Enjoy life's simple pleasures...
... like taking a classic breakfast dish and making it 10x more complex.
Maybe "complex" isn't the right word. To-die-for avocado toast is created by paying extra special attention to the individual elements. If each part of the dish is delicious and made of quality ingredients, it'll be damn near impossible for the overall bite to disappoint.
This avocado toast recipe was created by founding member and C.E.O. of Pacha, Adam Hiner... after a 5 day water fast. (In addition being an exercise in extreme self-control) water fasting for an extended period every few months has been shown to reduce the risk of certain chronic illnesses as well as enhance autophagy, which helps your body break down, recycle, and renew its cells. As an added bonus, the first bite after five days of fasting has been proven to induce "pure cosmic bliss" in several peer-reviewed studies.
Needless to say, when you have 120 hours contemplate your next meal, you can accomplish truly great things. We figured we'd share the greatness.
Around here we are BIG fans of fermentation, which helps transform all of the beautiful, nutritional compounds in our food into forms that are easier for our own gut microbes to take up and use. Many of the things we put on our Pacha toasts undergo a fermentation period of anywhere from 4 days to 6 months. It might seem like a long time, but we promise it's worth the wait for both the flavor AND your gut health.
As the base spread, this recipe calls for "stinky-style fermented tofu," which we should really re-name... because "stinky" just doesn't quite elicit the mouth-watering response that the actual Chinese night-market staple has in store for your taste buds. You may be able to find an option at an Asian market near you. You might also see a version produced commercially by Pacha in the distant future! That's how much we love this stuff, and how TOTALLY WORTH IT the 4-week wait is if you're adventurous enough to make your own. It's actually pretty easy, and you can find the recipe we use on page 88 of "Miso, Tempeh, Natto, and Other Tasty Ferments" by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey.
Sitting atop the pile of goodness is another fermented treat -- lacto-fermented shiitake mushrooms. This recipes comes from one of our favorite personalities in the food world: Pascal Badaur. Many of Pascal's creations are based on ingredients wild-foraged from his local environment. We draw on his book "Wildcrafted Fermentation" for inspiration more than once a week. You can find this particular recipe (here) on his Instagram, though. As many of his posts and writings would suggest, you could ferment and substitute other varieties of edible mushrooms here. Locally foraged mushrooms, for an extra dose of nature's medicine! We highly recommend you give Pascal a follow, and hang onto your jaw to keep it from dropping off.
Let's get to it!
CARAMELIZED YAM AVOCADO TOAST
Ingredients
- 6 slices of Cheesy Herb Pacha Bread
- 1 medium sweet potato, julienned
- 1 small shallot
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1-2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/2 Meyer lemon
- Salt to taste
- 2 fermented shiitake mushrooms*
- 3-4 pieces of stinky-style fermented tofu*
- Amaranth sprouts**
Guacamole
Dice avocado. Place in bowl and add about 2 tsp of lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Taste and add more salt or lemon according to taste.
Caramelized Sweet Potato
Combine julienned potatoes, 1 tbsp avocado oil, paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir to coat.
Place a large saucepan on the stovetop on medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add 1-2 tsp additional avocado oil and immediately put a thin (1cm-ish) layer of the potato mixture into the pan. Once golden brown on the bottom (1-2 minutes), flip and brown the opposite side. Remove finished potatoes from the pan and place in a bowl; repeat until all potato is cooked.
STACK IT
Toast the slices of Pacha bread (you may want to start this during your last round of potatos). Slice the fermented shiitakes into thin (3mm) slices. Spread fermented tofu in a thin layer on each slice. Lay out shiitake slices on top of the spread. Add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of potato, and top with a dollop of guacamole (you can form it into a quenelle with 2 spoons if you are feeling extra fancy). Top with a sprinkling of sprouts.
Serve immediately!