Growing up in Hawaii I have many childhood memories of getting plate lunch, a local favorite that always had two scoops white rice and one scoop macaroni salad along with some meat dish.  I always had mine with chicken katsu.  Since it really is all about the sauce, this vegan version satisfies completely.

Mini Soy Chicken Katsu Bites

  • 1 cup dehydrated soy chicken nuggetskatsubites
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup soymilk
  • 1/2 cup egg replacer
  • 2 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • Salt to taste

Rehydrate the soy chicken nuggets by simmering them in boiling water for about twenty minutes. As a rule when rehydrating soy chicken nuggets, use 1 part product to 2 parts water. The dried nuggets will nearly double in size when rehydrated. The texture of the nugget should be similar to a chicken breast. If it is tougher than this, continue simmering in water. When the nuggets are ?chicken? tender completely drain the water off.

Mix the soy milk and egg replacer in a bowl until it has a heavy batter consistency similar to pancake batter.

Place your other batter ingredients in separate bowls, in the following order: The first bowl should contain the flour. The second bowl should have the batter of soy milk mixed with egg replacer. The third bowl should have the panko crumbs.

Select a soy chicken nugget, and place it in the first bowl, coating it with the flour, and then the egg replacer mixture, and then the panko. The flour will cause the batter to stick, and then the panko will coat the batter to the nugget and not flake off when frying. This is why the order of dipping ingredients is very important. It is best to use Japanese panko, a fine, dry breadcrumb, instead of regular breadcrumbs when coating such a small food item as these nuggets.

Repeat until all the soy chicken nuggets are coated and placed on a plate. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep pot. Make sure the oil is hot enough before frying. To test if oil is hot enough, sprinkle a few bits of panko in oil. If it sizzles it’s ready! Deep fry the soy chicken nuggets until golden brown, approximately 1 minute. Lightly salt after frying. Remember, there is no need to cook the soy chicken, so the frying is very quick keeping the food light and not oily.

Serve on a bed of sliced red cabbage with skewers or toothpicks for dipping.

Dipping Sauce

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1 cup hoisin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together. The amounts can vary according to taste. For a more Chinese flavor, you may want to put more hoisin sauce and less ketchup. For a sweeter sauce add more ketchup than hoisin sauce.