#173 spicy pulled pork vindaloo

from OTK Shelf Love

I don’t eat meat, but it’s a fun challenge to try to veggie-tize meat recipes from cookbooks. There are two ways to make pulled “meat” in my book: with canned jackfruit, which is super similar in texture but is lacking in protein, and Soy Curls, a more hearty, vegan-favorite dried soy product. I opted for the latter for this recipe so the sandwiches would be more nutritious.

When using Soy Curls, they start off flavorless so you need to make sure you get a lot of umami going as a base, because it won’t naturally add flavor like meat would. I rehydrated it hot water with a big helping of vegetable broth base and the last few dashes of Yondu (a korean base/fish sauce replacement) from my refrigerator. Then, I added the flavoring mix from the recipe that included cinnamon sticks, garlic, ginger, tomato paste, black peppercorn, clove, cardamom, kashmiri chili, cumin seed and apple cinder vinegar. I let it marinade for a few hours, but I don’t think that was really necessary. I sautéed the onion in a a dutch oven and then added the rehydrated soy curls. Then I put the pot in the oven uncovered and baked until most of the liquid was absorbed and the soy curls were a bit browned.

The result was a flavorful, very meaty textured mix that worked really well on sandwiches. I admit I wish I put more of the veggie broth base in to dial up the savory-ness, but that was obviously no fault of the recipe. As instructed, I topped my sandwiches with the curry leaf slaw from yesterday, yogurt, and homemade mango chutney. The sandwiches were super yummy! I could imagine eating them at a BBQ, I should have at least eaten them outside.