Chicken Wings - Without Chickens or Wings

A lot of people call vegetarians or vegans who eat products that taste and look like meat "hypocrites" because they indulge in things that look like something they would never eat. I did not go vegetarian because I did not enjoy the taste of animals. I stopped eating animals because I did not like a) that they were killed for my pleasure and b) how they were raised before they were slaughtered. In fact, I really like the taste of meat, but I do not want to eat animals. To cut a long story short: I loved chicken wings before I went vegetarian. And I found a lovely alternative that allows me to get a great taste without the consequences. Omnivore-approved and the instant love of every guest at our birthday party! (And the most requested recipe after the party!)

Ingredients:

"Chicken" spice salt - can be bought for a lot of money... or simply be
mixed for a fraction of what you would have paid at the supermarket!

• 150g of dried soy medaillons
• Water
• 6 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 100g of tomato paste
• 1 table spoon of yeast extract
• 2 table spoons of salt
• 100g of ketchup (not pictured)
• 100g of BBQ sauce (not pictured)
• chicken seasoning (instead of store bought stuff, I just mix the following: 1 tsp of salt,  1tsp of sweet paprika, 1tsp of hot paprika, 1 tsp of powdered curry)
• oil for frying

What's all that?

Dried soy medaillons - about the size
of a chicken wing. ;)

Yeast Extract - Gives your food a
meaty flavor without meat!

Instructions:

• Get a big pot and fill it with 1 or 1 1/2l of water. 
• Add yeast extract, tomato puree, soy sauce and salt. Stirr well until everything has dissolved. 

• Heat up the mixture. 
• Add soy medaillons and cook for ca.15 minutes. If you're not in a hurry, you can just leave the soy in the pot so the pieces can soak up more stuff before you proceed.

• Remove soy pieces from the pot. They should have soaked up quite a bit of the liquid they were cooked in. 

• Take a big pan and generously fill it with oil and heat it up.

• Fry the soy pieces until they are nice and crisp on each side. 
• When a portion is ready, put the fried soy pieces in a bowl and seasoning them with your awesome home made chicken seasoning.

• Repeat until all of the soy pieces are fried and seasoned. (Here is where we stopped with the recipe today and just ate the results with fries! YUM!)
• Pour ketchup and barbecue sauce into the bowl with the soy pieces and mix well until every piece is nicely coated. 
• Heat your oven to 220°C/425°F. 
• Place the soy pieces on a baking sheet (don't forget the baking paper). 
• Bake the "wings" for 10 minutes, take them out, turn them over (so both sides get nice and crispy) and put them back in the oven for another 3 minutes.

Oooh, the pretty chickenless, wingless chicken wings!

Either serve them hot, reheat them in the oven for 2 minutes (220°C/425°F), or serve them cold. They taste awesome regardless of the temperature! If they sit in the fridge for too long, they get a bit soggy. You can get rid off that sogginess by putting the in the oven for a little bit.

The "wings" are great party food, go well in bentos and are wonderful for picnics.