LAB NOTES: Fried “Egg” Sandwich With Runny “Yolk” AKA Banjos

Hello, Wayne, the Mad Food Scientist here. Welcome back to the Domestic Culinary Lab.
A week, or two back I was watching a video from Rose on The Chea Lazy Vegan YouTube channel 
about a vegan fried “egg” sandwich with runny “yolk” during that video Rose pointed out she’d gotten the idea from Mary on the Mary’s Test Kitchen YouTube channel.
So here’s another Mary’s Test Kitchen special. This is my second try at it.

ORIGINAL:.A vegan fried “Egg” with runny “yolk”
Link here: ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmuYXCJlXnY )
Link to recipe here: ( https://www.marystestkitchen.com/vegan-fried-egg-sandwich-recipe/ )

INGREDIENTS:
85g of tofu  ( 1/2″ thick sliced big enough to cover your sandwich bread)
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vegan mayo, or butter
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon black salt (kala namak)
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon regular salt, to taste.

METHOD: 
Pat dry your tofu. Heat a nonstick pan over high heat. When it’s hot, add oil. When the oil is shimmering hot, add the tofu. Turn the heat down to medium.Cook until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the tofu to cook the other side. Turn off the heat; the tofu should be able to brown using the residual heat. Meanwhile, you can start toasting your bread in your toaster. Also, mix the water with turmeric and cornstarch until no lumps remain. Heat in the microwave for 15 seconds. Stir, then heat again for 15 seconds until bubbly. If it is not yet bubbly, continue using 5 – 10 second intervals.
When the yolk mixture is thick, stir it very well. Add vegan mayo or butter and stir well. Add black salt; 1/8 teaspoon to start. Taste and add more if desired. Add regular salt to taste. Set aside.
When your toast is ready, assemble your sandwich. Place the fried tofu on one slice of toast. Sprinkle on a little black salt. Scoop out a little hollow for your yolk sauce. Add the yolk sauce (you will have some leftover; use it for dipping). Add your ketchup or brown sauce and top with the other slice of toast. Enjoy!
Notes: The aroma of black salt (kala namak) is really strong so a little goes a long way. That said, don’t add it until the end because its signature sulfur-y scent is reduced if you heat it.

LAB NOTES: 05/03/2023
85g of tofu  ( 1/2″ thick sliced big enough to cover your sandwich bread) I didn’t weigh it.
1/4 cup of water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp vegan mayo, or butter
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon black salt (kala namak)
1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon regular salt, to taste. I omitted this.

What I did:
I was feeling a bit peckish leading into my lunch break from work, and decided to try this recipe again. So I quickly reviewed the recipe, then sliced two slices of tofu off of each of the blocks of kidney bean  and Great Northern Bean tofu.
Then I followed Mary’s method to make the “yolk” sauce. I used some vegan butter that I’d made instead of  vegan mayo.  I would say this iteration with the vegan butter was creamier than the version that I made with vegan mayo the last time I tried making this. I also followed Mary’s direction and fried up the tofu. Then I sprinkled a little Kala namak onto the fried “eggs” after I put the fried slices onto the bread.
Then I poured the “yolk” sauce over the fried “eggs” and then I  closed the sandwiches by putting slices of bread over top of the fried “egg” sandwiches.

CONCLUSIONS: 
This was a fun, quick, and easy recipe to follow.
The fried “egg” sandwiches were quite tasty, the Kala namak really held up it’s end of the bargain and both the “eggs” and the “yolk” did taste like their
animal sourced counterparts. This is a high protein and low cholesterol dish, as long as you don’t go overboard with the butter/oil in the pan.
I will definitely be making these again.

I suggest that you give this recipe a try.

Be Safe!