Funny enough, it wasn’t until recently that I learned about the dish Chicken Ala King. It’s a creamy, savory dish with minced chicken and vegetables, and sounded very close to another creamy dish called Pastel, except Pastel is more festive and complicated. When I was a kid, my mom would make Pastel with ingredients like in Chicken Ala King but with quail eggs, liver, cashews, carrots, peas, and more, and she would cook it for weddings, birthdays, and fiestas. So, when I recently had a vegan version of Chicken Ala King at a vegan restaurant, I thought of making my own version but with a twist adopted from mom’s Pastel.
I don’t remember how my mom would make her dish, and I certainly don’t know how that vegan restaurant made theirs, but my version calls for a cooking technique called roux, which is cooking flour with some fat (typically butter) and then pouring milk to make a creamy sauce. In my recipe, I use vegan butter and olive oil interchangeably as the fat, and I use homemade cashew milk or store-bought soymilk or oatmilk. Of course, flour is flour and is traditionally vegan, so I don’t mess with that part.
Aside from this fancy-sounding cooking technique, everything else is pretty simple and straightforward. You can easily make this dish in less than one hour, which is perfect for weeknights or whenever you don’t have much time in the kitchen. But in case you do have some extra time and you’re up for some baking, you can use the vegan Ala King as a filling for pot pies. But who am I kidding? Most Filipinos I know (including me) would easily recommend having this with rice.
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil
- 16 ounces firm tofu, cut into small cubes (16 ounces)
- 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 2-3 pieces vegan sausages or hotdogs, cut into small cubes
- 1 tbsp vegan butter and or olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp flour
- 3 cups plant-based milk (I used cashew milk)
- 1 small carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1 small red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into small cubes
- ¼ cup roasted cashews
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup sliced button mushrooms
- Salt and pepper
- Heat a medium pan over medium heat and pour your cooking oil.
- Fry the tofu until golden and slightly crisp on all sides.
- Mix in the potatoes and continue cooking until all sides are nicely fried.
- Mix in the vegan sausages and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the sausages are nicely fried.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Turn off the heat and transfer to a container.
- Using the same pan, add your vegan butter or olive oil.
- Turn the stove back on but using low heat.
- Mix in your garlic and onions and cook until the onions have turned soft and slightly translucent. Add few pinches of salt to speed up the process.
- Add the flour and keep mixing to fully coat the garlic and onions.
- Pour your plant-based milk and, using a whisk, continuously mix to create a smooth sauce. You will notice that the sauce will become thicker as it cooks.
- Mix in the carrots, red bell pepper, cashews, peas, and mushrooms. Keep cooking and mixing until the carrots are fork tender.
- Season with salt and pepper and adjust seasoning to taste.
- Do a final simmer or gentle boil then turn off the heat.
- Serve with a side of rice or as filling to pot pies.