I'm Back! and I bring you Vegan Sweet and Sour 'chicken'balls!!!!!

Hi everyone! So the majority of my midterms are over which means I can get back to blogging and sharing some AMAZING recipes that I highly recommend you try! 


Things to look forward to this week:
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Delicious sweet indian lentil bake (super easy and budget friendly!)
- Chana Masala
- Mouth-watering pumpkin brownie!
- and ratatouille!


Now for today: Vegan Chinese-takeout Sweet and Sour "Chicken"balls

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup white sugar, or to taste
• 1/2 cup white vinegar, or more to taste
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 2 tablespoons Ketchup
• 
  

Breading:

• 2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 'egg' (I used powdered egg replacer and followed their instructions for 1 egg, which you can find at any grocery store. You could also make a flax egg.)
• 1 1/2 cups water

"Chicken":

You can use any type of vegan protein as a replacer for chicken (ex. Tofu, Seitan, or the mock 'chicken'-strips found in most organic aisles in grocery stores or at your local health food store)
I used:
1 block of tofu, cut up into bite sized pieces and marinated in vegetable broth, with spices (I used rosemary, thyme, sage, cumin, garlic powder, pepper, and onion powder to taste) 


Directions:
Sauce:

1. Mix the sugar, vinegar, maraschino cherry juice, ketchup and pineapple juice in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
2. Place the cornstarch in a small bowl, and stir the water into it to make a smooth paste. Stir the cornstarch paste into the juice mixture, and bring to a simmer. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens, about 1 minute.

"Chicken"balls:

1. Marinade Tofu overnight.
2. Combine flour, 2 tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, salt, white pepper, and 'egg'. Add 1 1/2 cups water gradually to make a thick batter. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add 'chicken' pieces, and stir until 'chicken' is well coated.
3. Heat oil in skillet or wok to 360 degrees F (180 degrees C). Fry chicken pieces in hot oil 10 minutes, or until golden. Remove chicken, and drain on paper towels. OR for a lower fat version, bread 'chicken', place on non-stick baking sheet and bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Finally, spoon sauce over your 'chicken'balls and serve :)

So Good!!! 

Question: My next blog post will be tomorrow so, which recipe do you want me to post next? Vegan Carrot Cake, Delicious sweet indian lentil bake (super easy and budget friendly!), Chana Masala, Mouth-watering pumpkin brownie, or ratatouille?