Dragon Chicken Soycurls - a vegan twist on Indo-Chinese restaurant classic. Soycurls are Marinated and baked then tossed in a fiery spicy sweet cashew pepper sauce. Glutenfree.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: American, Chinese

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces dry soycurls
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (heated to hot)

For the marinade:

  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce (, use tamari for Glutenfree)
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or Indian red chili powder (or use 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder or paprika for less heat)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste or finely minced ginger
  • 1 teaspoon garlic paste or finely minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the sauce:

  • 2 teaspoons oil divided
  • 1/4 cup raw cashews or use roasted
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 inch ginger, minced
  • 2 dried red chilis (use Indian red or cayenne for hot, california red or Kashmiri chilies or mild)
  • 1/4 cup white parts of green onion (reserve the green part for garnish)
  • 1/2 green bell pepper thinly sliced
  • 1/2 red bell pepper thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce or use tamari for gluten free
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon sambal oelek (or use Asian chili sauce of choice)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp cornstarch
  • green onion for garnish

Method

  1. Soak your soy curls in the hot vegetable broth for 5-10 minutes. Then drain really well and squeeze out a bit of the excess water. Add to a bowl
  2. Marinade: Then to the bowl, add the soy sauce, black pepper, cayenne/chili powder, ginger, and garlic paste, oil and toss well to coat. Then sprinkle in the cornstarch and toss well to coat the soycurls.
  3. Distribute the soy curls over a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (206 c) for 15-20 minutes or until crisp to preference. You can also pan-fry these in a skillet with 1-2 teaspoon oil until they're crisp on the edges. Set aside
  4. Make the sauce: add 1 teaspoon oil to a skillet then add cashews if they're not roasted and roast for 3-4 minutes until golden then remove from the skillet. If they're already roasted, then skip this step.
  5. Add the other teaspoon oil. Add the garlic, ginger, and dried red chilis and cook until the garlic is starting to turn golden.
  6. Then add in the white parts of green onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and a good pinch of salt and mix well and cook until the peppers are starting to turn golden on some of the edges but still crunchy. 2 mins
  7. Then add in soy sauce and ketchup and sambal oelek, sugar and black pepper and mix well. Mix cornstarch in water and Add to the skillet and bring to a boil. Then add in the crisped soy curls and toasted cashews and toss well then immediately serve over rice. Garnish with some green onion.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.