A Vegan in Tokyo

A Vegan in Tokyo

A Vegan in Tokyo

A Vegan in Tokyo


togarashi dusted crispy soy chicken, silky makhani sauce, pickled red onions, crunchy sevai squiggles, pomegranate seeds, cilantro

–

In 2001 I had the fortune of traveling to Tokyo for a week. At the time Google was only 3 years old, I was a vegan and smart phones were ideas from the future.

Lucky for me, I had printed out some pages from the website Happy Cow, a vegan resource for travelers. My most memorable meal from that trip was at an Indian restaurant. Go figure. I had eaten plenty of Indian in Chicago, but nothing quite like this. The sauce was silky and rich. Inside the curry were delicious chicken-like dumplings. It had been 7 years since I had eaten meat and the dumplings were the closest thing I had to it in a long time.

I wasn’t one of those vegans that was grossed out by the thought of meat, I simply choose to not eat it for ethical reasons. I grew up eating meat and potatoes, as most of us in the midwest did in the ’70s + ’80s. Give me a juicy porterhouse or rack of ribs. I was that kid. So to finally find something that kinda replicated meat, was an a-ha moment for me. And it was also absolutely delicious too. I thought about that meal for a long time afterwards. I’m writing about it 25 years later, so it must have made a big impression on me.

As I started working on ideas for this recipe, the first chef that inspired me was Stephanie Izard. Not because of her experience with Indian or Japanese food, but because of her vast knowledge of cross-cultural flavors and textures. She’s a master at finding ways to blend different cuisines in ways most could never imagine. She doesn’t do fusion though. She’s simply taking inspiration from the world’s ingredients and turning them into concoctions like chicken liver ice cream with carrot sauce, tempura mashed potatoes with Asian bbq sauce and ranch, and escargot ravioli with tamarind-miso sauce. These may seem like crazy ideas, but she finds a way to make sense of them.

With my Chef Steph hat on, I went about creating this dish, pulling from a multitude of Asian cuisines. Of course I was inspired by the original Indian dish I had in Tokyo, but I was also excited by all the recipes I researched of hers, as well as Japanese flavors and textures, and even a few of my own personal techniques. In no way was I trying to recreate what I ate all those years ago, but to find the essence of what made that dish magic. I think this crispy “chicken” really does the trick!

If you’d like to see a timelapse of how I created this dish, you can find it on my YouTube channel.

Course: Appetizers, Main, Vegetarian, VeganCuisine: Modern, Indian, JapaneseDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep Time

2

hours
Cook Time

45

minutes

Equipment

  • Sauce Pan
  • Dutch Oven
  • Vitamix
  • Fine Mesh Sieve
  • Sevai Press
  • Mandoline

Ingredients

  • Togarashi Dusted Crispy Soy Chicken

  • 1 cup Soy Chunks

  • 3 cups Stock, veggie or chicken

  • 1/2 cup Unsweetened Greek Yogurt, dairy or nondairy

  • 1 tsp Ginger, grated

  • 1 tsp Garlic, grated

  • 1/2 tsp Kasmir Chili Powder

  • 1/2 tsp Garam Masala

  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cumin

  • 1/4 tsp Ground Coriander

  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

  • 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

  • 1 tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves

  • 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

  • 1/2 cup Cornstarch

  • 1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs

  • 1 tbsp Garlic Powder

  • 1 tsp Garam Masala

  • 1/2 tsp Kasmir Chili Powder

  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

  • 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

  • Neutral Oil for Frying

  • Togarashi Pepper Seasoning

  • –
  • Makhani Sauce

  • 2 tbsp Ghee, or neutral oil

  • 5 tsp Garlic, grated

  • 2 tsp Ginger, grated

  • 1 tsp Ground Coriander

  • 1 tsp Garam Masala

  • 1 tsp Kasmiri Chili Powder

  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt

  • 1 tsp Turmeric

  • 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder

  • 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin

  • 2 cups Tomato Passata

  • 1/2 cup Coconut Cream

  • Pinch Dried Fenugreek Leaves

  • –
  • Sevai

  • 1 cup Besan Gram Flour

  • 1/4 tsp Black Pepper Powder

  • 1/4 tsp Kashmiri Chili Powder

  • 1/8 tsp Turmeric Powder

  • 1/8 tsp Asafoetida

  • 1 tsp Ghee, melted or neutral oil

  • 1/4 cup Water, more or less as needed

  • Neutral Oil for Frying

  • –
  • Pickled Red Onions

  • 3/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

  • 1/4 cup Fresh Lime Juice, 3-4 limes

  • 1/8 cup Grenadine

  • 1/8 cup Sugar

  • 1 tsp Kosher Salt

  • 1/4 cup Water

  • 1/2 Red Onion, very thinly sliced

  • –
  • To Plate

  • Pomegranate Seeds

  • Cilantro

Directions

  • Togarashi Dusted Crispy Soy Chicken
  • In a medium sauce pan, add the stock and soy chunks and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes.
  • Drain soy into strainer and allow liquid to gather in a bowl. You’ll use this liquid later. Allow soy to cool slightly.
  • While soy cools, make the marinade. Combine yogurt, ginger, garlic, chili powder, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric and salt in a large bowl. Crush fenugreek leaves in your hands and add to yogurt mix.
  • Once soy is cooled down, gently squeeze the excess broth into the reserved liquid bowl. Add the soy into the yogurt mix, thoroughly coat and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
  • While soy marinates, create the coating mixes. Whisk flour and 3/4 cup of leftover broth in a large both. Add half of mix into another large bowl.
  • In 2 large ziploc bags, create the dry coating. In first bag, add cornstarch. In second bag, add panko, garlic powder, garam masala, chili powder, turmeric and salt. Seal bag and shake to mix.
  • Heat oil to 375 degrees. Once soy has marinated, add to one of the bowls with the flour/broth mix and toss to coat. Add to the bag with the cornstarch, seal and shake to coat.
  • Add now coated soy to the second bowl with the flour/broth mix and toss to coat. Once covered, add them to the second bag with the panko spice mix, seal and shake to coat.
  • Fry soy chunks in batches. Allow them to stick together to create larger bites closer to the size of chicken wings. Fry until golden brown. Remove to paper towel or brown paper bag.
  • Sprinkle with salt and Togarashi seasoning while still hot.

  • Makhani Sauce
  • Heat ghee in a sauce pan on medium high heat. After its melted, add garlic and ginger and cook until lightly browned.
  • Add in all the dry spices and mix well. Let them fry in oil for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
  • Add tomato passata, cover and let it cook with spices on medium-low for 15 minutes.
  • Adjust for seasoning, then add in coconut cream and fenugreek leaves.
  • Blend in high-powered blender until completely smooth.
  • Pass through fine mesh sieve to create a smooth, silky sauce.

  • Sevai
  • Using a sieve, add flour to large bowl. Whisk in black pepper, chilli powder, turmeric, asafoetida and salt. Add in melted ghee and mix to incorporate.
  • Add water and mix to make a smooth dough. It will be a bit sticky.
  • Using a sevai press, fit mold with second thinnest hole disk and grease its entire inner surface with oil. Add dough.
  • Heat oil in a small sauce pan to 375. Hold press over pan, turn handle to press out thin strands in the oil. Move press in a circular motion around edge of pan. Cut with scissors.
  • Cook for 1 minute per side and drain on paper towel.
  • Repeat process with remaining dough. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

  • Pickled Red Onions
  • Combine all ingredients except onion into a sauce pan. Boil until sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Allow liquid mix to cool to room temp.
  • Peel off skin and cut onion in half through core. Slice onion on mandolin on thinnest setting. Place in heatproof jar.
  • Pour liquid over onions, seal and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight if possible.

  • To Plate
  • Add small pool of makhani sauce on bottom of large wide shallow bowl.
  • Add crispy soy nuggets in pile on top of sauce.
  • Top with strands of pickled red onion.
  • Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and cilantro.
  • Break one of the sevai rounds in halt and stand on side of nuggets.

Filed Under: Appetizer, Extras, Main, Sauce, Vegan, Vegetarian
FROM THE SECRET KITCHEN OF DAWN HANCOCK