Vegan Chilli Chicken Soycurls

Indo-Chinese Vegan Chilli Chicken Soycurls make for an amazing weeknight dinner that is easy to make! Chewy, marinated soy curls in a ginger garlic green chili sauce is perfect weeknight takeout sub! Made with a simple homemade green chili paste. Nutfree. Glutenfree.

I seem to be on sort of Indo Chinese kick! After my fiery Dragon Chicken Soy Curls,  I am now mixing things up with another simple weeknight dinner: chilli chicken soycurls! A spicy crispy indo-Chinese dish with a savory spicy sticky sauce that is just lightly sweet and pretty spicy.
Soy curls are available easily in the US. There are similar options in other countries that have different names. You don’t want to use the very meaty Soy chunks but the thinner chicken like alternatives if available. If they aren’t available, use seitan or other chicken subs or use tofu! See notes for alternatives.

What is Indo Chinese Cuisine?

Indo Chinese cuisine is an Indianized cuisine adapted from Chinese cuisine. There are also creative dishes that developed over time without necessarily being inspired from any cuisine. The Indianization adds loads of ginger , garlic and green chilies to recipes. Fresh uncooked as well as cooked green chilies often make a prominent appearance. In India, people prefer things more savory and with more heat, so the sauces also often are  less sweet than the westernized asian sauces or Chinese cuisine.

The sauce base has ginger garlic and green chilies and the sauce uses soy sauce ketchup and red chili sauce. A mix of green chilies and vinegar add the amazing restaurant like flavor. If you have the Indian green chili sauce, you can use that instead of the green chili vinegar mix. Serve this my Indo-Chinese fried rice, plain rice, make a spread with the chilli tofu, Gobi manchurian, dragon chikin.

I love cooking with soy curls – they provide such a satisfying texture. Note that they are not the same as soy chunks that are chewier and take much longer to cook. They are made with whole non-gmo soybeans and you can find them in some stores or order them online on amazon or butlerfoods.com. See recipe notes for substitution.

MORE STIR FRIES

• Sticky ginger Sesame Tofu Veggie Stir fry
• Hoisin Noodles and Tofu stir fry
• Cashew Tofu and veggies
• Soy-free tofu stir fry with sunbutter sauce
• Lemongrass Tempeh with sesame noodles
• Sticky Sesame Cauliflower
• Shallot Soy Curl Stir-fry
• General Tso Soy Curls

Ingredients:

• rehydrated dried soy curls serve as a stand-in for the chicken
• the soy curls are coated with a mix of  soy sauce, black pepper and cornstarch, then baked
• sauteed garlic and ginger form the base of the chili sauce
• green chiles are blended with vinegar for a quick homemade green chile paste
• onion, bell pepper, green onion, and cilantro stems are added for that fresh flavor
• the sauce is a tangy-sweet blend of soy sauce, sambal oelek and ketchup as well as maple syrup or sugar
• a bit of cayenne pepper adds extra heat but you can add more or less according to your tolerance
• a cornstarch slurry is used to thicken the sauce

Tips:

• Soycurls substitute: tofu: cube 10 ounces of tofu into small cubes after pressing for 15 minutes. Then toss in the soy sauce and black pepper and then add the cornstarch then bake until the tofu is somewhat crispy and then add it in the end when the sauce is thickening.
• You can also use 6-7 oz Seitan or other vegan chicken subs or use vegetables such as cauliflower.
• I like to use hot chilies such as serrano or Indian chilies but you can use a milder kind of green chilies or a mix, eg 1 mild green chili such as anaheim mixed with one serrano
• Soy Curls come dry and need to be rehydrated and cooked in order to enjoy them. They will increase in size quite a bit as they soak.
• Sometimes soy curls absorb a lot of liquid and sometimes they absorb just enough. If they absorb too much sauce you might want to add some more broth so they are well saturated.

How to make Indo Chinese Vegan Chilli Chicken Stir-fry

For the soy curls: Soak the soycurls in 2 cup of warm broth or water for 10 minutes or until they are fully soaked. Then drain and press slightly to remove just a bit of the excess liquid.

Transfer to a bowl, add the soy sauce and black pepper and oil and toss well. Then add the cornstarch and toss well to coat.

Spread the soycurls on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 C) degrees celsius for 15-20 minutes or until crisp.

Make the sauce: add oil to a skillet over medium heat then add the garlic and ginger and cook until the garlic starts to turn golden in some edges.

Meanwhile, mince the green chilies and mix with the vinegar, or blend the green chilies with the vinegar into a paste. (Or use 1-2 tbsp Indian green chili sauce ).

Then add this mixture to the skillet with garlic and ginger cooking. Mix well. Cook for a few  seconds then add in the onion, bell pepper, green onion, cilantro/coriander stems, and salt and mix well.

Increase the heat to medium high and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Then add the soy sauce, ketchup, white pepper, sugar, cayenne, and mix.

Add the cornstarch slurry which is the 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup water and mix in.

Once the mixture starts to thicken, add in your baked soy curls and toss well to coat. Then switch off the heat.

Garnish with the green onion and cilantro and serve over rice.

These soy curls are crispiest when just baked , so toss in the sauce and serve immediately. However, even if you do serve them a bit later, the texture will still be great and it make for a fabulous meal. Feel free to re-heat adding some more broth.

Storage:

Store refrigerated in a closed container for upto 4 days.

How to serve chilli chicken soycurls

Serve this my Indo-Chinese fried rice, plain rice, make a spread with the chilli tofu, Gobi manchurian, dragon chikin.