I initially published this recipe in 2008. I'm back, 19 years later, to tidy up the recipe and writing.
Chicken balls are a Westernised Chinese dish and a staple on Chinese takeaway menus in the UK and elsewhere in the Global North, typically battered and fried and served with sweet and sour or plum sauce. My recipe lies somewhere in between chicken balls and chicken meatballs, workable in either style depending on how you use them after they're prepared.
Recipe notes
The recipe utilises okara, a byproduct of making soy milk, combined with supermarket vegan chicken filets. I generally try to avoid writing recipes that require a specific product, but my preferred vegan chicken here is the Vivera brand chicken breast. Vivera didn't exist when I wrote the initial recipe, so I would have used another brand, but I don't recall which one.
I created this recipe as a basic and mildly flavoured anchor ingredient to be utilised in other dishes. It's not intended to be hugely flavourful on its own, but rather a foundation to be built upon. For instance you can add herbs and/or spices geared toward a specific cuisine. I've used them in place of pakora in kadhi, added rosemary and served them in Italian-American style spaghetti and meatballs, battered and fried them to coat in sweet lemon glaze, and more.
Vegan chicken balls with okara
Ingredients
- 1 Vivera vegan chicken breast approximately 90 grams
- 90 grams fresh okara
- 30 grams chopped onion scant â…" cup
- ½ tablespoon oil plus extra for cooking
- 1 teaspoon miso
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 30 grams vital wheat gluten approximately 3 tablespoons
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 175 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Add every ingredient except for the vital wheat gluten to a food processor and process to a sticky paste. Add the vital wheat gluten and process for 30 seconds to combine.
- Scoop out tablespoon sized portions (you can also make them smaller if you'd like) and roll into balls with your palms. Place them on a baking sheet or in a roasting tray, spray or coat with a little bit of oil, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and give it a shake to turn the balls over, and bake for a further 15 minutes.
Jude says
I've tried stuff made with okara a few times and i really.. liked it. I know it's just a byproduct but I'm not complaining.
przepisy kulinarne says
Lol chciken balls? :0 sound a lil bit funny after simple translate 🙂
Chicken_Breast_Recipes says
Vegetarian Okara “Chicken†Balls. Thank you for this great recipe. I am making a home made chinese food next weekend...and will add this to the mix.
I_Fortuna says
I have to flatten these so hubby will eat them. He has a rigid consideration that something that looks like this is a ball of meat. : ) Ha! He hates beans but he will love these. This looks delicious! Thanks for these great recipes!!!!
Jane says
Fabulous! I added sage to the mixture as well, and rolled in coursely-ground corn meal rather than bread crumbs. Thanks again for the great recipe!
Henrietta says
What is chicken substitute
Kip says
It's a vegan mock chicken product. I wrote this post when there were few on the market, however, and I can see it's time to update the recipe to reflect both what's now available and to be more understandable.
Susan says
What is chicken substitute?
Kip says
It's an analogue that doesn't anyone losing their life, but since your comment I've altered the recipe to be more straightforward in language. Old recipe that was due an update!
I reserve the right to improve malicious and trollish comments.