Soybean Salad and Fresh Tofu
As seen on TV
Which Show?
Who made this dish?
A Korean-influenced starter built around the soybean in multiple forms.
Dana: 'I'm making green chili oil, so with a lot of herbs, parsley, dill, and some chives.'
Dana: 'So I will be making fresh tofu and the young bean salad. And I'm making a soybean puree, comes with the soy marinade mushrooms. And also I'm making a Korean savoury pancake. And also I made the soy marinated [tonburi, or land-caviar].' Components: beetroot, saffron and spinach savoury pancakes (coloured naturally); a fresh salad of edamame and spinach; soybean puree blended with fresh tofu, cashew and pine nuts; king oyster and maitake mushrooms in a soy/kombu/garlic/spring-onion marinade; a ring of fresh tofu; tofu croutons marinated in the same soy-garlic sauce; soybean crisps; soy-marinated tonburi; tagetes flowers; slices of truffle; and a final drizzle of truffle oil. Served cold.
Episode tasting (Aktar Islam, veteran): said the soy salad had really interesting flavours and praised the edamame.
However he found the fresh tofu a bit bland, the salad was served almost fridge-cold, and the soybean puree had so much truffle oil on it that it was all he could taste. He concluded that temperature was a massive issue because it stopped the ingredients shining.
Score: 6.
Peer chefs agreed: Abbie found the dish disjointed but loved the maitake mushrooms; Vince said the truffle oil was predominant; Josh said that, salad or not, it was fridge-cold and so tasted of nothing. Dana did not progress to the finals day, so no further judge commentary exists for this starter.
