Chinese Food

[sillylucy]

I really like making Chinese food and want to make my own vegetarian orange chicken. What should I use as a substitute? Will tofu fall apart if I try to bread and fry?

 

[MyDigitalpoint]

I have this sauce recipe that might serve for your purpose:

Vegetarian Orange Chicken Sauce
Ingredients:
1 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or adjusted to your taste
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon water
hot cooked rice

Preparation:

• In a small saucepan, saute garlic and green onions in the olive oil until the garlic is lightly browned/golder.
• Add the water, orange juice, lemon juice, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, and pepper flakes.
• Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer (medium heat).
• In a small dish, mix together the cornstarch and just enough water until the cornstarch is thoroughly blended.
• Pour the cornstarch mixture into the sauce, stirring constantly.
• Keep stirring the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to your liking.
• Pour the sauce over the chicken and mix them around until they are completely coated.
• Serve over rice.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I would suggest you try something called seitan. It is made from wheat flour gluten and really resembles meat when made - you can buy shop bought seitan as well. It would work better than tofu. (it can also be called seiten.) but as a word of warning, if you have any intolerance to gluten - don't use it. It is pure gluten but enormously good fun to make once.

 

[Fiorabelle]

You could use Quorn, which is a faux meat mycoprotein extracted from fungus. It tastes too much like chicken for my tastes (chewy) but I thought I'd mention it as an option anyhow.

 

[OhioTom76]

I'm not a vegetarian, but if I had to eat a vegetarian variation on orange chicken, I would probably just swap out the battered chicken for some breaded or batter dipped mushrooms. In fact you can find them in the freezer sections of most grocery stores, or buy large bags of them in bulk at restaurant supply stores. Worth it to save you the mess of making them all by hand.