One of the things I miss most from my pre-vegan days is yum cha. It’s pretty standard to veganise dumplings and whatnot, but I haven’t yet had any vegan alternative to steamed ribs in black bean sauce. This dish reminds me of late nights / early mornings in Singapore, having dim sum supper at a street stall in Geylang.
This vegan steamed black bean ‘ribs’ is super easy to make. I used Meat Magic, a Philippine-made product, as the vegan protein. The texture is just excellent for this dish. It takes up the marinade well and doesn’t take long to cook. You can also use seitan, firm tofu, or king oyster mushroom stems.
At a dim sum restaurant, you usually get the dishes in tiny little plates that is barely enough for a couple of mouthfuls. What is this, food for ants? That’s obviously not our style around here, so we are making this dish a proper side portion size.
Usually, I soak the Meat Magic in room temperature water in a container and leave it in the fridge overnight. This means that it is ready for prep for lunch the next day. If you are in a fix for time, you can soak the M/M in hot water but the texture won’t be as good as the outside will be too mushy and the inside still a bit hard.
In the event you can’t get Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic sauce, you can just use a normal black bean sauce and double up on the minced garlic. If cooking for kids, just omit the chilli.
Ingredients
- Marinade
- Starch Slurry
Instructions
-
Presoak and squeeze the moisture out of the vegan protein. If you are using Meat Magic too, cut it into half so it's more like dice.
-
Put all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.
-
Add the vegan protein and mix well. Marinate for 30 minutes.
-
Make a starch slurry with 1 tsp tapioca starch and 2 tsp room temperature water. Pour it into the vegan protein and mix well.
-
Steam from cold water for 15 minutes.
-
Serve hot as a side or as part of a dimsum set.
