Vegan Orange Chicken (Gluten-free option, Chinese-American)

 

You know what I really miss? Seitan. Do you know what I really, really used to dislike? Orange chicken! Let's see how much my opinion will change when we combine them.

But this orange chicken was spicy, sweet, tangy and so simple! It was so complex and so smooth, it bared a slight resemblance to the bright orange sauce you would order at any quick Chinese restaurant, but once you get this awesome sauce in your mouth - there's no going back. It's medium-thick, so you can taste the crispy, nuggety goodness of the seitan without it being over-powered by an overly-saccharine thick sauce.

I didn't have time to actually MAKE the seitan, though...so that's where good Ol' Gardein* comes in. I just ignored the fact that they have a sauce to go with it, because that's how I do.

 *You can use tofu, for a sure-fire GF option!

 

Orange Sauce Ingredients:

1 tsp Minced Garlic

1/2 tsp Ginger

2 Cups Orange Juice

1 tsp Soy Sauce

2 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar

3 tbl (Apple) Honey or Agave Nectar

2 tbl Sriracha

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Cornstarch + 1-2 tsp cold water (mix)
Sprinkle of Red Pepper Flake
Cracked Black Pepper
The best part of this sauce is that you can start it at any time - even the day before and then you can just warm it up or "bake" it onto the vegan chicken!

Mix all the ingredients except for the cornstarch slurry, and make sure to do a taste test before adding all the hot and sweet stuff!

Whisk it all together, and let it bubble a bit...keep stirring! Faster and faster, and then you can drizzle in the corn starch. Keep stirring until fully incorporated, and then a little bit after. Let it boil and cook down a bit and RESIST adding more!

Let the cool down while you follow the instructions on cooking Gardein's Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n. The plot thickens...

Or at least the sauce does! Pour it over your chick'n, slam it on top of rice and you're good to go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tofu Stir-Fry w/Spicy Garlic Sauce (Gluten-Free Option, Sugar-Free Option)

This was incredibly fun to make and I've only made it once before when I tried to figure out one of the sauces for my favorite "treat", stir-fried tofu in garlic sauce. Once a month or so, my family and I will get American-style Chinese takeout and this is my go-to dish aside from dumplings, desserts and steamed veggies. It is quite fattening so I won't eat it often, but it is especially addicting with the conflicting flavors and textures...and probably because I make it extra-spicy. You've probably had it before, and every restaurant has a slightly variating style - so I'm going to put my own little "Shin-Spin" on things. Whatever veggies you have on hand will do, so I'll list what I put in my stir-fry later.

(Spicy Garlic Sauce Ingredients)

• 1 & 1/2 tbl Rice Vinegar
• 2 & 1/2 tbl Rice Wine Vinegar
• 2 tsp Raw Sugar or Stevia (optional)
• 1/4 tsp Good Sesame Oil (retains both taste and smell)
• 1 tbl Veggie Oil
• 2 tbl Good Soy Sauce or Tamari
• 1/2 tsp Sriracha
• 5 Crushed & Minced Garlic Cloves
• 1 pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Cornstarch
• 2 tbl Water

(Directions)

• First, mix the water with the cornstarch.
• Saute your minced and crushed garlic in the veggie oil until softened and is lighter in color slightly.
• Add in your vinegars, soy sauce, and oil. Stir and let bubble
• Squirt in your sriracha and sugar, add a bit of pepper flakes and wait about 15 seconds.
• Mix in the slurry of cornstarch and water, then stir it in until it has thickened to your liking.
• Quickly coat your preferred veggies in this addictively spicy sauce and serve over a nice bed of rice.
• Enjoy!

My personal stir-fry contained mung bean sprouts, brocolli sprouts, carrots, baby corn, pan-fried tofu, steamed mushrooms, sweet peas, green bell pepper and broccoli. Since the garlic sauce is so flavorful and has a lot of sodium, I wouldn't suggest adding salt or anything else to the other ingredients so to keep it healthier.

Vegan Crab Rangoon

This recipe was only precooked because I planned on using it in soups and stews and for frying. Either way it was absolutely delicious and reminded me of some of my favorite foods that I used to get from a nearby Chinese Take-Out place. You can do what you like with it, as long as it makes you happy.

(Vegan Crab Ingredients)

• 1 jar Sweet Potato Baby Food(Make sure its vegan)
• 1 Box of Arrowhead Mills Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1/2 teaspoon of Iodized Salt
• 1/2 block of Silken Tofu
• 1 tsp of Turmeric
• 1 cup of Vegan Fish Sauce (from Sushi Quest)

(Vegan Crab Rangoon Ingredients)

• 1/2 block of pureed Silken Tofu
• 1 tbl of Iodized Salt
• 1/2 tbl of Lemon Juice
• 1/2 tbl of Apple Cider Vinegar (with Mother)
• 2 Large Green Onions minced
• 1/2 tsp of Dried Chives minced
• Salt to Taste
• 2-4 edges of Vegan Crab, finely chopped
• Your choice of wrapper

(Directions)

• For the Vegan Crab: Split the package of vital wheat gluten into two separate bowls lined with plastic wrap.
• Add the sweet potato and turmeric to one bowl and mix that together. Then add blended silken tofu to the other, make sure to add the fish sauce after the ingredients are incorporated.
• Gently shape each pieces of raw seitan into squares, and lift up the orange one by the plastic wrap, being sure to support the bottom.
• Gently place it on top of the white one and then you can place the seitan in a basket steamer for about 30 minutes.
• Pan fry the white side first (after steaming it for about 20 minutes or so), then flipped it over so that the orange one could get a nice crust. When it came out it looked like a real crab!
• Cut off the edges and then use them in a delicious vegan crab rangoon or whatever you would enjoy crab in.


• For the Vegan Crab Rangoon: Combine the ingredients together and place about half a teaspoon into the middle of a dumpling wrapper (I used Shanghai-style from an Asian Grocery), ran across the edge with some cold water.
• Form it into the star shape of the rangoon.
• Finish all of the wrappers; pan fry them and enjoy!