Chow Vegan

Chinese cuisine is not generally known for its curry. Arriving in China via India way back when, it’s mostly popular in Southern China. I grew up eating a kind of curry version of “meat-n-potatoes” which I’ve veganized using seitan.

Unlike some other curries, this one is not hot at all, but mildly spicy with a nice curry flavor. I used Penzey’s Sweet Curry Powder which includes turmeric, coriander, cumin, ginger, fenugreek, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, white pepper, cardamom, cloves, Tellicherry black pepper and cayenne red pepper. It’s a good starter curry for those unfamiliar with the flavor.

Cantonese Style Curry
Serves 2-4

2 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
8 ounces seitan chunks
3 medium red potatoes
1 medium carrot
1 medium zucchini
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 green onion stalk, chopped

Peel and slice the carrot at a diagonal, peel and cut the potatoes and zucchini into 1″ chunks using a roll cut.

Heat a wok until it’s hot, add the oil and swirl to coat the wok. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds. Add the seitan and brown for a couple of minutes.

Add the rest of the vegetables and give it a few quick tosses then add the curry, sugar and salt to taste and mix to combine. Add water to just barely covering. Cover and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the water is absorbed and the vegetables are tender. To thicken the liquid to make more of a sauce, smash a few of the potatoes.

Garnish with the chopped green onions and serve on top of steamed rice.

Having been intimidated long enough, I finally gave the whole make-it-yourself seitan thing a try. I started out with a easy and delicious recipe for breakfast sausage from one of my favorite blogs, VeganDad (who I must say, is like the master seitan maker).

Then I saw Chorizo Seitan Sausages in Viva Vegan! and decided to combine elements of the two recipes to make mini “hot dogs” for a seitan version of pigs in a blanket.

Since I was going for a hot doggy sort of seitan, I use tomato paste and paprika for the color and chickpea flour for a smoother texture. Of course, it doesn’t actually taste like a commercial hot dog, but it’s still good. And it’s fun to be able to customize the flavor and spices. It’s a little “wheaty” tasting right out of the steamer, less so after sitting in the fridge overnight and the flavors develop a bit more.

For the blanket, I used the dough from a pigs in a blanket recipe on VegWeb. I love it because there’s no scary yeast to deal with and no waiting either. Just mix, roll and go.

Seitan In A Blanket

Seitan Dogs
Makes about 12
1 1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 cup water
1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Fresh ground black pepper

It’s best to make the seitan dogs the night before so the flavors have a chance to develop.

Set up a steamer and cut out 12 pieces of tin foil.

In a large mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients and mix together. Knead the dough a little bit to develop the gluten. Divide the dough into twelve pieces. Roll each piece into a mini hot dog shape and wrap in the foil. Twist the ends together to secure, but don’t wrap too tightly otherwise it might bust out of its wrapper during steaming.

Place the seitan dogs in the steamer and steam for about 20-25 minutes, flipping over about halfway through. Remove from the steamer and let cool completely before refrigerating or freezing.

Blanket Dough
Makes enough dough for 6-8 pieces depending on the thickness of the blankets
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all of the ingredients, except the water, in a bowl and mix until it looks like coarse meal. Add a little bit of water at a time, mixing until the dough comes together in a ball (I added less than a 1/4 cup of water).

Sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on the work surface and rolling pin so the dough doesn’t stick and roll out the ball of dough into a long thin strip. Cut into approximately 2″ high strips and wrap a section around the middle of a seitan dog. Gently press the seam to make it stay. Place seam side down on a well-oiled baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden, flipping them over halfway through. Serve with your choice of condiments.

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon link, I get a few coins tossed my way if you click on the link and make a purchase of anything.

For some reason I always seemed to consume more snacky types of food when I’m on holiday. It must be the season. My newest snacky snack is the raw flavored kale chips from Rhythm Chips.

The kale chips are air crisped at a low temperature so they’re nice and crunchy. Vegan and gluten-free too. Basically, it’s just kale flavored with a blend of fresh veggies, nuts, juices, herbs and spices.

I haven’t had nacho flavored chips in a long time, but the taste is very similar and it’s so much healthier. It’s amazing to have the nacho taste without the scary long list of chemical sounding ingredients and artificial flavors.

Unlike the extra long kale chips that are baked in an oven, these are much smaller as they have to fit in a bag. There’s some big chunks, pictured above, but at the bottom there’s also all the smaller broken-off pieces (good for sprinkling on other foods).

Besides the Zesty Nacho, there’s also Bombay Curry and Kool Ranch, neither which I’ve tried yet. Two servings in a 2 oz. bag, at 106 calories per serving. The sodium isn’t too bad, about 187mg per serving.

Available at Whole Foods, they retail for about $5.99. Kinda pricey, but there’s also a $2.00 off sticker right on the package which can be used immediately, bringing the price down to $3.99.