Vegan Spice Bag, a popular Irish fast food dish found in Chinese takeaways throughout Ireland. Crispy fried oyster mushrooms served with spiced chips, onions and peppers.
Serving Vegan Spice Bag
Many Chinese takeouts in different countries have a version of the spice bag, usually called salt and chilli chips. The spice bag in Ireland has grown in popularity in recent years and has garnered a cult following with different takeouts vying to have the best.
What makes the Irish spice bag different from salt and chilli chips is the addition of crispy chilli chicken. For this vegan version, we love making our own fried oyster mushrooms which are a perfect replacement. If you don’t want to deep fry your own mushrooms or if you want a quicker dish, then you can use a vegan crispy chicken alternative.
Fried Oyster Mushrooms
The fried oyster mushrooms are a perfect alternative to fried chicken and if you don’t mind deep frying they are relatively easy to make. They freeze well and reheat in the oven so consider making a double batch so you can use them in the future.
Vegan Spice Bag
Equipment
- Pan for deep frying
- Thermometer
Ingredients
Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- 200 g oyster mushrooms
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornflour cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon 5 spice
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Oil for deep frying
Spice Mix
- ¼ teaspoon 5 spice
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic granules
- ½ teaspoon salt
Vegetables and Chips
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 medium onion sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 red chilli thinly sliced
- 700 g oven chips
- 1 spring onion thinly sliced
Instructions
Fried Oyster Mushrooms
- Tear the oyster mushrooms into small bite-sized pieces.
- Prepare the dredging station. Add the all-purpose flour, cornflour, baking soda, 5 spice, white pepper, and the salt to a bowl and mix well.
- Add the unsweetened plant-based milk to a different bowl with the vinegar. This should make the milk thicken slightly and curdle. This will make it easier to coat the mushrooms.
- Heat enough oil to deep fry in a pan. It should be at least 2cm deep. Heat the oil to 180°C and maintain.
- Once the oil is hot enough start coating the mushrooms. First, drop a batch in the plant-based milk. Then transfer to the flour and coat well. Remove excess flour then add back to the milk before coating in flour again. Add the coated mushrooms in batches to the hot oil. Don’t overcrowd the pan as this will cause the temperature of the oil to drop. Use a thermometer to help maintain a consistent temperature.
- Drain each batch of mushrooms on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
- Once all the mushrooms have been cooked gently remove the pan from the heat.
Spice Mix
- Mix the ingredients for the spice mix in a small bowl.
Vegetables and Chips
- Cook the chips as directed on the packet.
- When the chips are 5 minutes from being cooked, heat the oil in a pan over high heat. Once hot add the sliced onions and red bell pepper and quickly stir fry for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat then add the chillies.
- Once the chips are cooked add them to the pan with the vegetables together with the fried oyster mushrooms. Sprinkle over the spice mix and mix well to coat everything.
- Serve immediately garnished with sliced spring onion and your favourite spicy sauce.
