This post does not contain a recipe, but it does contain notes on making vegan chicken.
A few months ago, I started trying to make vegan deli meat. The goal was to make vegan, gluten free, soy free meat for sandwiches because I haven’t been able to find a substitute that accommodates all of my food allergies and intolerances.
My experiments started when I found this video that attempts reverse engineering store bought vegan chicken by steaming pea protein and amaranth. I can’t eat amaranth, so I tried a number of different gluten free flours instead. And I follow the same basic method- making a batter, spreading it into thin sheets, and steaming it.
I kept the focus on making a chicken substitute because the flavor is easy- by not focusing on flavor, I could focus on texture. And this worked out pretty well. Almost every experiment was edible, though they weren’t exactly what I was hoping for. Since these early experiments were about getting a good texture, mouth feel, etc, they often involved a 1:1 ratio of pea protein powder with flour and xanthan gum as a binder. I’ll be returning to those experiments at some point.
But now some of my favorite fruit is in season. And I’m hypoglycemic. So my focus has switched to making fake deli meat with as high of a protein and as low of a carb ratio as possible to help offset the sugar crashes.
I started by mixing pea protein with an almost equal amount of ground chia seeds. The color and flavor was disappointing.
Next, I combined pea protein with chickpeas and only a little of the ground chia seeds. I added the chickpeas straight from the can, without rinsing them. This meant that they retained some aquafaba, though I didn’t think that it would be enough to make much of a difference. But it did, or maybe it was just the chickpeas themselves- the meat raised a little as it cooked, almost as if I had added a pinch of baking powder. And the texture was far more like a baked good than I anticipated.
It held together fairly well, though wasn’t as strong as my previous tests that had xanthan gum. Its consistency and flexibility would have been good enough for a sandwich. But I was in the mood for chicken fried rice. Unfortunately, it did not stand up well to stir frying.
I tore apart the “meat” and added it to the wok after the rice so as to lessen the chance of it breaking apart . Unfortunately, the smaller pieces disintegrated while the larger pieces gathered the grains of rice around themselves. So the rice was clumpy. And the chicken flavor permeated the dish rather than giving me little bursts of flavor.
Despite the disappointing fried rice, I’m overall pleased with this experiment. Using a complex carbohydrate and protein like chickpeas can help lower the amount of simple carbohydrates in the recipe, like rice flour. I just need to play around with the ratios and try other binders. And, importantly, it did not taste like chickpeas.
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