Vegan Pernil

As you might know, Venezuelans love Christmas and they normally eat the same thing every year the 24th of December.

Eating pernil (the leg of the pork) in Christmas it’s a tradition that comes from the colonial times (don’t quote me on that; I’m just trying to write an introduction here).

Anyway, if you don’t feel like eating pork, I’ve researched several recipes for making vegan pork, and this is the one that had worked the best for me.

It’s inspired in 2 sources: - Sumito Estevez - How to cook anything Vegetarian (A real classic, by the way.)

Ingredients

For the “pork”: - Seitan mixture: You can find it in Amazon or in vegan stores. Around 1 cup is enough for 4 people. - Can of Chickpeas (400g): 1 can per cup of seitan. - Paprika: Around one teaspoon. - Pepper: half a teaspoon. - Chili Powder (optional): Around half a teaspoon. - Salt: Around half a teaspoon, but adjust to taste. - Soy Sauce: One tablespoon. - Broth: Enough to cover the seitan. - Bay leaves: 2. - Shiitake Mushroom (optional): 1.

For the sauce: - Onion: I don’t use onions but the traditional recipe has onion. - Rep Pepper: One or 2. - Orange Juice: Sumito says you should make it yourself, but I’ve tried store-bought and it works. Around 200 ml. - Wine: Non-alcoholic wine is also fine. Around 200 ml. - Dried Plums: Around one 200-gram bag works well. - Mustard: One tablespoon. - Pepper: Half a teaspoon. - Salt: One teaspoon. - Paprika: One teaspoon. - VEGAN Worcestershire sauce (Optional): IMPORTANT: it has to be vegan. Traditional Worcestershire sauce contains sardines. Around one tablespoon.

Seitan

Put the seitan mixture in a bowl
Blend the can of chickpeas with the water and add the mixture to the bowl with the seitan. Don’t be afraid.
Add the spices.
Knead the dough for around 5 minutes. If you need more water, add a couple of tablespoons, but it’s usually unnecessary. Keep kneading.
Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
Prepare the broth with soy sauce, bay leaves and shiitake mushrooms.
Knead the dough again and give it the shape you want. I regularly make 2 logs (some people say that they look like a penis).
If you’re cooking in a Instant Pot, cook the seitan logs (or whatever shape you’ve made) for about 15 minutes. Otherwise cook them for around 30 to 40 minutes.
Remove the water and they’re ready to be used. You can cut them in pieces now, but I prefer them whole in the oven.

Sauce

As my dad says, “pin pin pun pam”, this is really easy: - Take all the ingredients in a blender and blend them.

Oven

Now you have all the components you need to make a perfect seitan pernil: - Preheat the oven at 180°C. - Combine the seitan (without the broth) and the sauce. - Let it cook for around 20 to 30 minutes.

Voila! Now you can eat “pork”, without pork.

¡Delicioso! and Feliz Navidad.

Pro-tip

Prepare extra pernil for the 25th. The next day you can eat it with arepa or as a sandwich with tomato, salt and maybe an avocado.

Ruben