This dish of Seitan Puffs with Pea Tips was a happy accident I created when rooting around for ingredients in the fridge to make a meatless dish for myself.
While we still indulge in meat, I’m slowly seeing myself go vegetarian on many nights of the week, for both health and environmental reasons! Who would have thought?
A High-Protein Seitan Vegan Dish
This is a great vegan dish that’s high in protein. It’s so crazy satisfying, it could really compete with a meat dish. You don’t miss the meat AT ALL.
It’s all thanks to fried seitan puffs, which are too delicious and should not be missed! While seitan is a popular ingredient for vegans and plant-based eaters, these Chinese seitan puffs are not well-known.
Vitamin-Rich Leafy Greens
These seitan puffs and the pea tips (also called pea leaves or snow pea tips) are a perfect match. Pea tips usually need a good amount of oil. These seitan puffs are a bit oily, making them the perfect complement for the pea tips.
Another leafy green I can suggest is spinach, which has a similar consistency and cooking time.
It’s important to use leafy greens that cook in just a couple of minutes, as these seitan puffs should not be cooked for too long, or they will turn mushy. Total cooking time should be about 3-5 minutes.
Tip:
You may recall our recipe for Pork-Stuffed Chinese Fried Gluten Balls (they’re tastier than the name would suggest, I promise). These seitan puffs are a slightly different product, but you could use either. You simply need to cook the fried round puffs for a few minutes longer to cook them down.
Recipe Instructions
Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Cook the ginger and garlic for 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the garlic.
Now add the water…
And seitan puffs. Increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
Stir-fry to coat the puffs with hot liquid to soften. Add the light soy sauce, white pepper, and sesame oil.
Stir to mix everything well for a minute until the puffs are half deflated.
Now stir in the pea tips and cook until the seitan puffs are completely wilted.
While the pea tips cook down, salt to taste. There’s no need to cover the wok at any point. There should still be some standing sauce.
Once all the pea tips are wilted, serve.
The entire cooking time should be no more than 3-5 minutes if you properly preheat your wok.
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Recipe
Seitan Puffs with Pea Tips
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil (any neutral oil, such as vegetable or canola)
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2-3/4 cup water quantity depends on your stove's BTUs and how quickly water cooks off in your wok)
- 2 1/2 ounces seitan puffs
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 8 ounces snow pea tips
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Cook the ginger and garlic for 30 seconds, taking care not to burn the garlic. Now add the water and seitan puffs. Increase the heat to high, and bring to a boil.
- Stir-fry to coat the puffs with hot liquid to soften. Add the light soy sauce, white pepper, and sesame oil. Stir to mix everything well for a minute until the puffs are half-deflated.
- Now stir in the pea tips and cook until the seitan puffs are completely wilted. While the pea tips cook down, salt to taste. There’s no need to cover the wok at any point. There should still be some standing sauce.
- Once all the pea tips are wilted, serve. The entire cooking time should be no more than 3-5 minutes if you properly preheat your wok.
