Spicy Vegetarian Sausage

Since his passing, November 11 of every year is celebrated as my father's Memorial Day and also the day all my family gets together as a family reunion. Most of my brothers and sisters live very close to each other, except for me. Most of the women in my family are good cooks, so this day is properly a fun day when we women get together and share our recipes. Our family is not vegetarian, but on this day we always prepare vegetarian food. And, this is the way to celebrate my father's passing and other ancestors who passed away, too. Because we are following Buddhist tradition, the altar will have flowers and fresh fruit, and the food that we make on this day has to be without any meat. I have created this sausage recipe as a combination of the recipe for spicy Italian sausage and the Vietnamese vegetarian sausage. Some of my family members have the celiac disease, so this recipe will work for them. I am so excited about this sausage recipe. Let’s get cooking

Ingredients: (for 4 sausages)
8 oz firm tofu
6 oz dried bean curd sheets (the frozen)
1 oz dried mushrooms, soaked in water to soften
1 oz bean threads (vermicelli), soaked in water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp chili flakes
2 tbs sausage spice mix
Sauce:
2 cans coconut water
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 knob of fresh ginger, sliced

 

Kitchen twine

Directions:
Cut eight dried bean curd sheets into 8” x 8” squares. Bring the pot of water to boil and add the leftover bean curd sheets, which are the edges remaining after cutting the 8 x 8” squares. Let cook for 3 minutes and drain.
Drain the bean threads and roughly chop.
Drain the mushrooms and roughly chop, as well
Mash the tofu and cooked bean curd leftovers and place into a mixing bowl. Add the bean threads, mushrooms, garlic, onions, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, chili flakes, and sausage spice mix. Season to your liking. (Note: for a smoother texture, use a food processor.)

On a working surface, place 1 square bean curd sheet. With another bean curd sheet, overlap 50% of the first bean curd sheet to form a 12” x 8” rectangle with an 8 inch end facing you.

 Place one fourth of the sausage mixture a few inches from your 8 inch end of the bean curd rectangle.

Roll bottom of bean curd wrapper, fold both sides of the bean curd wrapper towards the center and roll it up as a log or sausage.

Use kitchen twine to tie the sausage well.

 Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
In a small bowl, put all the sauce ingredients and mix well.

In a large and shallow pot, place all the sausages and pour the sauce mixture over the sausage.

 Bring to boil and simmer until the sauce has thickened.

After thickening, discard cloves, cinnamon stick, anise, fennel seeds, and ginger residue.

Remove the sausages, cut off kitchen twine, and let cool. Slice the sausages into 1-inch thick “coins” and pour the thickened sauce over them. Top with some chopped green onions and cilantro.