Chinese Vegetarian Chicken

Let me tell you all a bit about my husband and his food preferences. Very simply, he's traditional. He likes meatloaf, hamburgers with fries, hamburger steak with mashed potatoes, Tourtiere Québécoise, Steak and a baked potato.... if he's in the mood for International he'll ask for Spaghetti and if he's really feeling daring he'll order a Margarita Pizza /:) So now you get the idea... He really doesn't like to stray from what he likes let alone any international or ethnic food.

On the other hand, I love trying new stuff. I'm always looking for new recipes from different cultural backgrounds. You may have noticed that even though this is a relatively new blog, I've already included some Middle Eastern, Cuban, Italian, Russian and Japanese recipes. Mind you they have been doctored a bit to fit the vegan bill but you get the idea.

So where am I going with all this? We'll start with yesterday's shopping trip to Kim Phat, our local Asian market, great place by the way, it's huge and they have everything you need.

Anyway, I pack the bags into the car and on the way home he says "what stinks?" Well that was a great start! What "stank" were the Chinese mushroom that were going into last night's diner. Now let me say, they didn't really stink, it's just what those mushrooms smell like. Then to make things worse, a few hours after putting them in the fridge, he says "it smells like someone pooped in the fridge"!!

Now at that point I'm having second thoughts about feeding him any of what was on the menu but I decided to put him through the "torture" anyway. I'm sitting here typing this and keep having to hold back from laughing every couple of minutes because what happened when he ate it... just had me on the floor in hysterics and even he thought it was hilarious. 

Those mushrooms just didn't sit well with him, now look at the pic, nothing horrible, just rice with mushrooms and baby bok choy with a slice of Chinese vegetarian chicken roll (recipe to follow) and a dumpling soup, the only thing he liked besides the rice 8-|

So we're both eating, I'm really enjoying it and he's sort of force feeding himself when he starts eating one of "those" mushrooms and just flat out dry heaves nice and loud!!! =))
At this point we're both laughing and then he starts up with his descriptions... "OMG it's like swallowing a raw clam" and "it tastes like a dirty sock" at which point I asked him if he had ever had the pleasure of eating a dirty sock! So.... this is what I have to deal with when I'm not making spaghetti... yipee! Of course later on in the evening his little jokes kept coming... "So what were those? Chinese yacking mushrooms?"

So today I will post the recipe for the Chinese Vegetarian Chicken courtesy of Jennifer Yu of use real butter who graciously permitted me to copy her recipe. This is something I've made a few times now and it's always a hit with all of us in the house except hubby, he says it's OK.... =D>  three out of four ain't bad!

I pretty much made the recipe exactly like Jennifer's but I used green onions instead of bamboo shoots... enjoy!

Chinese Vegetarian Chicken

1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and tops sliced thin
1/2 cup green onions, sliced into strips
6 sheets dried tofu skin sheets
1/2 cup soy sauce
dash sesame oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp vegetable oil

If you make the recipe with vegetables, stir fry the mushrooms and green onions together in a tbsp. of vegetable oil and set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the soy sauce and sugar. Stir until dissolved and bring to boil. Remove from heat and add sesame oil and 1/2 cup water.

Let the package of tofu sheets thaw. Select out the whole sheets. You will need two whole sheets and one ripped sheet for each loaf you plan to make. You can trim the “good” whole sheets to the largest possible rectangle with scissors and set the trimmings aside with the ripped sheets. Rinse the trimmings and ripped sheets under cold water and squeeze them out being careful not to tear the rectangles. Soak the wet tofu sheets in the sauce and mix well for even soaking.

Take a clean, damp cloth and wipe down the whole sheets. Place two sheets on a clean work surface. Grab a handful of the soaking tofu sheets and wipe down both sides of a whole sheet with the filling (to get the good flavor on it). Reserve the sauce.

Place a pile of the soaked filling near the edge closest to you on the whole sheet. Add vegetables on top and place more soaked filling on top and wrap it around the vegetables to keep them centered.

Fold the sheet over the filling, wrapping it into a tight roll. Fold with the second sheet the same way. Seal the edge by wiping cornstarch along the edge and folding it onto the damp tofu skin. Make the second roll.

Heat vegetable oil on medium high in a pan large enough to accommodate the rolls. Sear the packets on both sides for a few minutes. Poke holes in the sides. Pour the remaining sauce over the loaves and cover the pan. Allow the roll to simmer on medium to low heat for 4-5 minutes, flip, and simmer another 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan. You can serve sliced, hot or cold, but I think slicing is much easier when it is cooled.

These are the skins, I pictured them with regular kitchen scissors for comparison:

Use 2 full sheets for each roll, cut them to the largest rectangle you can make and save the trimmings.

Rince them in water and squeeze out as much water as possible and soak them all in the sauce:

Lay out the 2 full sheets and add 1/4 the trimmings at the end closest to you:

Add 1/2 of the sauteed vegetables and top with another 1/4 of the trimmings:

Roll up tightly by folding the skin over the filling and giving it one turn, fold over left side and give it another turn then fold over the right side and keep rolling tightly, roll it up again in a second skin adding a bit of cornstarch to the seam to seal it up and repeat for the second roll:

add oil to pan and fry on all sides for about 4-5 minutes until browned, poke holes all over the roll and add sauce and simmer covered for about 5 minutes per side:

Slice and serve!

Yum!