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Vegan Arroz a la Cubana

Course Breakfast, Brunch
Cuisine Filipino, Spanish
Keyword Asian Recipe, Breakfast Food, Filipino Brunch, Spanish Recipe, Vegan ala Cubana, Vegan Breakfast
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 4 people

Equipment

  • large sauté pan
  • small non-stick frying pan

Ingredients

FOR THE GINILING

  • ½ medium (½ cup) yellow onions diced
  • 1 small (½ cup) carrot diced
  • 1 large (¾ cup) Yukon gold potatoes diced
  • 4 cloves (1 tbsp) garlic minced
  • 340 g (0.75lb) vegan groundless "beef" I used Impossible Meat (see notes)
  • 1 small (¾ cup) red bell pepper diced
  • ⅓ cup raisins
  • green onions sliced for garnish

FOR THE SEASONING

  • ¼ cup crushed tomatoes
  • 1½ tbsp tomato paste
  • 1-2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or to taste)
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika or regular paprika
  • ½ tsp brown sugar or any sweetener
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • fresh lemon or calamansi juice to taste
  • oil for pan frying

TO SERVE

  • cooked rice see notes
  • 1 large saba banana or plantain (sliced in half)

Instructions

FOR THE GINILING

  • Preheat a sauté pan to medium high heat and coat with about 1 tbsp of cooking oil.
  • Sauté onions, carrots, and potatoes. Mix until well combined. Season with a pinch of salt & pepper. Leave alone for about 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally until potatoes have slightly softened.
  • Add the garlic and stir.
  • Add your minced "beef" and stir into the vegetables until well combined. Then, add the bell pepper to combine all the dry ingredients.
  • Stir in the seasonings such as the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, soy sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, and sugar until well combined. Season with salt & pepper to taste (if needed).
  • Toss in the raisins and stir.
  • Turn off heat. Garnish with green onions and splash a bit of lemon or calamansi juice.

FOR THE SABA BANANAS (plantain)

  • On a frying non-stick frying pan, coat with a teaspoon of oil and preheat to medium heat.
  • Slice plantain in half. Pan fry on each side until golden brown. Depending on your stove, this should take between 2-4 minutes total.

TO SERVE

  • Plate your dish with the giniling and plantain. Serve with cooked rice.

Notes

  1. For the "minced" beef substitutes- I used Impossible Meat as it is the most accessible to find in my grocery store, it is also one of the best substitutes without any weird after taste (in my opinion). You can also use TVP (or textured vegetable protein) or crumbled extra firm tofu (pressed and drained from excess liquids) for a much subtle substitute. 
  2. Adding fried "egg" - Because this is a vegan version, obviously doing a vegan sunny side up "egg" will require more work. I used the Just Egg square slices and cut them up into tiny pieces, mixed it into the rice for the full breakfast experience.
  3. For the rice - Any prepared steam rice will work just fine. I made a Filipino classic fried rice for this recipe called "sinangag" which is simply garlic fried rice. Using a batch of day old rice, I pan fried with a few cloves of garlic (up to you how many or how little), tossed it with a pinch of salt & pepper, and some vegan "eggs" for texture. 
  4. For the plantain (or saba bananas) - Use any plantain or cooking bananas as a side dish; it is firmer when pan frying. Regular eating bananas will not work, they will release a lot of liquids and turn mushy once you place on high heat.