Monday, July 30, 2007

The Chik'n Patty Experiment



While perusing VegWeb, I found a recipe for homemade "fried chicken" using TVP granules as the primary ingredient.

Here's the Original Recipe

I altered it a little. I didn't have any bouillon cubes (yet another thing I need to stock up on. Curses! Why can't I get paid 4 times a month?) so I seasoned some boiling water with a TON of stuff, no measurements. Lots of salt, poultry seasoning, Spike Seasoning, dash of cayenne, paprika, pepper. I just dumped it all in the water until it tasted somewhat close to a "chicken" broth.

I hydrated the TVP with this seasoned water, let it sit for a little while, then added some pancake mix until it became thick enough to form patties. I coated the first batch with really old rice krispies crushed up, pan fried them, and dried them out on a plate and paper towels.

Not too bad.

Next, I tried no coating. This was the best result. More "meat" like. The texture for almost all the variations was right on. The flavor was a bit off. Too much starchy flavor from the pancake mix.

Last, I coated the patties in crushed saltines. Not too shabby. Great with agave nectar.

Overall, I would say this recipe is worth expanding on. I'd like to find something that is less starchy to hold the patties together, and get some panko breadcrumbs for a coating. I'd also like to play with different flavors to see what comes of it.

No comments:

Post a Comment