Vegan Chicken Rendang
I know we're pass the festive season but with the current situation with Covid-19 in Malaysia... I don't think we need a special occasion to cook something like this. Life is too short to not eat ketupat and rendang in the middle of the year just because!
This is the chicken rendang that my mum makes every Raya. I've veganised it by swapping chicken for young jackfruit and enoki mushrooms. Jackfruit has a very tender, chickeny texture that's perfect and the addition of enoki really elevates the finish of this rendang. I like using enoki because it has a milder flavour that doesn't overpower the flavour of the rendang. Mushrooms like monkey head or king oyster are very meaty but they have a stronger flavour that changes the taste of this chicken rendang.
My rendang paste is slightly different, as I like to sauté the ingredients first before blending. This intensifies the flavour of the aromatics, and also lends a deeper, caramelised note to the rendang. If you've never done this before, you should give it a shot! It's one small step but really provides that oomph that you never knew you were missing!
I also made fresh kerisik for this dish, but feel free to use store bought kerisik.
Hope you enjoy this recipe and happy cooking!
Love,
Elliz
Vegan Chicken Rendang with Jackfruit & Enoki Mushrooms
Ingredients
Instructions
- If using store bought kerisik, skip this step.
- Toast fresh shredded coconut in a pan or wok on low heat until it turns dark brown and toasty. Watch the pan and stir occasionally to prevent burning. It can go from not quite brown to burned very quickly.
- Let it cool.
- Then blend in a spice grinder or blender until it turns to a smooth paste. You can also use a mortar and pestle to pound the ingredients to a paste.
- Put dried chilies in a small bowl and soak in hot water. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil to a hot wok or pan and add all the chopped ingredients in. Cook on medium heat until the onions and garlic have softened and the ingredients are lightly brown.
- Take off the heat and let it cool.
- To a blender, add the soaked dried chilies and the cooled ingredients. Add some water from the dried chilies in and blend. If the blender isn't going, add more water accordingly until blended to a smooth paste.
- Drain the water from the cans of jackfruit.
- Wrap the jackfruit pieces into a tea towel and squeeze out as much water as possible.
- Cut off the bottoms of the enoki mushrooms, and cut in half.
- Heat a wok on medium low heat and add 3 tbsp of oil.
- Fry the enoki mushrooms until they shrink in size and start to brown. About 5 minutes. If you're not using a non stick pan, be sure to stir the mushrooms as they have a tendency to stick to the bottom.
- Once the mushrooms have browned, pour the rendang paste. Throw the kaffir lime leaves in too. Fry until the paste changes colour and all the water evaporates.
- Add the water in and stir. If you prefer a drier style rendang, you can put less water.
- Bring everything to a gentle boil. Then add kerisik, salt, MSG (optional), and mushroom seasoning.
- Add the jackfruit to the rendang and simmer everything until the jackfruit is tender and falls apart. Then add coconut cream, and stir through. Bring it back to a simmer.
- While waiting, finely slice the turmeric leaf into strips.
- Once the rendang is cooked, sprinkle the turmeric leaf strips on top, stir through and you are ready to serve.
- Serve hot with white rice, ketupat or anything you like. It tastes good freshly made, but tastes even better once it has time to sit in the fridge and all the ingredients start to meld together.
- Enjoy!
Notes:
- If using fresh young jackfruit, you will have to discard the skin and boil until tender before using in this recipe.
- You can also make this rendang with enoki mushrooms only if you don't have access to jackfruit.
- Mushrooms like king oyster or monkey head mushrooms have a strong taste that can overpower the taste of the rendang, so I don't recommend using those in this recipe.
- As we are not using any chicken or meat, you may have to salt the rendang quite generously. Do this in stages and taste as you go along so you won't over salt the rendang.
- You can also use 70g of store bought kerisik if you don't want to make your own.
