Introducing a Vegan Crispy Pork Belly, I'm so excited to share this recipe with you guys. It is an alternative plant-based meaty juice vegan pork belly and I also want to participate and join Hive Top Chef, this week's topic is "Pork Belly". I should admire that this requires many steps to complete but it's a really fun recipe and totally worth making it. Trust me! I was so amazed by the outcome and how it look! It looks surprisingly real, right?
Once again, this Vegan Crispy Pork Belly is very popular, as the vegan diet is so trendy lately in Thailand. This recipe went viral on the internet.
As usual, I twist and adjust the recipe that would delight my taste buds and fit with the ingredients that I have on my hands.
This vegan pork belly consists of two layers of vegan meat. The crispy crust skin is made from Textured Vegetable Protein. And another layer of chewy meat and fat is made from the combination of various types of flour and homemade seitan meat.
I do enjoy this incredible Vegan Crispy Pork Belly in a very easy wrapped with Fresh Vegetables and spicy Thai-style condiments, Miang Moo Krob is a Thai beloved dish.
Miang translates to “food wrapped in leaves” and Moo Krob to “Crispy Pork Belly”. This one-bite wrap is a fun journey of Thai flavors, the sensations of sweet, salty, sour, spicy, fresh, and crispy. All in one bite!
This one-bite food wrap makes them the perfect no-cook appetizer to entertain me and my family. We can also have fun wrapping them and easily adapt to everyone’s tastes.
Talking about Vegan Crispy Pork Belly
- Start with soaking the texture vegetable proteins for making the first layer of crispy skin.
- Then I did make the seitan meat to create the chewy texture of my fat layer by using gluten flour. I do use bread flour which they always high in gluten. This seitan or gluten imitates meat is a traditional recipe that I learn from my mom which is called "Mee Kung" in Chinese words. It is so popular to use seitan as the main ingredient for other Thai vegan recipes as well.
- Once I did mix the bread flour and pinch of salt with water and combine until sticky. Then leave it for about 1 hour to let the gluten is fully swollen.
After that, water is added to the dough for washing out the starch and leave only the gluten. Repeat to rinse about 5 times until the water is totally clear.
Next, I did mix gluten imitates meat with all purposed flour, rice flour, and crispy flour. Then just do simply season with soy sauce and knead them until they well combine. - Finally, end up forming the pork belly with 2 layers of fat from the seitan-flour mixture and 3 layers of meat from the textured vegetable protein.
- Later, steam it and transferring to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Then cut it into thick slices cube!
- Lastly, deep fried with vegetable oil.
Now comes the Miang Moo Krob Recipe
- Miang Moo Krob or One Bite Wrap Vegan Crispy Pork Belly is a traditional Thai snack that wrapped up all Thai flavors including sweet, salty, sour, spicy, and crunchy together in a single bite.
- Each wrap is filled with crunchy pork belly and a spontaneous choice of veggies. I use the Chinese kale for the wrappers and I also add long bean, cherry tomato, cucumber, chili, and seedless grape. Then pair up this fresh veggie with rice noodles.
- The rice noodles will soak up the Thai-style condiments wonderfully that balance salty, sour and crazy spicy flavors. I simply pounded the garlic and the chili into the clay mortar until finely rough. Then I do flavor with soy sauce, sugar, and kumquat that is so productive in my garden and lastly, I sprinkle the roasted uncooked rice on top.
Ingredients for Vegan Crispy Pork Belly
- 5 Textured Vegetable Protein
- 1.5 Cup Bread Cup
- 1 All-Purposed Flour
- 1/2 Cup Crispy Flour
- 1/2 Cup Rice Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Mushroom Powder
- 1/2 Cup Water (to form the seitan dough at the first step)
- 1 Cup Water (to form the various types of flour at the third step)
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil (for deep-fried)
Ingredients for Spicy Condiment and Other Components
- 3 Thai Bird Chili
- 3 Dried Chili
- 4 Kumquat
- 1 Teaspoon Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 3 Garlic with Skin
- 1 Teaspoon Roasted Uncooked Rice
- 400 Gram Rice Noodles
- Any Choice of Green Leaves and Vegetables
INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1 - Making the Seitan - Gluten Dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt, then mix until well combined.
Add about a cup of water into the mixing bowl and use a spoon to stir them together.
Then combine the flour with the hands and let them rest for about an hour, cover the flour with the kitchen tower too.
STEP 2 - Washing the Flour
Once the flour absorbs all the water, then pour in the water for about half of liter.
Start to gently stir the dough in the water to wash out the starch. Once the water gets really misty and thicker with starch.
Strain the seitan through a colander.
Repeat the rinsing with a fresh batch of cold water and keep stirring until getting a sponge dough that sticks together really well.
It took me 5 times to repeat the rinsing process in freshwater and need to keep going to rinse until the water is only lightly instead of meaty.
STEP 3 - Making another Batch of Flour
Mix the mushroom powder and soy sauce in a bowl of all-purpose flour, rice flour, and crispy flour. Then gently stir them together.
Add about a cup of water into the mixing bowl and use a silicone spatula to stir them together.
Keep kneading the mixture with the hand until everything is well mixed and easily form the dough into a ball for about 2 minutes.
STEP 4 - Combine the Dough
Combine the seitan dough and the mixture of various types of flour dough together.
Knead the dough together until they are clinking and stretching.
STEP 5 - Prepare the Texture Vegetable Proteins
Add the water into the bowl of Texture Vegetable Proteins(TVP).
Let's soak the TVP in the water for about 15 minutes.
Once the TVP soaks enough water then it'll turn fluffy and look like a kind of real meat again.
Then squeeze the water out. Here are the Texture Vegetable Proteins.
STEP 6 - Prepare the Texture Vegetable Proteins
Use the scissor and trim the edge around the Texture Vegetable Proteins.
Tear apart the Texture Vegetable Proteins by hands.
STEP 7 - Prepping the Vegan Crispy Pork Belly
Pull out the seitan mixture and top over the Texture Vegetable Proteins as the first fat layer of pork belly.
Put the Texture Vegetable Proteins over the seitan mixture as the middle meat of vegan pork belly.
Pull over the seitan mixture on top of the Texture Vegetable Proteins as the second fat layer of pork belly.
Spread the seitan mixture all over the Texture Vegetable Proteins, just be sure not to over-put the seitan mixture to the edges of TVP as I want a clear space around each layer when seitan getting slides to the edge.
Lay the Texture Vegetable Proteins over the second layer as the third meat layer of pork belly.
Repeat the process with the remaining vegan pork belly.
STEP 8 - Steam
Drop the vegan pork belly in the steamer over medium heat, using the banana leaves as the natural tray to prevent the vegan pork belly stick to the steamer.
Lid on the steamer and steam it for about 10 minutes.
Once the pork belly is cooked, turn off the heat and let it cool down.
STEP 8 - Store in the Fridge
Once the vegan pork belly cools down, then wrap the vegan pork belly in a food plastic bag and transfer it to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
STEP 9 - Cut the Vegan Pork Belly
Once the vegan pork belly turns solid, this will make it easy to cut and the vegan pork belly will not fall apart.
Cut the vegan pork belly with a sharp knife.
Then trim off the edge of the vegan pork belly as the squared cube size.
Set all the vegan pork belly aside, while preparing the pan to deep fried.
STEP 10 - Deep Fried the Pork Belly
Heat a small wok over high heat. And add half a cup of vegetable oil. Then gently place the vegan pork belly one at a time in the wok.
Deep fry both sides until slightly brown for about 3 minutes on each side.
Once the vegan pork belly is golden crisp and transferred from the wok and rest them on the rack.
Repeat to deep-fried the second batch of vegan pork belly and set them aside while preparing the spicy condiments.
Making Spicy Condiment
Add the dried chilies, fresh chili, and garlic with skin in a wooden mortar and pestle, then grind until the dried chili are very fine and most of the seeds are broken.
Follow with the sugar and grind until the sugar melt.
Season with soy sauce and squeeze the kumquat.
Then combine the ingredients with the pestle until well combined.
Sprinkle a teaspoon of roasted uncooked rice on top.
Platter
Serve Vegan Crispy Pork Belly along with fresh vegetables and spicy condiments. This recipe is unique and super fun to make. Even though it's a bit complicated and requires many steps but don't freak out because I try to warp it up for you guys and hope you enjoy reading my recipe and give it a try.
A burst of sweet, sour, salty, spicy heat, fresh and crunch, just like little fireworks that explode in my mouth popping here and there with every bite.
Thanks for reading my blog and wishing you a great day ahead!
