Vegan Filipino Style Tapa
Servings 2 people
Equipment
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula
- cast iron or sauté pan
- strainer / colander
Ingredients
FOR THE TAPA & MARINADE
- 1 cup soy curls (see notes for alternatives)
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Filipino cane vinegar (see notes)
- 4 cloves (2 tbsp) garlic minced
- ¼ medium (3 tbsp) red onions or shallots chopped
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp calamansi or lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Filipino dark soy sauce (optional, see notes)
- 3 cups boiling hot water
- refined coconut oil (or any oil for frying)
FOR THE SPICY VINEGAR DIP
- ½ cup Filipino cane vinegar
- ¼ medium (3 tbsp) red onions or shallots
- 3 cloves (1 tbsp) garlic
- 1 small (½ cup) cucumber diced
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2-4 small bird's eye chili chopped
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- pinch of salt
TO SERVE WITH (OPTIONAL)
- garlic fried rice
- fried garlic crisp (for garnish)
- sliced tomatoes
- sliced cucumbers
Instructions
FOR THE TAPA & MARINADE
- Rehydrate soy curls in hot boiling water and cover with a lid for 10-15 minutes. Once soy curl have softened, drain the liquids with the strainer. Allow it to cool down for 5 minutes. Press out all the excess liquids of the soy curls. This will give the soy curls a better consistency when pan frying.
- On a separate mixing bowl, whisk all marinade ingredients together. Drop in the soy curls and massage (or mix) thoroughly until all curls are fully coated. Cover and set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes - 1 hour to marinate. If you have less time, 15 minutes minimum will do.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet or sauté pan to medium high heat. Remove soy curls out of the fridge. Toss the soy curls into the pan and stir until brown. You will know soy curls are ready when it has slightly dried up. Pour a tablespoon of Filipino dark vinegar and mix to finish (this is optional, it's really for the dark "beef" color of tapa).
BONUS OPTION (Garlic Rice)
- Prepare day old plain white rice. Remove tapa from pan. Using the same skillet or pan, coat another tablespoon of refined coconut oil (or any oil). Sauté an extra 2 tbsp of garlic into the pan, seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss day old rice into the pan and mix. Fry until rice slightly turns a bit tan in color. Set aside.
FOR THE SPICY VINEGAR DIP
- Prepare all dry ingredients. Using a small sauce bowl, mix all dry, liquid, and seasoning ingredients together. Set aside or have it ready for serving.
TO SERVE
- Serve tapa, spicy vinegar dip, rice, sliced cucumber, and tomato. Sprinkle with crispy garlic (optional) to serve.
Notes
- Soy Curl Alternative - Alternatively, if you are not comfortable using soy curls, you can use oyster mushrooms - it will be a different texture but will still be tasty. Just chop it up into bite sized pieces and marinate it overnight. And pan fry. You can also use TVP (though it will be more of a crumble than it is "meat strips"). You can also use Gardein products which is commonly found in most supermarkets with an organic or vegan section. Homestyle Beefless Tips or the Sizzling Szechuan will work best - you will just have to marinate it overnight compared to the soy curls because they do have a distinct taste.
- Filipino Soy Sauce & Vinegar - You can find this in any Asian supermarket or Filipino store. It's the Datu Puti brand. Yes, you can use regular soy sauce and vinegar if it is not made available to you but for traditional Filipino flavors, these are highly recommended.