This is what I used:

• 5 dl soy chunks (textured soy protein)
• 2 big onions
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground
• 5 dl water
• 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder
• 1/3 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar

I started by rinsing the soy chunks in a colander thoroughly. Then I chopped the onions finely, and fried them in the canola oil until translucent. I removed the frying pan from heat, added paprika, smoked paprika and the ground caraway seeds, and stirred. Paprika burns very easily, so that’s why it’s better to stir in the spices after removing the pan from heat.

I returned the frying pan to the stove on medium heat, and added the soy chunks, water, stock powder, salt, black pepper, and sugar. When the sauce started to boil, I lowered the heat, stirred it, covered the frying pan, and simmered for one hour, stirring every now and then.

At this point, the sauce had thickened quite a bit, and the pörkölt could have already been served. However, I wanted a thicker stew, so I simmered the pörkölt in the covered sauce pan for another 20 minutes, and then the pörkölt had the consistency I desired. This extra simmering is completely optional and depends on the kind of stew you like. We served the pörkölt with boiled potatoes and grated carrots. It can also be served over pasta or Eastern European dumplings called galuska.

This batch makes 22 small meatballs, and the recipe was inspired by the one on Cake Maker to the Stars.

Here’s what we used:

• 2 dl granulated TSP (in Finnish: tumma soijarouhe)
• 2 dl vegetable stock
• 1 dl diced leek
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste, depending on the stock
• 1 teaspoon dried chili
• ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon fried onion
• ½ dl gluten flour
• ½ dl water

I started by setting the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

To start with the dough, I combined the stock and the soy granules in a bowl, and set aside. I chopped the leek into small bits, sautéed it in olive oil for a couple of minutes, added the chili, marjoram, and thyme, and stirred to mix. By now the soy granules had absorbed all the vegetable stock, so I added them into the frying pan, and sautéed the mixture for a few more minutes. Then I added the sesame seed oil and the soy sauce to the pan. I removed the frying pan from heat, and added the crushed garlic and the store-bought fried onion, stirred them in, and let the mixture cool down a bit.

When the soy granule mixture wasn’t too hot to touch anymore, I added the water and the gluten flour, and kneaded the dough for a couple of minutes. At this point, I tried rolling a meatball in my palm, testing the consistency of the dough. It was still quite soft, but firm enough to roll into balls – just what I was aiming at.

I rolled the dough into 22 small meatballs, which I put on a baking sheet covered with baking parchment. I sprayed them with olive oil on all sides, and put them in the oven for 10 minutes. Then I flipped them over one by one, and baked for another 10 minutes. By then they were nicely browned, and a little crunchy on the surface.

Usually on May Day the weather is still quite cold, so the picnic is more of a symbolic start of the summer, but this year the weather was really nice and warm, in Finnish terms at least. We enjoyed the soy meatballs together with potato salad and smokey tofu spread seasoned with sage, of which we’ll blog about later!

For the soy strips:

• 100 g soy protein strips
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon crushed ginger
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
• about 2 dl water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

First, I rinsed the TSP strips. Then I heated the oil in a cooking pot on medium heat, added the crushed garlic and ginger to the pan, and fried them for a couple of minutes. Then I added the rest of the ingredients, and brought the stew to boil. As the TSP strips started to absorb the liquid, I started stirring them, until all the liquid was absorbed. This took me about 5 minutes. The TSP strips were now ready to use.

For the sauce, Anni mixed:

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons sherry
• 2 teaspoons raw cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed chili in oil (or chili paste)

We stir-fried also:

• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 medium carrots, sliced

The second seasoning took place just before serving. I stir-fried the sliced carrots and red bell peppers for a few minutes, and just before serving I added the TSP strips into the wok pan, stirred them for a second, and then added the sauce Anni had prepared.

We ate the veggies and soy strips together with jasmin rice and steamed Shanghai Bok Choy. I think the soy strips were more savoury than when boiled with a stock cube and water. It’s easy to end up with TSP strips that are a bit too salty with both methods, so take it easy on the soy sauce, if the brand you use is very salty.

By the way, readers in Helsinki: We think that the best TSP strips (“soijasuikaleet”, that is) in town are in Al-Marwan, small shop on Fleminginkatu between Vaasankatu and Helsinginkatu that sells mostly Middle-Eastern foodstuffs.