If you have a good vegan cheese and a good hot sauce you can make these savoury bites!
My favourite hot sauce is the Mado's Hot Pepper Sauce. When my husband and I went to Canada many years ago, our friends got us a bottle of the amazing sauce, and we have been addicted ever since.
If you'd like to try this amazing pepper sauce then you can purchase the wonderful sauce online here or in stores specific places in Canada, there is a list here.
If you wanna substitiute it, then look for a good flavourful Caribbean style hot sauce with scotch bonnet peppers or similar, with fruity notes and a kick from the vinegar to get a similar taste result. Or just use your own favourite hot sauce!
Makes about 18 balls
Ingredients
Filling
- 300g Wilmersburger Classic Wedge (10-11 oz) (or same amount of your own favourite vegan cheese)
- 2-3 tablespoons Mado’s Hot Pepper Sauce* (or other hot sauce of choice)
- Sprinkle of salt
*2 spoons: ok heat. 3 spoons: extra heat.
Crust
- 1.2 dl bread crumbs (½ cup)
- 1.2 dl organic white flour (½ cup)
- Liquid aquafaba from 360g can / glass chickpeas (13 oz)
For frying
- 0.7 L canola oil (23 oz)
What you will need
- 1 cutting board
- 1 grater
- 1 big bowl
- 1 spoon to measure
- 1 measuring cup
- 3 deep dish plates
- 1 strainer
- 1 deep fry thermometer (optional, or else use these tips to be safe)
- 1 big pot
- 1 Tong
- 1 plate + paper towels
Instructions
- Drate the vegan cheese, add to a big bowl along with the Mado’s Hot Pepper Sauce and salt. Mix well.
- Shape the chili cheese mixture with your hands into about 18 equal sized balls, about 4 cm (1.5 inch) in diameter. You might wanna squeeze the balls a bit for them to stick together well.
- Prepare 4 plates:
1 with flour
1 with aquafaba: strain the can of chickpeas over the plate (save the chickpeas for another purpose, like hummus, curry etc.)
1 with breadcrumbs.
1 with paper towels.
Take a ball and roll in flour – aquafaba – crumbs – aquafaba – crumbs. Do the same for all the balls. Make sure they are all well covered and double crusted. If you're running out of aquafaba, add in a few tablespoons of water halfway through.
Add vegetable oil to a big pot and turn the heat on medium high. Keep an eye on the oil and be careful around the pot, oil can get extremely hot ! The perfect frying temperature is at 190 c (375 F), but if you don’t have a thermometer use these tips to check for a good oil temperature. If the oil starts to smoke it’s too hot, so turn the heat completely off and open windows.
When the oil is hot, put a single tester ball into the oil. You want the oil to be warm enough, but also not too warm. If the ball is getting golden crisp in about 40-60 seconds then the oil is ready. If the ball is getting golden too soon the oil is too hot, then turn the heat off and stabilize the temperature again.
When the oil has reached the right temperature try with one more ball. Let it get golden crisp in about 40-60 seconds. Take the ball up with a tong and place on the plate with the paper towel.
If the first or second test ball is good, you can add about 5 balls at the time, allowing them some space to fry. When they’re golden and crispy take out the balls with a tong and place on the paper towel plate to soak up the excess oil.
Continue until all the chili cheese top are done.
Vegan cheese sometimes has problems melting all the way through, depending on what cheese you use, if this is the case microwave them, without the paper towel, for about 20-40 seconds, then all the cheese should melt, and be ready to serve.
Enjoy !
