Gochujang Kimcheez Toastie
Gochujang Kimcheez Toastie
Toastie, the sandwich dreams are made of! Growing up we had a toasted sandwich maker. Writing this I am tempted to buy one! But I digress.. you can make great toasted sandwiches in your frying pan and this combination of vegan gochujang cheez sauce, gochujang flavoured tempeh and kimchi take the humble toastie to a whole new level. I feel like a vegan David Chang!
INGREDIENTS
For the cashew cheez sauce
50g cashews
150ml water
1 tbsp gochujang sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
15g nutritional yeast
1 tsp tapioca starch
2 spring onions finely chopped
For the marinade
200g tempeh, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tbsp gochujang sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
To bring it together
4 slices of bread
Vegan friendly kimchi
Olive oil
METHOD
Start by marinading the tempeh with all the marinade ingredients, making sure it is mixed well. Leave for 30 minutes or more to soak up all the flavours.
Soak the cashews in 150ml of freshly boiled water for at least 10 minutes. I like to do this the same time I am making the marinade and add the gochujang sauce to the cashews.
When ready to cook, add the marinated tempeh to a lined baking tray and cook in the oven at 220c for 10-15 minutes when the tempeh will have started to colour and crisp up around the edges.
While the tempeh is cooking, in a small blender, blend the cashews with the soaking water, a big pinch of salt and the cheez sauce ingredients, except the tapioca starch and spring onions. Blend until smooth then pour the sauce into a small saucepan.
Heat up the sauce over a medium heat until it starts to steam. Add the tapioca starch and whisk it in. Stir regularly and cook for about 2 minutes when the sauce should be thick. Set the sauce aside.
Heat up a large frying pan over a medium/high heat.
Add a quarter of the cheez sauce to each piece of bread. Add a spoonful of kimchi to two of the slices of bread, followed by the tempeh. Now add the other slices of bread, cheez side down to make a sandwich.
Add a little olive oil to the pan followed by the sandwiches. Cook until golden then turn over and cook until golden on the other side. Slice in half and serve with a paper napkin as you will get messy.
