Indian Chinese goodness.
Happy Monday! Have you ever heard of veggie Manchurian? If not, let me introduce you to this super tasty, hot & spicy BUT slightly sour sauce, tossed with little veggie balls. This dish is an Indo-Chinese classic, that I was lucky enough to experiment with and have amazing results! It's basically the best thing ever, and when Chinese meets Indian food, how can one go wrong?!
How was everyone's snowy weekend? Were you snowed in like myself?! If so, hopefully you didn't have a horror of a night like I did on Saturday when I was cookin these bad boys. Not-so-funny story: So there I was on Saturday, a quiet night in cooking & FaceTiming with my sister, Fawn. Apartment was clean, all the laundry was done, and I had a big batch of these on the stove. AND it was still early- maybe about 5, 6 o'clock. I was thrilled to have all my errands done and dinner on the stove, while the night was still young. I just wanted to get cozy on the couch with a bowl of this & a movie (or 5)! There I am cooking away, and I look to my left and see my candle completely UP IN FLAMES. Like the whole jar was on fire. *PANIIIIIICKING*. I didn't know what to do so I threw a cup of water on it ONLY for the flame to shoot up to the ceiling and explode all over my bathroom. Eventually it went out, but geeeeez. Yes. This happened. And I was by myself with just my sister on FaceTime saying "What's wrong? What's going on?!" as she saw me rushing around the apartment freaking out. UGH such a disaster, but I will NEVER use a Bath & Body works candle again. And I suggest everyone out there that will continue to (cause they smell so darn good), please use with caution. Seriously- it could have been worse! Thank god I'm OK and only my bathroom took the beating with the hot wax and glass everywhere :( Fire extinguisher- purchased.
NOW, back to this dish. I was so happy to stumble upon this recipe on Food52. I've had it saved for some time, but was waiting for the perfect day to make em. I figured, a snowy day inside would be the best opportunity to try some new dishes. And let me say, I cooked A TON this weekend! So, plenty new meals coming at ya soon ;) OH and by the way, Ryan came home with a little too much "By Chloe" takeout on Saturday, so two dinners, a food coma, and "The Shining" is how I ended my night! Thanks for reading! xx S.
| Vegan |
I N G R E D I E N T S:
- 2 cups of cabbage, grated
- 1 cup of carrots, grated
- 1/2 cup of green beans, shredded
- 1/2 tsp of ginger, grated
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- 2 Tbs of cornstarch
- 3 Tbs of all-purpose flour
- Olive oil for frying
HOT & SOUR SAUCE - 2 1/2 Tbs of soy sauce
- 2 Tbs of ketchup
- 1 Tbs of Sriracha
- 2 Tbs of cornstarch + 1/4 cup of water
- 1 Tbs of sesame oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 stalks (or about 1/2 cup) of green onions, diced
- 1/4 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
PREPARE: Begin by preparing your veggies for these lil "meat"balls. First, add the cabbage to a food processor to grate and break down. Remove & add to a big mixing bowl. Next carrots- repeat- and lastly, green beans. They should all be broken down enough so they'll form nicely in a ball form. Toss in the ginger & add sea salt to the veggies. Mix well, and let sit for 30 minutes.
COME TOGETHER: Next, take a handful of the veggie mixture and squeeze out as much liquid as you can (discard that liquid). Put that handful of veggies back to the wet mixture. Now, add the cornstarch & flour- mix well to combine. If it't too crumbly, add just a tiny bit of water. Form the mixture into little small balls and set aside. You can't exactly roll them since they'll fall apart, but form as best as you can by mushing together in your hands. Promise they'll stick!
COOK!: Heat a generous amount of oil to a frying pan and heat over medium. Once hot, add a few of the veggie balls you just made. Cook until & rotate carefully until they are brown on almost all sides. The middle will still be raw but it will cook later in the sauce! Remove and set aside to cool.
SUPER TASTY MANCHURIAN SAUCE: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, ketchup, and Sriracha. In a separate bowl, mix together the cornstarch & water. Set aside. In a large saucepan (or saute pan with lid!), heat sesame oil over medium heat. Toss in the garlic & green onions. Saute for just a few minutes until the garlic begins to brown and onions are soft. Add in 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add in the soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha mixture. Again, bring to a boil! Now, add your cornstarch mixture + black pepper and mix well. You'll notice it thicken. Continue to cook on medium for just about 5 minutes & then kill the heat. Toss in the veggie balls, coat with the sauce, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes - still with the heat off. I garnished with some cilantro, but they're just as good without. Serve over rice or eat em on their own. MMMM!