Pisces loves the sea, all things nautical and that includes fish and seafood. They are ruled by Neptune. Pisceans are compassionate and sensitive, sometimes lacking in boundaries: they need to be careful with drugs and alcohol, in fact any addiction. Feeling the pain of others, they want to protect all living creatures. I’ve combined these twin Piscean interests, the sea and animal rights, by developing a recipe for ‘vegan fish n chips’.

Vegan Fish and Chips or ‘Tofish’

Use firm tofu rather than soft or silken. The tofu requires a bit of preparation which you could start the night before. If you want to prep the chips beforehand, keep them in a bowl of cold water so they don’t discolour.

Serves 4

Ingredients

To prepare the tofu:

• 1 block (420g) firm tofu, cut in half, crossways through the middle, to make it thinner.
• 3 tbsps soy sauce or ponzu
• 2 tbsp plum sauce or sugar
• 2 sheets toasted nori, cut to the size of the tofu

For the chips:
• 6 large potatoes, suitable for frying, like Maris Pipes, peeled and sliced into chips
• 1 tbsp salt

For the batter:
• 100 g rice flour or tempura flour
• 25 ml cold sparkling water or beer

For the frying:
• 300 or more vegetable oil for deep frying, the tofu should be able to float freely

To assemble:
• 1 lemon, cut into slices, one for each plate
• Tartar sauce

Instructions

To prepare the tofu:
• First press the tofu between a bowl and a weighted plate to get rid of excess water. These can be done for a minimum of half an hour.
• Mix the soy sauce, plum sauce or sugar together and spread over the tofu. It should marinate for at least half an hour.
• Once the tofu is pressed and marinated, cut the sheets of tofu to fit onto the tofu. Stick it to one side.

For the chips:
• In the meantime make the chips. I double fry chips. First of all have the oil in the deep fat fryer, come to a temperature of about 145C. Line a baking tray or wide dish with kitchen towel or greaseproof paper.
• Fry the chips for a few minutes until they turn a white milky colour, rather than looking raw. Scoop them out and leave on the kitchen paper to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt.
• Bring the oil up to 180C. Fry the chips a second time until golden. Remove and drain on the kitchen paper. Keep warm in the oven if necessary.

For the batter:
• I like to use tempura batter (rice flour) as it’s light but you can use plain flour too. Put the flour into a bowl and add a little cold fizzy water or beer. The texture should be thick. Lumps are fine in tempura, in fact that creates delicious crunchy bits.

To fry:
• Carefully dip the tofu with the nori in the batter, then place each one in the deep fryer and fry until golden. Once cooked, place on the kitchen paper to drain.

To serve:
• Put a piece of ‘tofish’ and several chips on each plate, garnishing with fresh lemon slice and tartare sauce.