Vegan Escalope

Escalope is chicken pounded thin, crumbed and fried until golden. Yal keeps the crumb and the crunch and replaces the chicken with seitan, made from vital wheat gluten and chickpeas. The gluten gives it a firm, meaty chew; the chickpeas add body and fiber. The crust is chickpea flour, aquafaba, nutritional yeast, breadcrumbs and spices.

The chicken in a classic escalope has usually lived about six weeks. Broiler chickens are bred to grow so fast that many struggle to walk by the end, and most are kept in crowded sheds until slaughter¹.

The Recipe

Ingredients

The “Chicken”

• 2 ¼ cups vital wheat gluten
• 1 ½ cups cooked chickpeas
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp sage
• ¾ cup vegetable broth
• 1 or 2 tsp almond milk, to keep it from drying

Crust Sauce

• ⅓ cup chickpea flour, sifted
• ⅓ cup aquafaba
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp soy sauce

Crust

• 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 3 Tbsp breadcrumbs
• 1½ Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp dried ground rosemary

For frying

• Canola oil

Instructions

Make the Seitan:

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the chickpeas, spices, and about ¾ cup of vegetable broth. Blend until smooth.
2. Add the vital wheat gluten and pulse briefly until mostly incorporated, it may still look slightly powdery, which is fine.
3. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and press it together with your hands. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tsp almond milk. Press until there are no crumbly bits, but do not knead.
4. Divide the dough into pieces and flatten each one to less than 1 cm thick. The seitan cooks in the pan, inside its crust.

Prepare the Coating:

5. In one bowl, whisk together the crust sauce ingredients until it reaches the consistency of an egg, adding a little water or flour if needed.
6. In another bowl, mix the crust ingredients.

Coat and Cook:

7. Baste each seitan piece with the sauce, then dip it into the crust mixture until fully coated.
8. Heat enough canola oil in a large pan to coat the bottom. Place the coated seitan pieces in the pan.
9. Cook until the bottom is golden and crispy, then flip and pan-fry the other side for 3 to 4 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Per Batch (~900 g | 9 pieces)

Calories: ~1,950 kcal
Protein: ~152 g
Fat: ~35 g
Carbohydrates: ~230 g
Fiber: ~28 g
Calcium: ~120 mg
Iron: ~12 mg
Vitamin E: ~5 mg
Magnesium: ~180 mg

Per Serving (1 piece | ~100 g)

Calories: ~217 kcal
Protein: ~17 g
Fat: ~3.9 g
Carbohydrates: ~25.5 g
Fiber: ~3.1 g
Calcium: ~13 mg
Iron: ~1.3 mg
Vitamin E: ~0.55 mg
Magnesium: ~20 mg