Easiest Seitan (vegan Chicken) with Noodles

I just love to try new things and also like to eat soy based products but its not always cheap , sometimes its expensive and turns out didn't like the flavor or texture or something else. But this is the easiest and quick way to make seitan and from what I made , I freeze the other half so economically also its better. Some of the recipes with washed dough is taking longer and I didn't have that time to wait so for me this is perfect.

You can just make seitan, steamed it and pan fry it and add the sauce and enjoy it with rice or noodles but I wanted to make just one dish so I have added noodles with some vegetables and make a dish out of it. 

You have to steamed the seitan , not boiled so that is the only thing is must. you can store it extra seitan after its steamed and cooled down. 

I will play with that saved one later on. 

so lets  start making this one.

Ingredients :

For Seitan :

3/4 cup (12 tbsp.) vital wheat gluten

2/3 cup (10 tbsp. ) water

1/4 cup AP flour

1 tsp. vegetarian bullion powder

1/2 tbsp. onion powder, garlic powder each

Salt as per taste

1/2 tbsp. red pepper flakes

For the sauce : 

3 tbsp. Sambal oleak (or as per your spice level, you can use Thai sweet chili sauce too)

3 tbsp. Oyster sauce

2 tbsp. Dark soy sauce

2 tbsp. water

1 tsp. Vinegar

1 tbsp. spicy or regular sesame oil

2 tbsp. oil

For the noodles 

1 package of Fresh noodles - cook and keep it on side as per instructions

1 onion cut in long slices

1 yellow pepper cut in long slices

4-5 mushrooms cut in length wise

1 bok choy cut in pieces

1 medium carrot cut in pieces

4 garlic cloves cut it finely

1 green onion chopped

Method : 

Put the steamer on with water in it to boil.

on a steamer dish , where you are going to put the seitan to steam , brush it with oil.

In a bowl, add vital wheat gluten, AP flour, spices and salt and mix it , add water and mix it and make a ball of the dough, It will be quick.

Take the dough and make a bite size pieces and put it on greased plate. Make sure pieces are small because after steaming it will be big and you don't want too big pieces. 

Don't over crowd the plate and over lap it too. Cover it and steamed it for 10 minutes. 

In meanwhile, mix all ingredients except oil in a small bowl and keep it aside.

Once the seitan is ready, heat a pan with oil in it. 

Add those steamed pieces inside in single layer in pan with the help of tongs or forks. Cook from all sides till its nice brown and crispy.

Take it out from the pan.

If you need more oil just add 1 tbsp. oil. 

Add garlic and sauté for few seconds. Then add all the vegetables and cook for 4-5 minutes. 

Add seitan and noodles and mix it along with vegetables. 

Add the sauce and mix it nicely so it coat with vegetables and noodles. 

Taste it and  adjust the seasoning. 

Sprinkle green onions on top 

Enjoy it .

You can skip the noodles and add the sauce once seitan is browned from all the sides and when sauce is heated thru  , you can serve it with white rice and enjoy it too. 

 

Filipino Tofu Adobo

This is a vegan version of classic Filipino dish which is normally cook with chicken or pork. When pork is used, its fat gives nice flavor and stickiness to the sauce but since here we are going to use tofu, we will use more oil to give that greasy finish. Tofu just like eggplant, absorb all the flavor from the sauce and become perfect to finish it with rice. This adobo usually cook with peppercorns, bay leaves and lots of onion and garlic in savory and sour sauce with little sweet from the sugar.  There are lot of ways to cook adobo also, Mine is simple but you can add potatoes and carrots too if you want. Only thing is that will increase your cooking time. Adobo has soy sauce and vinegar  , two essential elements for this dish. I have used fresh tofu in this one but frozen tofu will give you nice meaty texture. 

Ingredients :

1/2 block of firm tofu cut in squares

4 tbsp. oil

7 cloves of  garlic finely chopped

1 medium size onion cut in match sticks

1 tbsp. whole black peppers

3-4 dried bay leaves

2-3 tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 cup vegetable broth

2-3 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. dark soy sauce

1/2 tbsp. sugar

White rice to serve

Method :

Pressed the tofu and take out the extra liquid. Cut the tofu in square pieces or your desired shaped.

Heat non stick pan and add a generous amount of oil. Deep fry  or pan fry tofu in oil until is crispy from all sides and golden brown.

Take out the tofu and in the same leftover oil , add garlic, onions and whole black peppers. Cook till onions are little tender.

Add the bay leaves, soy sauce, vinegar and vegetable broth. Mix it and simmer till its boil.

Add now sugar and dark soy sauce , taste and adjust the seasoning. I tasted it this point and feel like drinking it as it is. 

Add the tofu in it and let it cook for 10 minutes in sauce, If your broth is less , add more. 

The longer tofu soak up the sauce, it will be the tastier .

Serve it with white rice. 

Enjoy

Vegan Filipino Soy Curls BBQ with Dipping sauce

It's a BBQ season here and we make it with vegetables, tofu , Vegan sausages, burgers and everything but still something was missing, it was that sticky, juicy, spicy, sweet chicken pieces on sticks which is always fun to eat at BBQ. So why not to create that with Soy curls and have it? so made it and every one loved it. You don't have to put it in stick, just have it in plate and serve it with your favorite spicy, sweet , tangy sauce. This is very common street food in Philippines. It goes well with plain rice too.

Ingredients :

2 cups  Warm  vegetable broth 

1/2 cube of vegan bouillon

2 cups of soy curls

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tbsp. chopped garlic

2 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. Lemon juice

2 tbsp. White vinegar

1 tbsp. Vegan oyster sauce

1 tbsp. Sesame oil

1 tbsp. Sriracha or garlic pepper sauce

1/2 tbsp. black pepper powder

 

Method:

In a big bow,  Add the warm broth  and mix the bouillon. 

Add everything except soy curls and mix it. 

When its mixed add soy curls and marinate for 30 minutes. I did it for 8 hours you can do it overnight too. 

When its time to cook, Take a cast iron skillet and add 1 tbsp. oil in it. 

With the help of spoon / tongs what ever works with you, remove the curls from bowl and put it in skillet. Reserve the marinate in the bowl.

Cook the soy curls till its dry. 

Now begin adding marinade , 1/2 cup at a time and cook. Make sure the broth cooks and evaporates completely then only add another 1/2 cup marinade. 

Don't fasten the process by adding everything in one batch or without cooking all of the liquid add more. 

By slowly adding and cooking you will get that nice brown color with all the sauces in the broth. 

You can continue till all the marinade is done and you can get your desired brown color. 

Take out all the curls in plate and you can that time serve it along with dipping sauce.

Or when its little cold to handle,  you can put it on skewers and enjoy it with rice and dipping sauce

Dipping sauce recipe :

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp. White vinegar

2 tbsp. water

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1-2 tsp. sugar as per your taste

1 Thai spicy pepper finely chopped

1 tbsp. finely chopped red onion

Mix everything and let it stand for 3-4 hours to get the best results. You can make this when you make the marinade so its taste good.

 

Adapted from Vegan Filipino Barbecue - Sweet Simple Vegan

Soy Chunks Dhanshak, Brown rice and Kachumber

Dhanshak is a Parsees all time favorite and must have Sunday Lunch. Its not at all complicated just a long list of ingredients but it will be done in no time. Generally it's with Mutton (Lamb /Goat) or Chicken too. So give that feeling I made it with Soy chunks along with vegetables. 

Dhan mean grains so it has rice and different lentils, shak means vegetables so mix of grains and vegetables and you have a feast. Its traditionally served with brown rice, kachumber and kababs too. 

For brown rice traditionally they brown the sugar so that gives the nice brown color but I dont like the sweet so I added soy sauce and that was giving me umami while it was cooking and flavor was spot on. 

so let's start

Dhan Shak Ingredients : 

Pulses

2 cup Tuver dal - split  chickpea yellow lentils

1/2 cup masor dal - red split lentils

1/4 cup Chana Dal 

1/4 cup Mung dal - Yellow Split lentils

Vegetables :

1 cup diced pumpkin or sweet potatoes

1/2 cup greens - either methi , spinach, kale

handful chopped mint leaves

1 green onion chopped

2 chopped tomato

1 potato cut in big chunks

1 large red onions sliced thinly

1 cup chopped eggplant

2 green chilies or as per our spice level

1 cup soaked and dry soy chunks

handful chopped coriander leaves

Spices : 

1 tbsp. Turmeric Powder

1 tbsp. Cumin and coriander powder

1 tbsp. Ground ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder

1/2 tbsp. Red Chili powder

3 tbsp. oil 

Salt as per taste

Method :

Wash all lentils and soaked separately at least for 2 hours. 

Before use it , wash again and keep it aside. 

Heat a pressure cooker and add oil in it. 

Fry the onions until its brown , then add green chilies, and ginger garlic paste, cook till raw smells goes away. Then add all spices and mix it and cook for a minute on low flame.

Add all the vegetables and mix it with the spices. Check the seasoning as per your taste.

 Leave some coriander leaves for garnished. 

Add dal in it and add enough water to cover the dals and vegetables. Pressure cook till 3 whistle. 

Let the air pressure goes normally. 

By the time let's make the rice. 

Rice Ingredients :

2 cup rice

1 chopped  red onion

1 Bay leaf

2 green whole cardamom pods

3 cloves

1 tsp. cumin seeds

salt as per taste , we are going to use soy sauce too so don't add more taste

instead of water, you can use vegetable stock for more flavor

1 tsp. Soy sauce , if you want to use sugar, then skip this and 2 tsp. sugar

1 tbsp. oil

Method :

Wash and soak the rice for 2 hours too. 

In a big pan, add oil and fry the onions till its brown. 

If you are adding sugar, take out the onion and in the same pan add sugar and caramelized it. 

Add a cup of hot water and melt the sugar and then add the fried onions back.

If you are not using sugar then after frying the onions, Add rice in it and stir for about 5 minutes. 

Add the whole spices in it and cook for a minute. 

Now add 3 and half cups of warm water / stock and salt. 

Once it comes to boil, lower the flame and cook the rice  till the water is absorbed and its cooked. 

ALWAYS , allows the rice to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. 

Let's make kachumber : 

Kachumber (Red onion, tomato and cucumber salad)

1 medium red onions finely sliced or matchstick slices, what ever way you prefer, make sure you do the same way for tomato and cucumber too

1 tomato chopped

1 small green chili chopped

salt  as per taste

Lime juice as per taste

1 tsp. olive or vegetable oil

fresh chopped mint and coriander leaves

Method:

Chopped all vegetables and herbs and all the salt, lime juice and oil and mix it and serve it with the dhan shak platter 

Rice 

Kachumber