How to Cook Soy Chorizo
Soy chorizo's zesty flavor and easy preparation make it a must-have in vegan pantries. Your vegan friends and family will appreciate your effort to accommodate their needs even if you are carnivorous. Sold in 10-oz.
Soy chorizo's zesty flavor and easy preparation make it a must-have in vegan pantries. Your vegan friends and family will appreciate your effort to accommodate their needs even if you are carnivorous. Sold in 10-oz. tubes like meat-based chorizo, soy chorizo breaks into small morsels in the pan, with a texture similar to high-quality, coarse-ground hamburger. Food safety issues depend on the added ingredients, and it takes patience to get soy chorizo to form into loaves, patties or meatballs.
Step 1
Slice through the plastic packaging from end to end. Slice across the first cut, about 1/2-inch from each end and push the soy chorizo out of the package and into a small mixing bowl.
Step 2
Crumble the soy chorizo with your fingers. Add 1 large egg and mix for several minutes, allowing the chorizo to absorb the egg. Keep mixing until the individual bits of chorizo feel heavier than they did before you added the egg and almost double in size, or about three minutes.
Step 3
Add 1/2 cup bread crumbs and mix until the soy chorizo feels sticky and forms a ball when squeezed in your hand. Add up to 1 tbsp. additional bread crumbs if needed, but not more.
Step 4
Form the soy chorizo into four to five 3/8-inch thick, 3-inch diameter patties or 20 "meatballs" with a 1-inch diameter.
Step 5
Heat the saute pan on medium-high for one minute. Add 2 tbsp. canola oil and heat the pan for an additional minute. Tilt the pan back and forth to ensure that the oil covers the entire bottom. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low.
Step 6
Place the patties or balls in the pan. Fry the patties for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, flipping them as soon as they begin to brown on the bottom. Stir and flip the meatballs the entire time they are frying, to ensure that they sear on their entire outer surface.
Step 7
Transfer the meatballs or patties to a serving plate covered with two or three paper towels. Microwave the meatballs or patties on high for 1 minute to ensure doneness.
Step 8
Put the soy chorizo balls in a slow cooker if desired, along with a 15-oz. can of crushed pineapple, 30-oz. can of crushed tomatoes, a fist-sized chopped onion, a 10-oz. can of frozen orange juice concentrate, 1 oz. of fresh, grated ginger and 6 cloves of crushed garlic. Cook on high for one to two hours. Serve 1 cup soy chorizo meatballs over 1 cup basmati or jasmine rice. Omit the pineapple, orange juice and ginger and add 1 cup chopped bell pepper and serve over spaghetti or fettucine noodles. Serve the patties as you would a real-meat hamburger or sausage patty.
Tip
Omit the eggs and bread crumbs if you prefer taco-style crumbled soy chorizo. Stir-fry the chorizo for three to five minutes, put two tbsp. in a flour tortilla, add your favorite taco toppings and roll it up burrito-style.
Soy chorizo has 80 calories per 2-oz. serving, more than three times fewer calories than pork chorizo. Soy chorizo provides 12 percent of your daily protein, 10 percent of vitamin A and 2 percent of your daily iron and calcium needs per serving. Pork chorizo does not provide any vitamin A, although it does provide 6 percent more iron than soy chorizo. Soy chorizo has no cholesterol, while a single serving of pork chorizo contains 33 percent of the recommended daily cholesterol intake.
warning
Always wear plastic gloves when mixing raw egg into soy chorizo to avoid contamination from Salmonella enteriditis, especially if you are pregnant, over 65 or have a weakened immune system. Always cook any soy chorizo that has been mixed with raw egg to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit, as tested with a food thermometer, if you choose to skip the microwaving step.