Even vegans dream of a greasy burger.
When that need to splurge arises, Vegans can now indulge as easy as the rest of us with this down and dirty cookbook by Melbourne recipe developer Zacchary Bird.
Publishing this month, Vegan Junk Food is the anti-vegan cookbook for vegans.
Unlike other vegan cookbooks that you might’ve come across, this book won’t have you searching through a spice market just to find all the ingredients. These recipes are supermarket-ready and can be made by even the most novice chef.
Inside you’ll find indulgences like Buffalo Cauliflower Dip, Beer-battered chocolate, Butternut Mac n Cheese, The Big Zac burger, deep fried banana fritters, The Kogo South Korean hot dog, and so much more!
Thanks to Simon and Schuster, we’ve got three more recipes for you to sample. Whether you’re a vegan or not, throw your diet out the window and let yourself be tempted…
Who said that living without meat means you can’t get greasy AF? They were wrong, and this book is (cruelty-free) proof.
Chai Ice Cream
Makes about 1 litre (4 cups)
A proper chai latte is deliciously spiced, unlike its distant cousin the turmeric latte, which is simply a bland curry that someone forgot to add the rest of the ingredients to. That’s why the former makes delicious ice cream and the latter is unwelcome in this book.
Ingredients
- 280 ml soy milk
- 140 g (¾ cup) brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 11/2 tablespoons natural vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- pinch of guar gum or xanthan gum
- 2 chai or black tea bags
Ice cream
- 185 ml (¾ cup) soy milk
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 50 g (½ cup) soy milk powder
- 55 g (¼ cup) coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Place the milk, sugar, cloves, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and gum in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Turn the heat off, add the tea bags and steep with the lid on for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and allow to cool before removing the tea bags.
To make the ice cream, place the milk, lemon juice and milk powder in a blender and briefly blend together. With the motor running, slowly add the coconut and sunflower oils until the mixture becomes thick. Add the cooled chai mixture and blend again until combined. Transfer the mixture to the fridge until completely chilled.
Place the mixture in an ice-cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions for 25–30 minutes. Pour the ice cream into a freezer-friendly container and cover the surface of the ice cream with plastic wrap. Make sure the container is airtight to avoid ice crystals forming.
Freeze overnight, then scoop and serve.
Sausage Rolls
Makes 8
My sausage rolls are a consistent crowd pleaser, with mushrooms and herbs serving to bulk out your choice of ‘meat’ and give off gourmet vibes. The wash of milk and oil somehow makes them simultaneously crispy and soft, and ensures they’re just as good days later if your rolls survive long enough to become cold and old.
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 200 g chestnut or button mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 2 beef- or chicken-style stock cubes
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon thyme or rosemary leaves
- 5 drops liquid smoke (optional)
- 250 g vegan mince or vegan burger patties, broken up into chunks
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 2 sheets dairy-free frozen puff pastry, just thawed
- 2 teaspoons soy milk
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)
- tomato ketchup, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and mushroom and continue to cook until the mushroom has broken down and any liquid has evaporated. Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor, along with the stock cubes, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, thyme or rosemary leaves and the liquid smoke (if using) and blitz to combine.
Place the mince in a large bowl and use a fork to mash the mustard, pepper and parsley into the mince. Stir in the mushroom mixture until well combined. Divide the mixture into quarters.
Cut the pastry sheets in half and place them in front of you. Evenly spoon the mince mixture along the long edge of each pastry sheet, then fold the pastry sheets over to enclose the filling and use a fork to crimp and seal the edges. Press the sausage rolls down on this crease to seal shut, then cut in half and stuff any filling that’s fallen out back into the open ends.
Whisk 4 teaspoons olive oil and the soy milk in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over the top of each sausage roll and sprinkle with the sesame seeds and/or poppy seeds (if using). Bake for 25–35 minutes, until golden.
Serve with tomato ketchup or your favourite tomato sauce.
The sausage rolls will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Korean Spicy Fried ‘Chicken’
Serves 4
This recipe might be a little time intensive to make from scratch, but one could argue that it takes a lot less time than raising a chicken. Opting for store-bought seitan or faux chicken and rice malt syrup brings the preparation for this recipe down to less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 700 g steamed Seitan chickpea chicken, cut into 5 cm x 2.5 cm irregular chunks
(store-bought seitan or faux xhixken, or use the additional recipe immediately below this one) - 2 teaspoons minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- canola oil, for deep-frying
- sea salt
- thinly sliced spring onion (scallion), to serve
- toasted sesame seeds, for sprinkling
Coating
- 60 g (½ cup) potato starch
- 40 g plain flour
- 35 g cornflour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Sauce
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 95 g gochujang, plus extra to taste
- 55 ml tomato ketchup
- 3 tablespoons Vegan honey (option to include recipe below or say “store-bought vegan honey or rice malt syrup”)
- 4 teaspoons white vinegar
Combine the seitan chunks, ginger and soy sauce in a large bowl until the ginger is distributed evenly and the seitan has absorbed the soy sauce.
In a separate bowl, combine the coating ingredients. Add the seitan, toss to coat and set aside for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the canola oil in a large saucepan or deep-fryer to 180°C using a kitchen thermometer to assist you.
Toss the seitan pieces again in any remaining coating mixture to achieve a dry exterior. Place immediately into the hot oil and fry for 3–4 minutes to cook through. If the seitan pieces are browning too quickly, remove from the pan and allow to cool before flash-frying again until crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain and sprinkle with salt.
While the seitan is frying, make the sauce. Fry the garlic in a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon of the hot frying oil over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce starts to follow the spoon about, adding a splash of water if you want to make it runnier. This should be ready by the time you take the seitan out of the oil. Taste and add an extra squeeze of gochujang if your friends can handle it.
Put the finishing touches on your masterpiece by using a pastry brush to paint the sauce onto the surface of the fried seitan, brushing as much flavour as you can into the crevices. Or, less artfully, dump the seitan into a bowl and pour the sauce over the top, tossing until fully coated.
Serve with thinly sliced spring onion and toasted sesame seeds scattered over the top.
If you would prefer to make your own Seitan chickpea chicken instead of using something store-bought, here’s a bonus recipe:
Seitan Chickpea Chicken – makes 900 g
- 270 g gluten flour
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 4 teaspoons torula yeast (optional)
- 20 g nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon ground sage
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 55 g (½ cup) chickpea flour (besan)
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons white miso
- 2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons chicken-style stock powder
Combine the gluten flour, onion powder, torula yeast (if using), nutritional yeast, sage, thyme, rosemary and white pepper in a bowl. Make a well in the middle.
Place the chickpea flour, olive oil and 155 ml water in a blender and blend until smooth.
Place the miso, Worcestershire sauce, stock powder and 250 ml (1 cup) water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, pour in the blended chickpea mixture, remove from the heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until glossy.
Pour the chickpea mixture into the bowl with the gluten flour mixture and stir with the spoon to incorporate. Stretch out the mixture and punch it down, repeating to knead for 3 minutes.
The dough should be slightly sticky, stretchy and with visible strands of gluten formed. Pinch off 2.5 cm chunks (or your desired size remembering the seitan will double in size during cooking) and loosely wrap the chunks in food-grade plastic wrap.
Place the seitan in a steamer set over a saucepan of simmering water and steam for 40 minutes, until doubled in size. Remove from the steamer and set aside to cool.
Once cooled, tear the seitan into strips to make shredded chicken or cut into chunks. To use in recipes, marinate and cook as you would regular chicken.
Vegan honey – Makes 1.25 kg
- 2 litres (8 cups) fresh, cloudy or long-life apple juice
- 880 g (4 cups) granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons carob syrup (see Note)
Place the apple juice in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Simmer, maintaining a low boil, for about 45 minutes or until the apple juice has reduced by half. If using fresh or cloudy apple juice, frequently skim the surface to remove any sediment that rises to the top. Use this time to bask in how fantastic your kitchen smells right now.
In a separate saucepan, bring 1 litre (4 cups) water to the boil over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and stir for 3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the sugar syrup into the reduced apple juice.
Keep the sweetened apple juice bubbling for 1–11/2 hours, until the liquid has reduced to about 750 ml (3 cups) and resembles a honey-like thickness. Use a candy thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature; if it goes over 112ºC the final product will be firmer than a syrup and it won’t work as a pourable honey.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the carob syrup. Allow to cool before pouring into sterilised jars for storage. The honey will keep in the pantry for several months.
NOTE – You can buy carob syrup from most health-food stores and online.
Recipes extracted from Vegan Junk Food by Zacchary Bird, published 2 September 2020 by Smith Street Books, RRP $39.99. Photography © Pete Dillon, Food Stylist © Bridget Wald
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