Vegan Chili Cheese Tops
Source: Louise Gibson
Ingredients:
300g vegan cheese of choice (10-11 oz)
2-3 tablespoons Mado's Hot Pepper Sauce
Sprinkle of salt
1/2 cup bread crumbs (½ cup)
1/2 cup organic white flour (½ cup)
Liquid aquafaba from a 360g can of chickpeas (13 oz)
0.7L Canola oil for frying
Instructions:
1. On a cutting board grate the vegan cheese. Add the grated cheese to the big bowl along with the Mado’s Hot Pepper Sauce and salt. Mix well with clean hands.
2. Shape the chili cheese mixture with your hands into about 18 equal sized balls, about 4 cm (1.5 inch) in diameter. You might need to squeeze the balls a bit for them to stick together well.
3. Take the chickpeas and strain them over one of the plates. Let all the liquid aquafaba drain into the plate (Save the chickpeas for another purpose, like hummus or a curry etc.) Arrange the two other plates with the flour and the breadcrumbs.
4. Take a ball and roll in the flour, then the aquafaba liquid, then the breadcrumbs, then the liquid again and the bread crumbs again. Do the same for all the balls. Make sure they are all well covered and double crusted. If you feel you're running out of aquafaba, just add in a few tablespoons water halfway through. Flour – liquid – crumbs – liquid – crumbs.
5. In a big pot put in the vegetable oil and turn the heat on medium / high. Keep an eye on the oil and be careful around the pot, oil can get extremely hot! The perfect frying temperature is at 190 c (375 F), but if you don’t have a thermometer use these tips to check for a good oil temperature. If the oil starts to smoke it’s much too hot, so turn the heat completely off and open windows.
6. Prepare one plate with a few layers of paper towel.
7. When the oil is hot put ONE ball into the oil. This is the tester, you want the oil to be warm enough / or not too warm, and not wasting the whole batch at once. If the ball is getting golden crisp in about 40-60 seconds then the oil is ready. If the ball is getting golden too soon the oil is too hot, then just turn the heat off and wait 5 minutes.
8. When the oil has reached the right temperature try with one more ball. Let it get golden crisp in about 40-60 seconds. Take the ball up with a tong and place on the kitchen paper plate.
9. If the first or second test ball is good, you can add the balls a few at the time, allow them some space to fry, put in about 5 at the time maximum. When they’re golden and crispy take out the balls with a tong, drizzle the oil off and place on the plate with the paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
10. Continue until all the balls are done.
11. Vegan cheese sometimes has problems melting all the way through, if this is the case put them in the microwave (without the paper on the plate!) for about 45 seconds, then all vegan chili cheese tops should be melted, warm and crisp – ready to munch!
Find the original recipe here