Chinese-Style “Meat” Sauce (Vegan Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups dry TVP ((see notes for sub))
• 1 small red bell pepper (diced into small pieces)
• 1 small green bell pepper (diced into small pieces)
• 1/2 medium white onion (diced into small pieces)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1 small carrot (peeled and diced into small pieces)
• 3.5 oz french or green beans (sliced into small pieces)
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp Szechuan pepper powder (, I simply crushed whole peppercorns (optional))
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder (see notes)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (or more to taste)
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar or more to taste
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (or other rice wine, optional)
• 2-3 tbsp dark mushroom soy sauce (optional for colour (see notes))
• 1-2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (or rice vinegar)
• 1-2 tbsp hot sauce or chili sauce
• 1.5 to 2 cups vegetable broth (, see notes)
• 2.5 tbsp corn starch (, see notes)
• 5 tbsp room temperature water (, see notes)
• Neutral oil
• 5 servings cooked rice or noodles
• Sesame seeds (for topping)

Instructions

1. 1

   Place the TVP or texturised vegetable protein in a large heat proof bowl. Pour boiling hot water and allow to rehydrate for 5-10 minutes until doubled in size. Run through some water and squeeze out any excess liquid. Set aside.

2. 2

   Prepare the vegetables of stir-frying. You can also include any other vegetables of choice and just finely dice/mince them as well.

3. 3

   For the sauce, simply mix everything together. Fee free to adjust to your taste!

4. 4

   If you’re planning to cook down noodles, you can cook it before preparing the sauce. I recommend to slightly undercook the noodles so they stay nice and chewy. Running the noodles through water after cooking can also help stop its cooking and wash off any starch.

5. 5

   Heat a large pan or wok over medium heat. Once hot, add some neutral oil. Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and vegetables until half cooked. Do note that you’ll need to cook the carrots a bit longer until tender. Add in the spices, salt and adjust to your taste.

6. 6

   Add in the rehydrated TVP or protein of choice.

7. 7

   Pour in the sauce mix. Mix to coat well. Pour in 1.5 cups of vegetable broth. Leave over medium heat until it comes to a boil.

8. 8

   Meanwhile, mix together the corn starch and water in a small bowl until you have a slurry.

9. 9

   Lower the heat of the sauce. While mixing, pour in the slurry. Continue to mix until the sauce starts to thicken form the corn starch.

10. 10

    Taste the sauce and feel free to season with more soy sauce, sugar, chili sauce if desired. If you want the sauce a bit runnier, you can slowly add more broth and mix well. From there, you can see if it's reached your desired consistency.

11. 11

    Scoop over cooked rice or noodles. Mix and enjoy!