the African continent.

There, my eyes found themselves feasting on chin-chin, the west African fried cookie-like treat.

Chin-chin

Chin-chin is formed from a dough similar to a simple sugar cookie dough. But rather than being baked, the dough is deep-fried (it’s street food, after all!). I’d originally tried to fold these into more traditional knotted shapes, but while these looked great in their uncooked form, they unravelled and fell apart in the hot oil. More manageable dice were the way to go. The frying gives these a great, melt-in-your-mouth texture, similar to shortbread- but it also gives them a heaviness that meant I couldn’t eat more than a few. Chadwiko had no such problems. I left this plate unsupervised with him for a few minutes and returned to find it seemingly vacuumed of all crumbs. I choose to take it as high praise.

Terry, as always, seemed to have pre-emptively read my mind and came through with some truly impressive west African recipes among her tester list. In a bid to appear more adult and not just eat fried cookies for dinner, I tackled a couple of stand-outs.

Lemon mustard yassa seitan with jollof tomato rice

This vegan take on poulet yassa had a lot of my favourite flavours- lemon, mustard, and a lot of garlic- cooked into delicious, tender seitan. I can’t wait to make this again already. The jollof tomato rice, a one-pot staple dish of baked rice with tomato, thyme and garlic, was also great and the perfect way to get Chadwiko to eat brown rice without complaint.

Ethiopian food is becoming more and more popular by the second- but with dishes like these, it’s surely only a matter of time before vegans (and the rest of the world) are showing the same enthusiasm for west African cuisine.

For a long time, all I knew about Korean food was gogi gui- the dish typically composed of meat, meat and more meat, and grilled at the table. It’s not surprising that Korean wasn’t high on my list of favoured cuisines. But veganism is an eye-opener in more ways than one, and it led me to look further than the Korean barbecue so popular in Australia, to discover a world of new foods.

Still, Korean food isn’t something that I’ve ever really attempted at home. I knew I wanted to make a Korean street food for Vegan MoFo, but didn’t know where to start. Who better to come to my rescue than Terry? Among the tester recipes for her new (and s0 far very impressive-looking) world food book were several Korean concoctions- and as my luck would have it, the perfect example of Korean street food.

But firstly, there’s no more quintessentially Korean food than kimchi. Street food or not, no Korean meal is complete without it.

Quick cabbage kimchi

Kimchi always seemed like something too complicated and time-consuming for my liking, but Terry’s recipe is a quick one, with great results. I took the option to simulate fermentation by leaving this on the counter overnight. The flavour today was a huge improvement on yesterday’s freshly-made taste, so I can’t wait to leave the unused half of this jar in the fridge and try it again in a few days’ time.

The other half of the jar, however, has destiny to fulfil elsewhere- in kimchi manju dumplings.

Kimchi manju dumplings

I can’t say no to dumplings in any form. They’re the perfect street food. And these ones, stuffed with kimchi and tofu, don’t disappoint. Chadwiko, who had never eaten kimchi and was sceptical of my claims as to its deliciousness, adored these and polished off more than his fair share. But that’s okay- I had also whipped up a batch of sesame bean sprouts (yet another tester recipe for Terry). My not-so-inner hippie loves bean sprouts, so I was content.

So, my first real foray into Korean cooking was a success! I can say with confidence that this won’t be the last time Korean food makes an appearance in our kitchen… and that’s not just due to the giant bag of gochugaru sitting on the floor of my pantry. I’m sure it’ll also be in part due to Chadwiko’s demands for more dumplings.