Menemen, Egg-Free
Menemen is what a Turkish kitchen makes for a slow weekend breakfast, a pan of tomatoes and long green peppers cooked soft and then bound with egg, eaten straight from the skillet with bread for scooping. This version keeps everything that makes it menemen, the sweet stewed peppers, the jammy tomato, the fruity Aleppo pepper, and swaps mashed silken tofu for the eggs. Turmeric gives it the right color and the tofu gives it the right soft, curdy texture, so it still eats like the original. Keep the heat low and pull it while it looks underdone, and serve it with warm whole-grain flatbread.
Ingredients
- 4 wholes Fresh tomatoes, ripe, grated or finely chopped
- 2 wholes Bell peppers, green, seeded and finely diced
- 1/2 whole Yellow onions, finely diced
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 8 oz Silken tofu, drained
- 1/4 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper, salt-free
- 2 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped, to finish
Method
- Sweat the onion and green peppers in a wide pan with a few tablespoons of water until soft, about 8 minutes. Menemen starts gentle and low; the peppers should collapse and sweeten, never brown or crisp.
- Add the garlic and Aleppo pepper and cook 1 minute, then stir in the grated tomatoes and simmer until the mixture is thick and jammy and the watery liquid has cooked off, about 10 minutes. Grating the tomatoes leaves the skins behind and gives a smoother base that reduces quickly.
- Mash the silken tofu with the turmeric in a bowl until it looks like loose scrambled egg. The turmeric tints the pale tofu a soft yellow so it reads as the egg the dish is built around.
- Fold the tofu into the tomatoes over low heat and cook just until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Keep the heat low and the folds few, since silken tofu holds its tender, custardy curds only if you barely disturb it.
- Pull the pan off the heat while it still looks soft and slightly loose, and scatter the parsley over the top. Menemen is meant to stay moist; carryover heat will firm it the rest of the way.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 120 calories, 7 g protein, 4 g fiber, 30 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
