For all the vegans, if Quorn isn't already your friend, it will be. The Quorn pieces are the closest plant based product I have found that resembles the texture of chicken. There is also a "mince" product too, you can find them both in the frozen products aisle at your supermarket. As a meat reductionist, I like my vegetarian meals but I've been disappointed by a lot of the alternative protein products. A lot of them fall short from trying too hard to resemble meat. But Quorn is impressively close considering that it's made from fungi! With no animals harmed and using more sustainable methods too. A great example of how technology today can be used to engineer new food to offer more options outside of unsustainable meat production and consumption.
The ultimate test if it can be just as good as chicken in something iconic, like teriyaki! And why not make a Donburi ("rice bowl" in Japanese) meal out of it. I also added tofu to this to extend the meal. I used marinated tofu from the farmer's market to make it even more tasty.
Ingredients
- Oil for frying
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 garlic, diced
- 300g frozen Quorn pieces
- 225g firm tofu pieces
- 1 cup fresh or frozen green peppers, diced
- Corn starch for rolling
- ¼ cabbage, shredded
- 1 carrot, grated
- Cooked rice
- Optional: Sesame seeds & coriander to garnish.
Teriyaki sauce
- ½ cup Light Soy Sauce
- ½ cup soft Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Mirin (Salted rice wine)
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 2 tablespoons of water
Method
- Press tofu, cut into dice size cubes and roll around in corn starch (this makes it crispy).
- Add all sauce ingredients for teriyaki sauce in a small saucepan apart from the cornstarch and water. Heat on medium and lightly whisk to combine sugar into the sauce. Add the cornflour to the water in a separate bowl, then add to sauce. Simmer for around 15 minutes while lightly stirring until sauce is sweet, transparent and has reduced to desired thickness. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan, saute onions, once onions are softened, add garlic and the Quorn pieces, let the Quorn brown slightly before adding the tofu pieces. Once Quorn and tofu look cooked (browned and warmed throughout), add peppers and cook until softened. Add the teriyaki sauce. Combine sauce through mixture.
- Serve with cooked rice and grated carrot and cabbage, Garnish with coriander and sesame seeds.