Make Ahead

Gourmet Orange Cashew "Chicken"

August  9, 2012
0
0 Ratings
  • Serves 12 to 15 nuggets
Author Notes

A meatless and vegan alternative with a fresh, sweet orange marmalade. —VeganSquid

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • "Chicken"
  • 7 ounces Extra-Firm Tofu
  • 4 ounces chopped portobello mushrooms
  • 5 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cardamom
  • 0.5 teaspoons onion powder
  • 0.5 cups cashews
  • 0.125 cups (1/8) almond milk
  • Marmalade, Batter, and Finishing
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup cane sugar, granulated
  • 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
  • 1 thinly sliced jalapeno (adjust according to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon citrus zest, orange or lemon would work best
  • 2 cups tempura flour
  • 2 teaspoons oil
  • 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Directions
  1. "Chicken"
  2. Heat oven to 325' F.
  3. In a blender, combine cashews and almond milk and blend until consistent texture.
  4. Cut tofu into 1"x1"x1" cubes and add all ingredients (paprika, mushrooms, cardamom, onion powder) including cashew mixture, into food processor and combine until everything is well mixed. Depending on the size and quality of your food processor, you may have to finish mixing with a spatula in order to create a malleable nugget. Add nutritional yeast as necessary.
  5. Scoop out individual and uniquely shaped nuggets and place them onto a butter-lined baking sheet.
  6. Cook for 30-40 minutes, or until you start to see browning on the outside.
  7. Stick into freezer and let's move on to the marmalade and batter!
  1. Marmalade, Batter, and Finishing
  2. Combine liquid ingredients into large sauce pan and bring to a boil.
  3. Once boiling add in the garlic, ginger, zest, and sugar.
  4. Boil for about 15 minutes, or until it reduces by about 25%. Remove from heat and add thinly sliced jalapenos.
  5. For the batter we need to just mix together the tempura batter, oil, and 3/4 cup marmalade with the crushed black pepper.
  6. Bring deep-fryer to 350' F, or heat 2" of oil in a pan to a near highest heat (9).
  7. By now the nuggets should be quite close to freezing, if not, take a break, Kemosabe. Once they are (or are nearly) frozen, take out, roll in batter, and then plop into the fryer!
  8. Now, depending on how long you had to wait for these guys to cool, you may need to quickly reheat the marmalade. That's fine. Once it's heated take the fried nuggets and plate them next to rice and veggies, pouring the marmalade on the nuggets. Enjoy!
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