{ raw vegan, serves 6 as appetizer }
I’m going to just let it right out of the gate: This “calamari” recipe from the book, Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis (p.155) is THE most spot on imitation of anything I have ever had…ever. It is. Total genius.
I’ve had my share of fried calamari, and Sarma’s raw vegan version is awe-striking. Even if you were never a fan of it, doesn’t mean you won’t be just as impressed with this dish. As she mentions in her book, “This dish looks so much like fried calamari that restaurant guests are often baffled by it” – well that pretty much describes it, modestly speaking. It goes much further than looks. Biting into the mushrooms is uncannily like that of tender, perfectly cooked calamari. The flax meal coating is like the ideal, well seasoned homemade breading that I can’t wait to try on some other things.
If you’re going to make this, be sure to have on hand some sort of small round cutter to punch the holes from the centers of the mushroom stems. At first I wasn’t prepared and had to rummage around my kitchen junk drawers until I found some random round plastic part from who knows what. They crisp up very well in the dehydrator, but enjoy them warm and timely or they will eventually get droopy.
Because I’d just shopped the local Asian markets the day before, I decided to take this Thai-ish. So I didn’t do the accompanying “cocktail sauce” and “tartar sauce”, and instead made a garlic-chili aioli for dipping. I also substituted the called-for basil, thyme, and oregano, with grated lemongrass, Thai basil, and Chinese chives.
I got some beautiful Thai eggplant at the market too, so I quartered them and marinated them with a ton of grated fresh lemongrass, some ginger, garlic, Thai basil. Purely experimental. They take a good while to dehydrate (at least to my liking) but pretty tasty.
Sarma Melngailis is founder & CEO of OneLuckyDuck.com, Co-Founder & Owner of Pure Food & Wine restaurant in New York City, author of “Living Raw Food”, co-author of “Raw Food Real World”.
<3, JMK
