Oil-Free Roasted Soy Curls with Middle Eastern Seasonings

Chewy tender oil-free soy curl chick’n strips, slightly crispy and bursting with earthy umami. The unique blend of Middle East inspired seasonings does more than deliver flavor, it creates the perfect texture. Add this versatile plant-based protein to salads, pastas or use it in a wrap. The possibilities are endless!

EMBRACING SOY CURL VERSATILITY

Soy curls are a healthy meat alternative that can be used in so many ways. I developed this recipe because I was looking for a flavorful oil-free way to turn soy curls into a make-ahead meal component that I could add to many different dishes. Although soy curls can be prepared in a way that makes them resemble beef or pork, here I’m decidedly leaning in the direction of vegan chick’n. My seasoning blend specifically reflects a Middle Eastern flavor sensibility, incorporating marjoram, cumin and ground coriander, an ingredient trio that’s fairly typical of that general region. Tomato powder, one of the more unusual ingredients in this recipe, is a convenient plant-based ingredient I’d already come to love, but I’ve never loved it as much as I do in this recipe where it creates a lovely layer of oil-free caramelization and helps all the other seasonings adhere to the soy curls without making them noticeably tomatoey.

SOY CURLS ARE AWESOME

Convenient, affordable, nourishing and minimally processed, soy curls are one of my favorite meat-like plant-based proteins. Everyone who’s not allergic to soy should give them a try. Even if you’re not vegan or plant-based, soy curls are a delicious and healthy way to cut down on meat consumption. And if your approach to whole food plant-based (WFPB) adherence includes foods like tofu and TVP, then there’s no reason not to embrace soy curls as well. Depending on the recipe, the taste and texture is similar to chicken, beef or pork strips. Like many other ingredients, their awesomeness is heavily dependent on how they’re prepared. Soaking and seasoning are of the utmost importance.

TOMATO POWDER MAGIC

Tomato powder is essentially tomato paste in a dry powdery form. It is shelf stable, meaning that it can be stored in your pantry almost indefinitely. There is a subtle but distinct umami quality to the flavor. Tomato powder can be used as a seasoning that contributes a note of tang that’s less recognizably tomatoey than tomato paste. But adding a not quite tomatoey tang is only part of what this ingredient does in this soy curl recipe. One of the greatest challenges of oil-free plant-based cooking is how to brown and caramelize naturally low-fat plant foods without relying on oil. Tomato powder is made with dehydrated tomatoes. As tomatoes are dehydrated, their natural sugars are condensed. Then, when exposed to dry heat (as during the oven roasting process for these soy curls), these natural sugars caramelize much faster that they would if they were part of a wet ingredient such as tomato paste. But caramelization, which is all about the sugars, is only part of the story. There’s also the Maillard reaction which involves proteins. The Maillard reaction is a partly caramelized umami-rich browning in which sugars and proteins work together. Aside from having concentrated amounts of natural sugar, tomato powder contains highly concentrated natural glutamates, a naturally occurring amino acid that acts as a building block for proteins. In this recipe the glutamates in the tomato powder drive the Maillard reaction, yielding a deep, savory, meat-like crust.

SUBSTITUTING TOMATO POWDER

Unfortunately, as of the writing of this post, tomato powder is rarely available in regular grocery stores in the US. Although I urge everyone to order some and try it, I also understand the frustration of having to order an unusual ingredient for what should be a simple recipe. In many recipes, you can use tomato paste instead of tomato powder in a 2:1 ratio—two units of tomato paste for every unit of tomato powder. This is what I suggest in one of my favorite recipes for bean and vegetable soup. But when tomato powder is part of a dry seasoning mix like it is in this recipe, that type of substitution doesn’t work. Instead, what I suggest for this recipe is that you use a much larger amount of tomato paste but do so during the soy curl soaking phase. When you’re mixing the coconut aminos (or soy sauce) with the broth, you’d also mix in ⅓ cup to ½ cup of tomato paste. When the soy curls are strained most of this paste will be strained away, but enough would remain on the soy curls to enhance browning and flavor. The final texture and flavor of the soy curls won’t be the same as when using tomato powder, but it will be better than not using a tomatoey ingredient at all.

SOAKING FLAVOR INTO SOY CURLS

Soy curls almost always need to be soaked for about ten minutes. Technically they can be soaked in any liquid, including water. But since the soaking stage is the first opportunity to add flavor, I like to make the most of it. Plant-based broth with a little bit of coconut or liquid aminos creates a perfect soaking liquid the soy curls in this recipe. If you don’t have coconut aminos, soy sauce, tamari or liquid aminos work well too. I used Not Chick’N vegetable broth, but any type of plant-based broth is fine, and you can substitute aminos for soy sauce or tamari.

STRAINING AND SQUEEZING SOY CURLS

Although it may seem wasteful, it’s important to discard the liquid used for soaking the soy curls instead of trying to repurpose it. That’s because soaking removes some of the raw soy taste that detracts from the overall flavor. A largish fine mesh strainer is best because you don’t want the little soy curl crumbs to get lost. After straining you still need to squeeze out the soy curls to remove excess liquid trapped between the plant fibers. You can use your hands for this part or keep the soy curls in the strainer and press down with a large flat spoon or sturdy spatula. I like to use a large slotted spoon so I can see the excess liquid coming out.

PREPARE THE SEASONING BLEND

To create the seasoning blend simply mix all the cornstarch and seasonings in a small bowl. If any of your seasonings are clumpy, be sure to break down the clumps. I find that clumping is especially likely with the tomato powder. One way to make sure all the clumps are broken down is to put the mix through a small mesh strainer.

SPREAD, SEASON, ROAST

Soy curls are seasoned on the parchment lined baking sheet. The seasoning and dredging happens in a single step over the cooking surface, saving time and minimizing cleanup. Just sprinkle dry seasoning mix evenly over soy curls and toss. Try to get the soy curls as evenly coated with seasoning as possible. Using a small fine mesh strainer as a way to evenly distribute the seasoning mix is a good idea. Once they’ve been evenly seasoned, spread them out in a single layer. Bake at 400 ℉ (200 ℃) for 10 minutes. Then take the pan out of the oven to toss soy curls before spreading them out evenly again and popping them back in the oven for another 5 to 8 minutes of roasting. The exact roasting time will depend on your oven and how crispy you want your soy curls to get.

INGREDIENT SUBSTITUTIONS

• Bouillon Cubes: Instead of mixing 2 bouillon cubes in water you can 4 cups of homemade or store bought vegetable broth.

• Coconut Aminos: Instead of coconut aminos you can use liquid aminos, soy sauce, tamari or even vegan Worcestershire sauce.

• Cornstarch: Instead of cornstarch you can use arrowroot powder, potato starch or tapioca starch.

• Smoked Paprika: Regular paprika can be used instead.

• Marjoram: The best substitute for ground marjoram is dried oregano as they are in the same plant family.

• Tomato Powder: Although in this particular recipe tomato powder creates a texture that is difficult to achieve with any other ingredient, it’s possible to create something similar by adding tomato paste to the soaking liquid. I discuss this in detail under the section titled SUBSTITUTING TOMATO POWDER.

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