Chickless Nuggies: Vegan Chicken Nuggets

Chicken nuggets are one of those foods that everyone talks about, so there's got to be something special about them, right? Well, beyond the good ol' batter-salt-and-fry treatment, not really! In fact, I think seitan easily beats out the bizarre pink purée real chicken nuggets are made of. For the sake of keeping this blog kid-friendly I'm not gonna link to that famous image of the play-doh meat extruder fast food restaurants use to portion their "meat" (plus or minus 40 ingredients).

Instead, enjoy this recipe for healthier, and as far as I'm concerned, tastier, chickless nuggies.

 

The firm texture is obtained by steaming the seitan instead of boiling it, but you will have to make sure the batter is adequately seasoned to compensate for the flavour lost by not boiling the seitan in broth; you can also add a boullion cube to the wet mix for the seitan, if you want.

I use aquafaba, a.k.a the thick leftover water from a can of beans, as the egg replacer that works perfectly to bind the flour coating to the outside. You can get aquafaba from a can, or simply reduce the water you've cooked your own beans from scratch in until it's slightly thick. This is a very versatile ingredient that also freezes well, so get your hands on some!

So, next time you want that actually-happy-meal feeling... consider trying some chickless nuggies.

Chickless Nuggies

Makes... A lot

For the Seitan:

2 cups Vital wheat gluten

5 tbsp Tahini

1 tsp Miso

3 tbsp Nutritional yeast

1 block Tofu, extra-firm

1 tsp Garlic powder

1/2 Tsp. Onion power

1/2 tsp White pepper

1 tsp Poultry seasoning

1/4 cup Besan/chickpea flour

2 tbsp Olive or canola oil

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Black pepper

1 Tsp. Mustard, prepared

Enough soya milk (unsweetened) to form a dough

 Mix the dry ingredients and add the wet; I crumble the tofu by hand to give a bit of variation in texture, but you can purée it as well if you want a smoother final product. Knead until well-combined, adding the soya milk slowly until the dough just sticks together. 

Steam in a tinfoil parcel with holes poked in it for 90-120 minutes.

Let cool and cut into bite-sized pieces. You'll have leftovers most likely, but these can be kept in the fridge for up to a week or be frozen for months.

For the coating:

1/2 C. Aquafaba

1 C. Whole wheat flour (or white)

1/3 C. Cornstarch

1 Tsp. Baking powder

1-2 Tsp. Salt (to taste)

1 Tsp. Poultry seasoning

Enough oil to shallow-fry (I used canola)

Sift together your dry ingredients so they're evenly combined. 

Dip nuggets into aquafaba, then into the dry ingredients.  Fry in hot oil, flipping after about 3 minutes, until golden brown. De-grease on a paper-towel lined plate and serve with your favourite condiments.