food

I did this without any cornstarch coating on the chunks, but if you want a crispier texture, cornstarch coating sprinkled over the soya chunks before coating it with the marinade is definitely recommended. It'll taste great either way.

Recipe

Soya Chunks (Baked):

• 1 cup dry soya chunks
• 4 cups water
• 1/4 tsp salt

Marinade:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

1. Boil water with salt in it.
2. Pour over soya chunks in a large bowl.
3. Let the soya chunks sit for roughly 20 minutes.
4. Drain soya chunks, rinse them with cold water, and squeeze out excess liquid with your hands.
5. Add soya chunks to marinade after mixing all ingredients together.
6. Toss soya chunks and let the marinade coat.
7. Let the soya chunks sit for at least 15 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 375°F (~190°C).
9. Put soya chunks on the baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes after the oven is done preheating, flipping halfway through.

General Tso's Sauce (Microwaved):

• 1/2 cup water (vegetable broth is good, too)
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1.5 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1.5 tsp sriracha (chili garlic sauce should work, too)
• 2 tsp agave (maple syrup should work, too)
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Slurry:

• 1.5 tsp cornstarch
• 1.5 tsp water

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients (except the slurry) together in one container; stir everything together.
2. Create a cornstarch slurry by mixing together the cornstarch and water until there are no "lumps."
3. Heat up the mixture in a microwave for about 2 minutes.
4. Add about 2 spoonfuls of the heated sauce to the cornstarch slurry, and mix it together until everything is totally combined. Add the slurry mixed with the 2 spoonfuls of sauce to the main container and stir it in thoroughly.
5. Microwave for 30 seconds.
6. It should have a "glossy" texture when it is does, meaning you should be able to see the back of a spoon in a transparent kind of way when you coat the sauce over it. If it does not have that texture yet, heat it up in 15 second bursts until it reaches that point, stirring every time.
7. Add the soya chunks to the container, toss the sauce all over the chunks, and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

"Lo Mein:"

• 4 oz (112 g) whole wheat spaghetti
• 1/4 tsp salt

Sauce:

• 0.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
• 0.5 tbsp rice vinegar
• 0.5 tbsp agave
• 1 tbsp reserved pasta water
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

1. Boil spaghetti with salt in water according to the package instructions.
2. Reserve 1 tbsp of pasta water, drain the spaghetti, and mixed the cooked noodles with the sauce mixture plus the 1 tbsp of reserved pasta water in a container. The sauce does not need to be heated up and should coat the spaghetti just fine.
3. Serve with the soya chunks. I added sriracha and sesame seeds on top, as you can see.