While skipping down the aisles of the local Asian supermarket, I came across veggie shrimp. I’ve found them before over in the frozen food section but they weren’t vegan, having some sort of whey protein or some other such thing.
But these were different, they are vegan. It says so right on the package. I found this brand in the refrigerated section along with a bunch of other veggie meat and tofu products.
Some labeled “vegan”, some “vege”, I’m assuming this meant vegetarian. It seems like manufacturers are getting better with the labeling.
Convinced it’s the same as the ones used in Chinese vegetarian restaurants, I was inspired to make a vegan version of cashew shrimp. The taste is only vaguely shrimp-like, the firm texture is similar though. But veggie shrimp does make for a nice contrast to the sweet and crunchy snow peas.
Cashew Veggie Shrimp
Serves 2
5 ounces veggie shrimp
6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 small carrot, sliced diagonally
4 ounces napa cabbage, sliced
3 ounces snow peas, trimmed
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and coarsely chopped
3/4″ piece fresh ginger, minced
Salt to taste
1/4 cup water
Cornstarch dissolved in water
Handful of raw cashew nuts
Heat a little of the oil in a wok and stir-fry the cashew nuts until they’re a light brown color. Place the nuts in a bowl and set aside.
Add the rest of the oil, when hot, add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for about ten seconds. Add the carrots and mushrooms and stir. Toss in the snow peas and napa cabbage, stir-fry for a minute or so.
Add the veggie shrimp, water (if you like a lot of sauce, use all of the water. I prefer less sauce so I only use a little water) and season to taste. Continue to stir-fry for a few more minutes until the vegetables are crispy-tender and the shrimp heated through.
To thicken the sauce, slowly add the corn starch mixture and stir to desired thickness. Top with the toasted cashews and serve immediately with rice.
Variation: Substitute baked tofu for the veggie shrimp if you can’t find it or don’t care for faux things. Or just go with vegetables only. Of course, it wouldn’t be cashew veggie shrimp anymore but it’s still good. You can’t go wrong with toasted nuts and stir-fry.
I am endlessly curious about those vegan shrimp. I’ve never seen them in person, but I’d totally give them a try if I did. They just look so realistic, it’s unnerving!
Where can one find the veggie shrimp online or in grocery stores? Is there a name brand you could give me so I could look it up. I couldn’t see one on the pkg you had in photo. Thanks…..californiadi
SO do you know the exact ingredients in that imitation shrimp. Sounds like it would be shady. Just curious.
Whooooooa.
Wowsers, that looks great! And I’m with Hannah, those shrimp do look oddly realistic ;)
Hannah – I know, it’s amazing how real they look.
Diane – You can try Asian supermarkets if there are any near you, online I found a few websites:
http://store.veganessentials.com/vegan-shrimp-by-vegetarian-plus-p3063.aspx
http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=VUS
http://vegecyber.com/cgi-bin/vege_item.cgi?detail=10416
I couldn’t tell you the brand that I found as the name is written in Chinese characters.
Noelle – Yes, the package has an ingredient list and Nutrition Label. It’s very similar to the Vegetarian Plus brand of vegan shrimp. Rather than typing in the whole list here, click on the link to see the ingredient list, http://store.veganessentials.com/vegan-shrimp-by-vegetarian-plus-p3063.aspx
Melisser – :-)
The Selfish Vegan – Thanks!
imitation shrimp sounds goofy. but well i don’t remember liking the real ones either :-)
Surprise to see this in your blog :) The combination look beautiful.
I think fate called me to your blog, because when I saw this post I knew I had to make it. I am positively drooling thinking about it- I made this a few days ago, and the memory is still with me. Fabulous! Stellar! And the shrimp are so cute, too.
I believe Food Fight has these online to order. Food Fight is a couple owned vegan grocery with a ton of online order stuff. foodfightgrocery.com The nicest thing is that everything on there is vegan so you don’t have to check labels!!