These Sesame Ginger Soy Curls are bursting with warming ginger and fresh cracked pepper. Easy to make and perfect for dinner on busy week nights.
If I had it my way, I’d probably order takeout everyday, but the reality is that I can’t afford to do something like that. Plus, I know for my body, home cooked meals tend to digest a bit better for me. That’s why I get excited to try recreating experiences that remind me of a good old container of my favorite takeout meals.
These Sesame Ginger Soy Curls remind me of a few different takeout dishes I love, combined into one. You get the lovely flavors of ginger and garlic along with the warming taste of sesame oil and the lovely bit of warmth from the freshly cracked pepper.
Why You’ll Love These Sesame Ginger Soy Curls
- This is the perfect take out inspired meal to make at home on a busy weeknight. It comes together in less than 30 minutes, but tastes like you picked it up from a restaurant to bring home.
- All vegan and easily made gluten free with simple modifications.
- Easy to customize to your preference. You can change out the types of veggies you like to make this meal suit your needs best.
- This dish is high protein and high fiber thanks to the use of soy curls, which makes this meal very nutritious and filling.
Key Ingredients
- Soy Curls: A great high protein and high fiber protein for vegans. Easy to flavor and perfectly chewy.
- Vegetables: I went with some crisp and crunchy vegetables like cabbage and bell peppers.
- Soy Sauce: Swap for gluten free soy sauce or coconut aminos (if using coconut aminos, it might make your overall dish slightly sweeter.
- Ginger: Fresh ginger grated finely to pair in the sauce.
- Pepper: We are using freshly cracked black and white pepper corns for a bit of gentle heat.
- Sesame Oil: A lovely finishing oil that brings out a lot of flavor in this sauce.
How to Prep Soy Curls
Soy curls in their package come dried. To prep your soy curls, you need to rehydrate them. Add your soy curls to a large mixing bowl along with some Better Than Bouillon Vegetable base. Then pour over top some boiling water. Mix and allow soy curls to sit and marinade for about 5 minutes until softened. In the meantime, prepare your sauce in a bowl and then set to the side.
Pour the soy curls into a strainer and gently press curls down to release excess liquid. Once prepped, set aside and prep your veggies.
To a pan over medium high heat, cook your drained soy curls and allow to brown evenly for a few minutes. Remove your soy curls and then sauté your onions and peppers until softened. Add your soy curls back to the pan with the peppers along with the cabbage and stir well to mix.
Once mixed, pour sauce over your soy curls and allow sauce to thicken for about 2 minutes then remove from heat.
Tips for Making the Perfect Sesame Ginger Soy Curls
- Cook your soy curls until they’ve started to brown. Don’t over or under cook these curls to help maintain their chewy center without turning them into jerky. You just want to see a little sear around the edges before adding in the sauce.
- You can swap your soy curls for a different protein like tofu. Make sure you press it well to remove excess water and then cube and pan fry in a little oil, which following the other steps as detailed.
- To make this dish completely gluten-free, just make sure to replace the soy sauce with gluten-free soy sauce or coconut aminos. Note, coconut aminos has a slight sweet taste to it.
Frequently Asked Questions
The only ingredient listed in soy curls is whole non-GMO Soy Beans, so this actually makes these soy curls highly nutritious between the high fiber and high amounts of protein per serving. Since soy curls come unflavored, they are also naturally gluten-free.
Once cooked, these sesame ginger soy curls will last for up to 4-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. This dish does not freeze well. The nice thing about purchasing soy curls is that since they are dehydrated, they have a really long shelf life.
I typically purchase my soy curls from Amazon. You can locate the soy curls through this link.
What to Pair Your Soy Curls With
To give this dish the best takeout food feeling, pair your dish with some white Jasmine rice and serve with some fresh herbs like cilantro or scallions. Alternatively, you can also add these to a wrap for an easy lunch meal during the work week or serve cooled leftovers with a bed of greens for an easy salad.
Easy to Make Takeout Meals to Try
Sesame Ginger Soy Curls
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: One Pot
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Low Salt
Description
These Sesame Ginger Soy Curls are bursting with warming ginger and fresh cracked pepper. Easy to make and perfect for dinner on busy week nights.
Ingredients
- 4 oz (113 g) of soy curls
- Boiling water
- 1 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable or Vegan Chicken Base
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or neutral oil of choice
- 1 cup shredded cabbage
- 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
Sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp garlic chili sauce
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
- 3–4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh cracked black or white pepper
- 1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Rehydrate your dried soy curls by adding them to a large mixing bowl along with your Better Than Bouillon Vegetable base. Pour some boiling water over top and give it a good mix then allow the soy curls to sit and marinade for about 5 minutes until softened.
- Now, prepare your sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and then set to the side.
- Pour the soy curls into a strainer and gently press curls down to release excess liquid.
- Heat up your oil in a large pan over medium high heat and add in your drained soy curls. Sauté them to help brown them evenly for about 5-8 minutes.
- Remove your soy curls and then sauté your onions and peppers with a pinch of salt until softened.
- Add your soy curls back to the pan with the peppers, then add your cabbage in and stir well to mix.
- Pour your sauce over your soy curl mixture and allow sauce to thicken for about 2 minutes while sautéing and remove from heat.
Notes
Cook your soy curls until they’ve started to brown. Don’t over or under cook these curls to help maintain their chewy center without turning them into jerky. You just want to see a little sear around the edges before adding in the sauce.
You can swap your soy curls for a different protein like tofu. Make sure you press it well to remove excess water and then cube and pan fry in a little oil, which following the other steps as detailed.
To make this dish completely gluten-free, just make sure to replace the soy sauce with gluten-free soy sauce or coconut aminos. Note, coconut aminos has a slight sweet taste to it.
Keywords: soy curls, recipe for soy curls, healthy vegan takeout recipes, takeout recipes
Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought in the comments below! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats
★ Catherine
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Yummy Tummy recipe… thanks for sharing!
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Thank you!
Just made this😊. My first time eating soy curls, nice. Don’t know if I didn’t have enough veggies but, I wish I didn’t use all the sauce. Thank you for your recipes.
Thank you so much for the kind message Phoebe! Really appreciate it and glad you enjoyed your first go at soy curls. 🙂
Just received my soy curls I can’t wait to make this for dinner tonight! You are the queen of delish sauces!
So yum! This is my first recipe with soy curls and I love it! So fast to whip together and super flavorful. Now to use the other six bags of soy curls I bought online 😂 Thank you for sharing this!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you loved it! Honestly, soy curls are so great. Definitely planning some more content around them as I also have lots of soy curls from my last purchase too. 😂😂