Boudin (pronounced boo-dan) is something I associate with my PawPaw and coming to Crowley. Boudin is AWESOME. There is just something about the taste of it that is simply DELISH.
But, boudin has pork in it. And it's made in a pork casing. So it's a no-no for this vegan now-a-days. Until last weekend that is. Since moving back home, I've been dreaming of creating a vegan version of this cajun dish that had the same taste (and spice) without the pork. After talking about it with several of my cousins (who make boudin), we decided to give it a try.
We replaced pork with extra firm tofu. Nasoya was the brand I found, and we stuck with a small batch in case it didn't come out as tasty as I hoped (2 pounds).
We used all the same spices as normal, and I cooked the tofu for about 2 hours (or three beers according to the cajun way of cooking) along with about a cup of diced onions.
While the tofu was cooking, I chopped up about a cup of green onions and two cups of parsley and of course cooked the rice!
Next you mix it all up (and add a ton more seasoning). It's basically dirty rice... but a lot spicer (at least that's how I like it).
Next you insert the mixture into the sausage making machine (see below) and pump that yumminess into the casing. There was synthetic casings you can find to keep it completely animal-free.
And voila! Vegan boudin!
I have to say... this stuff came out DELICIOUS! Even my meat eating cousins all said it tasted just like regular pork boudin (and trust me - they would be the first to say it was terrible).
The batch made about 11 links... plenty for little ol me. But I've got to think... if we could perfect this recipe (a few tweaks), I wonder if I could sell this. I know before figuring out how to MAKE it, I would have traveled to find a vegan boudin. Maybe... just maybe... ;)
~ Christina
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