Mongolian Soy Curls

Ingredients 

• 4 cups dried soy curls
• 2 bunches scallions 
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ cup tamari or soy sauce
• ⅔ cup water
• 1 tsp better than vegetable bouillon
• 2 tbsp garlic minced
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp sambal olek 
• 2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp room temp or cold water

Directions

1. Soak the soy curls until they are soft then drain (30 minutes to an hour).

2. Wash and cut the scallions into 2 inch chunks. 

3. Heat oil in a pan and saute the scallions till they soften. 

4. Add the soy curls and continue to saute till everything is hot.

5. In another pan mix the soy sauce, water, vegetable bouillon, garlic, ginger, maple syrup, and sambal olek. Heat till it boils.

6. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water and slowly whisk into the boiling pan.

7. Reduce the heat and stir until it thickens. 

8. Add the sauce to the soy curls and stir. 

9. Serve immediately with rice.

Notes

You might need a little more vegetable broth if the sauce gets too thick.

A go to for me is mix together better than bouillon veggie broth, some neutral oil, a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast, some ground thyme and a little grown black or white pepper with some hot water in something microwavable like a large pyrex measuring cup. Basically you're just trying to have enough well mixed broth to cover the soy curls. I usually mix it all with a whisk then if it isn't hot enough microwave it for a minute. Then add the soy curls and let them soak for a few. If it seems like it's getting too cold I will put the whole thing back in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it back up. You're aiming for just starting to absorb but not too soft.

I then squeeze them repeatedly IN the broth. The idea is to try to soak some of the oil and broth flavoring back inside the soy curls. The oil gives it a much more pleasant mouth feel once cooked. Once you've done this a few times I will give them a LIGHT squeeze and transfer to another bowl. The idea is to get most of the liquid out but have some of the broth and oil still remain. Just takes practice to get the texture you like. Then you have a couple choices where to go.

I reserve the rest of the soaking liquid, add other spices like smoked paprika and garlic to taste and some corn starch. This basically makes the base of a sauce. If you're going for bbq you can add some tomato paste, red wine vinegar, and brown sugar. If you're going for chinese or japanese flavors you can instead add some soy sauce, brown sugar, and mirrin. If you want a more western european flavors you can just leave it as is to make it be just chik'n flavor. You can add more nutritional yeast if you want it more cheesy.

Option 1. cook as normal. pan on medium with some oil, add the curls and cook until browned. You can now add some of the soaking liquid (little at a time so you don't over soften the curls). The liquid will thicken from the starch and you have the base for whatever meal you're doing... or store these in the fridge and use them as needed like on salads or whatever.

Option 2. toss with seasoned flour and deep fry. This will basically have the texture of chicken strips or pork strips, if you are familiar. Regardless... it will be crispy on the outside and have a pleasant chew on the inside. Honestly I like to just do this and then have some white or brown rice, put them on top and drizzle with some thicker asian sauce like teriyaki or something. While the deep / pan frying takes more effort... you can make them ahead of time in a batch and keep them in them in the fridge for a bit. Won't stay as crispy but still nice. Deep fried on rice with sauce... and all you would need for a heartier meal would be a side veggie like steamed broccoli or something.

All of these are also really good options for wraps. Get some large flour tortillas (those flavored oversized ones that are like tomato or basil or garlic and herb are perfect for this). Put some kind of sauce in the middle of the tortilla, put a generous row of these, some veggies of choice (I like shredded romaine, chickpeas, tomatoes, and black olives.. but use whatever you like). Then wrap it up, cut it diagonally to be fancy and away you go.

Another good use is make as above (either way you like) and then thicken some enchilada sauce with masa ... I am lazy so I get canned red enchilada sauce and masa and cook it in a pot on the stove until it's as thick as I want (1 like 10-12oz can and like.. 3-4 tbsp masa is around where I do it because I want it not to be runny). Then make "street tacos" with it. Warm two corn tortillas and stack them slightly overlapping and put some of the sauce and soy curls in the middle. Dress with whatever you like on tacos... shredded lettuce, cheeze, cheez sauce (I make cashew cream using nutritional yeast, garlic, BTB, red wine vinegar, pepper, and paprika... you can add some jalepeno if you want nacho flavor), tomato, black olive, chopped cilantro... etc.

I recommend buying the larger bulk bags of soy curls if you can (butler sells them in like 12lb bags). It's way more cost effective. The major caveat is that they do not last in a cabinet because they still have some fats and they will go rancid if not used. So you have to store them in the freezer. They will last forever in the freezer but take up space so gotta plan around it and have space for them.

More of a general tip: You can also fry ~~the soy strips~~ TVP while still dry.

So, I'll often put them into a pan or a pot with a bit of oil until they start browning and then just add water, vegetable broth, soy sauce etc. into there, to make my normal sauce for the dish.

They don't get quite the same texture, but still really good and makes them much easier to use in dishes where you have a use for the vegetable broth.

For example, recently I did this and then also put rice noodles into the broth and later veggies. The rice noodles were cooked in time before the soy strips drew out the water. Tasted really nice.
It was a lot of eyeballing/luck, though, so don't have a concrete recipe.

Edit: I thought, soy curls/strips/etc. were TVP. This tip is for TVP.

Those look like they'd be really good in cherry sauce. Or is it called cherry sweet and sour sauce? You know, like the stuff you get at Chinese places meant for chicken (great on veggies and rice). Have a recipe from a random website written down somewhere I think but I'm sure it's easy to find. Ketchup is an ingredient if it helps.

Though now I see once prepared they don't look that crisp. Looks kinda pasta like. Marinara?

Pasta salad? Mushrooms, shredded onion, bell pepper, stewed tomato's? Nah, not sure on that.

Never heard of them but looking at the explanation link, I think I would put onion powder on them and use them like crispy onions. Which I would then eat straight up by itself instead of putting on or in anything else as if they were homemade Funyuns. :P

Soy Curls is a trademarked term, does that make it a brand name?