Vegan Fried "Chicken" + Dill Chive Savory Waffles (chicken + waffles for short)
Difficulty: 4/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 1/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: 90 minutes
Servings: 4
The Challenge: Chicken + Waffles
Wait what?! Chicken + Waffles. That's right folks. We're making chicken + waffles. Here's the bad news (let's get it out of this way) - this recipe is a bit more intense than my others. It is by no means hard, but it will take awhile (60 minutes of boiling wheat gluten). So, let's get that out of the way.
But I SWEAR TO YOU - this is my favorite recipe I've constructed to date. The flavor of the chicken was incredible. The waffles were delectable. The combination OUT OF THIS F'IN WORLD.
I don't tend use much vital wheat gluten in my work as the product requires a good amount of effort, and I try not to eat a ton of gluten (believe it or not ha). This recipe though did not leave me with a belly bomb like other seitan-based recipes I've eaten. We took wheat gluten, mixed it with spices, boiled it, breaded it, and pan fried it. This fried chicken is like BALLIN.COM ... (I'm such a nerd). Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Slam dunk.
I also don't leave sweets, so when I went to add in waffles...I wanted something savory. I had some dill and chives on hand, and those seemed like the perfect complement to my vegan waffle recipe. But how vegan waffles? Flax milk and chia eggs friends. They were perfect, soft, melt in your mouth waffles.
All in all this creation created a magnificent dinner that will WOW yourself and anyone you share with (if you don't eat it all yourself).
Let's get into it this adventure!
Fried Chicken
Chicken
- 1 cup vital wheat gluten
- 3 tbl nutritional yeast
- Spices: 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sage, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup Valentina hot sauce (any hot sauce will do, Franks is good substitute)
- 1/4 cup Louisiana Original hot sauce (again can sub)
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth
- 3 tbl tahini
- 6 cups veg broth for boiling
Flour Batter
- 1 cup organic unbleached flour
- Spices: 1 tsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/8 tsp chipotle chili powder
Liquid Batter
- 2 tbl Valentina + 2 tbl Louisiana Original hot sauce
- 1/2 tbl mustard
- 2 chia eggs (2 tbl chia meal + 5 1/2 tbl of water)
- 1 tbl water
Dill Chive Waffles
- 2 cups organic unbleached flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbl brown sugar
- 2 chia eggs (2 tbl chia meal + 5 1/2 tbl of water)
- 2 tbl safflower oil (or other oil with little flavor)
- 2 cups flax milk (or other dairy-free)
- 3 tbl fresh dill, chopped
- 1/4 fresh chives, chopped
Equipment You'll Need:
Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Mixing Bowls . Spatula . Parchment Paper . Large Pot . Shallow Bowl . Castiron Pan or Large Frying Pan . Waffle Iron
Before You Cook:
- Wash and cut all fresh ingredients
- Bring 6 cups of vegetable broth to boil in deep pot
1. To start, mix together wheat gluten, spices, and nutritional yeast. Then pour in hot sauces, vegetable broth, and tahini. Mix well until it starts to clump together like you see above.
2. Form the mixture into four patties, sort of like hamburger size. Keep in mind that the boiling process will increase the size 1.5x. Take your four patties and drop them into the boiling broth. Turn your boil down to a low boil and cook for 50-60 minutes stirring every so often. You want to keep the patties under the broth line so feel free to add more water/broth if it cooks down too much.
3. While the chicken boils, set up your battering station. Mix everything under the flour station into a large shallow bowl. Mix everything under the liquid station into another smaller bowl.
4. Additionally, while the chicken boils, mix together all the ingredients for your waffles. Refrigerate covered if there is a good amount of time left (30+ minutes) before the chicken is done.
5. Once the chicken is done, set it on a wire rack or paper-towel lined plate to let it dry for 5-10 minutes. Next, take your chicken and dunk it into the flour station. Cover it well. Next, dunk the chicken into the liquid bath, remove and let the liquid drip off a bit...it should be pretty thick on there. Then dunk again into the flour and coat. You should have something like the picture above.
6. To a large castiron or frying pan add 2 tbl of olive oil + 2 tbl of vegan butter. Heat over medium heat until the butter starts to pop. Add the chicken pieces to the oil + butter. Cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side until browned GOLDEN.
7. The last step is to make the waffles. Oil up your waffle iron. Pour in batter to coat the waffle iron (about 1/3 - 1/2 the mixture). Cook for about 6-7 minutes on medium heat. Serve your waffle with chicken. ENJOY!
