America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches Veganized – Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich

My family has started a new tradition, thanks to this series, America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches…Veganized! Each Saturday night we’re making the sandwich from Friday’s post. It’s turning out some very fun Saturday night dinners at our house!

The series began with Your Vegan Mom’s Vegan Spuckie Sandwich. That carrot salad on top of a variety of vegan deli slices was perfection! Then last week was Manifest Vegan’s veganized version of the Bulgogi Steak Sandwich. Let me tell you, caramelized onions atop sweetly seasoned, thinly sliced and sauteed tofu is beyond delicious!

Now I’m counting down the minutes for Saturday afternoon to arrive so I can make Sandwich #8, The Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich!

If you’re not familiar with this Vegan Sandwich Series, let me tell you a little bit about how it started. The Huffington Post published an article last month called, America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches. Only one of these sandwiches was vegetarian, and the rest were loaded with fatty meats and artery-clogging cheeses.

Veganists to the Rescue!

Several vegan, veggie, and gluten-free bloggers have teamed together to create tasty and healthier versions of these cholesterol-laden sandwiches. We’re publishing a series of posts, one for each sandwich, and we’re calling it: America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches…Veganized!

Today is the third post in the series, Sandwich #8, The Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich. We’re extra lucky today to have two bloggers who have contributed to this post. The Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich veganized in its original theme was prepared, written, and photographed by Trudy Slabosz of Veggie Num Num.

But we couldn’t stop there! April Moore of Epicurean Vegan has prepared an alternative version of this sandwich with a surprise ingredient stepping in for the chicken.

Both versions of this sandwich look delish and I’m ready to stop writing and start cooking!  For a complete list of the bloggers involved in this series, see the names and links below.

Vegan Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich

Preparation time: 50 mins
Makes two 6 inch Baguettes or 4 mini Baguettes

Drunken Marinated Tofu

• 14oz (400g) firm tofu
• 2 shallots
• 1 lemongrass shoot, white part only
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1-2 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
• ¼ tsp ground white pepper
• ¼ cup rice wine (or white wine) vinegar

Crumble the tofu into chunks (you want them to be about the size of fried chicken pieces) and set aside.

In a food processor or mortar and pestle, process the shallots, lemon grass, garlic, stock cube, palm sugar and white pepper until pulpy, add the rice or white wine vinegar and combine well to form the marinade.

Transfer the marinade into a large bowl and toss the chunks of tofu, coating evenly. Refrigerate while you prepare the remaining sandwich ingredients (tofu can be left to marinate overnight if you desire).

Sweet Tangy Sauce

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2tsp fresh minced ginger
• 2 small red chillies, minced (optional)
• 1 tbs peanut oil
• 4 tbs kekap manis (Indonesian soy sauce)
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 1 lime, juice only

Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat, add the minced garlic, ginger and chilli (if using) and fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and soft.

Add the kekap manis and tomato paste, whisking over a medium/low heat until the sauce is well combined and smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Caramelized Onions

• 1 large brown onion, thinly sliced and then separated into rings
• 1-2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1-2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• ½-1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a small frying pan. Add the onions, turning down the heat to cook slowly for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until they are lovely and soft. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar and cayenne pepper if using and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes until the onions begin to caramelize and become beautifully golden and sticky, set aside.

Battered Crispy Tofu in Sweet Tangy Sauce

• 2 oz (50g) plain unbleached flour
• 2½ oz (70g) cornstarch
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• Good pinch of salt flakes
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• ½ cup cold water
• Peanut or Rice Bran oil for deep frying

Sift the flour, cornstarch and baking powder into a medium sized bowl, add the salt and pepper and make a well in the centre. Gradually add the cold water, whisking until the ingredients just come together to form a smooth batter.

Heat enough oil in a good saucepan for deep frying; the oil should be deep enough to fully submerge your pieces of tofu. Bring the oil to a high heat watching it carefully, the oil is at the right temperature for deep frying when you can see the surface start to shimmer, you can also check by adding a small crust of bread, it should fry and brown up immediately.

Take your marinated pieces of tofu and carefully, using chopsticks or tongs dunk each piece individually into the prepared batter, hold it over the batter allowing any excess to drip off and then carefully dunk it into the hot oil.

Cook the battered tofu in small batches for 1-2 minutes each, allowing them to golden nicely, remove and set aside on absorbent paper. Repeat the process until all the tofu is golden and crispy, allow to cool slightly.

Thin the prepared sweet tangy sauce by whisking in the juice of 1 lime. Transfer the sauce to a large bowl, add the battered tofu and toss gently to coat the pieces evenly in the sweet tangy sauce, set aside.

Vegan Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich

• 2 large baguettes
• Battered Crispy Tofu in Sweet Tangy Sauce
• Caramelized Onions
• Fresh cilantro (coriander)
• Soy sauce

Toast the baguettes in a low oven for 3-4 minutes until lightly crisp.

Cut each baguette lengthways from the top making sure not to slice all the way through.

Pile in a plentiful serving of the battered crispy tofu in sweet tangy sauce, top with caramelized onions and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro. Finish off with a little drizzle of soy sauce if you desire (we also added grated carrot and cucumber for a little add healthiness, so if you like, add these too) and be sure to consume happily in large rapturous mouthfuls!

by  Trudy Slabosz of Veggie Num Num

Crispy Drunken Portobello Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 5 Portobello mushrooms, washed and patted dry
• 2 Tbs mirin
• 1 tsp sherry
• 1 large onion, sliced thin
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• Dash of sugar
• 1/8 to ¼ C vegan bread crumbs or panko
• 4 sourdough sandwich rolls
• 1/3 C fresh cilantro leaves

Tangy brown sauce:

• ¼ C Hoisin sauce
• 1 Tbs Shoyu or tamari
• 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbs fresh grated gingerroot
• 2 Tbs water

Directions:

Remove stems from Portobellos; slice each into 6 pieces.

Place into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the mirin and sherry; drizzle over the mushrooms. Using your hands, gently coat and toss the mushrooms with the mirin mixture. Set aside and let marinate for about 20-30 minutes.

While these are marinating, preheat the broiler to high. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan and add onion slices. Cook onions, stirring often for about 10 minutes and add the sugar and stir to combine. Cook another 10-15 minutes, or until the onions brown and caramelize.

To make the sauce, whisk together the Hoisin, shoyu, Worcestershire, gingerroot, and water.

Add the bread crumbs to the bowl of mushrooms and coat thoroughly. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Layer on the mushrooms and place under the broiler for 10 minutes, turning the mushrooms halfway through. (Variation: Pour sauce over Portobellos after coating with bread crumbs and place under the broiler).

To assemble the sandwich, spread some sauce on the bottom bun, then layer on several Portobello pieces, top with onions, drizzle on more sauce and top with the fresh cilantro.

And now for the best part of all – dig in!

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this third post in our series of America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches…Veganized! We’ll be publishing a recipe for a new sandwich each week so stay tuned. Be sure to check out the previous posts too:

• Sandwich #10,  The Vegan Spuckie
• Sandwich #9, The Bulgogi Tofu Steak Sandwich

America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches…Veganized! Participating Bloggers:

• Trina at Your Vegan Mom. Follow Trina on Twitter too.
• Allyson at Manifest Vegan. Follow Allyson on Twitter too.
• Trudy at Veggie NumNum. Follow Trudy on Twitter too.
• April at Epicurean Vegan.
• Morgan at Little House of Veggies. Follow Morgan on Twitter.
• Noelle at Operah Singer in the Kitchen. Follow Noelle on Twitter.
• Leinana at Vegan Good Things. Follow Leinana on Twitter.
• Nora at Pride and Vegudice. Follow Nora on Twitter.
• Mandi Hoffman at Chic Vegan. Follow Mandi on Twitter.
• Jennifer Sweet on Veg. Follow Jennifer on Twitter.
• Ashley at Never Homemakers. Follow Ashley on Twitter.
• Marly at Namely Marly. Follow Marly on Twitter.