I have a confession. When I used to eat chicken, my favourite part was the crispy skin. Even after I stopped eating chicken, I would crave that part. The thought disgusts me now; however when I thought of trying to figure out how to veganize that skin, it intrigued me! I read a few recipes and many were quite intensive. However I found a few that sounded simple and I tweaked them both a bit to come up with my own!!!  This seitan recipe uses different spices that help it tastes closer to the fried recipe many of us grew up eating. I hope anyways, it’s been a while since I’ve had it!

Spicy Crispy Chik’n

​There’s a video on my Instagram page of me taking my first bite of it! I wanted to record the sound! It was magical!!!  This is a 2 step cooking process. Mostly because I was trying to make them crispy on their own, then realised they needed a magical ingredient! I’d recommend cooking the patties one night and cook the “skin” part right before serving them 🙂  

Ingredients:

Chik’n Patties:

• 1 C vital wheat gluten
• 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 C vegan Buffalo hot sauce (Frank’s is my fave!)
• 1/4 C vegetabel broth
• 3 Tbsp tahini
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 3 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 6-8 C vegetable broth, for boiling

Sauce:

• 1/4 C Buffalo hot sauce
• 2/3 C water

Crispy “Skin”:

• Fill the bottom of deep frying pan with about an inch of oil (I used EVOO)
• 6 rice paper wrappers
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• Siracha (as hot as you want it, I used probably 5 tbsp)
• 3 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt (I always use sea salt)
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp dried ground thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cup flour

Other:

• vegan butter for frying pan

Directions:

1st Round of Cooking:

1. Put broth for boiling in a large, deep frying pan, turn on high!
2. In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients for the patties
3. Using your hands, form patties. I was able to make 5 smaller ones. Try to make them in a rectangular shape.
4. When broth is boiling, place patties in pan. Patties should be covered by broth
5. Place cover on pan, reduce to medium to medium-low heat and simmer for about 50 minutes.
6. Mix together the sauce  (water, hot sauce) in a shallow bowl, and in another mix flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt & pepper. 
7. When patties are finished, remove gently and place on wire rack.
8. When patties are dry (approx 10-15 minutes), place them one at a time in flour mix and coat both sides. 
9. Next, place patty in the sauce and once again coat with flour.  Repeat with each patty.
10. Add 2-3 tbsp vegan butter to frying pan, that you’ve heated on medium heat for a few minutes.
11. Once butter starts bubbling, spread it around the pan and add the patties. 
12. Cook each side approximately 5 minutes, until they start to brown.

You could use these patties in a sandwich at this point. But I wasn’t super happy with them so I added the next step – CRISPY “SKIN” 😀

2nd Round of Cooking:

1. In a a bowl of warm water, place a rice paper wrapper in for a few minutes til it softens
2. Gently lay on counter and place one patty in the bottom half of the wrapper.  (Throw the next one in the water!) Fold the bottom up, then wrap in the sides and roll up the rest, making a little burrito. Do this for each patty.
3. Heat oil between medium-high and high.
4. Place each patty, one by one, in the flour (mixed with spices) and coat well. Dredge the patty through the sauce (hot sauce, milk) then coat one more time in the flour.
5. Cook patties on each side until a crispy golden brown colour, approximately 3-5 minutes.
6. Rest on paper towel after for a few minutes if you want to soak up a bit of the oil. Maybe one day I’ll have an oil free recipe but I just learned this one today.

ENJOY!!!!  If you make it, and post on Instagram, please tag me! @munchieswithlove269

A quick little selfie video I took, capturing my first bite of the crispy ‘skin’ and my annoying reaction to it. The “OMG I can’t even” response is a line I can’t stand hearing others say and it was so good it threw me off guard and I was all over that saying hahaha.