There’s a factor we categorize meals like fried chicken, pizza and mac ‘n’ cheese as comfort food. Whether they hold nostalgic value or are merely best faves, their knowledge provides a mild lift and feeling of convenience when we require it most.
Yet it can be tough attempting to replace cherished staples like fried hen with plant-based alternatives. Replicating that excellent crispy crisis and juicy, tender inside isn’t simple. And while vegan healthy proteins have come a lengthy method, discovering one that really provides the full experience– without pet items– can seem like going after a unicorn.
L.A.’s plant-based cooks are showing it’s feasible. Forget dull replacements; today’s vegan poultry is made from soy, wheat gluten (seitan), mushrooms and/or cauliflower and transformed via creative structures and spice-packed batters. From crunchy oyster mushroom cutlets to juicy soy wings and fried cauliflower with a kick, these creative takes aren’t simply copying poultry– they’re reimagining it.
For chef Doomie, who favors to be known by his first name only, the trick is keeping it straightforward. The creator of Doomie’s Home Cookin’ stated, “We attempt to keep the ingredients as conventional as possible and typically would like to just leave out an ingredient instead of substitute it with something that doesn’t normally belong.” For his deep-fried poultry batter, he swaps out milk and plant milks in favor of water. For crisis? “The key is constantly flour, batter, flour.”
“The magic of fried chicken lies in the interaction between the meat, the skin and the thin layer of fat that separates them,” he clarified. At Doomie’s, they’ve created a plant-based variation of all 3 parts, even utilizing two sorts of vegan poultry to imitate the comparison of white and dark meat.
After that there’s cook Mignon (also understood by her first name just) of Champignon Consumes. An essential at Smorgasburg L.A., she makes use of lion’s hair, oyster and enoki mushrooms. She suggests spices and frying them much like real hen. “Mushrooms handle any kind of taste you prepare them in,” claimed Mignon, who defaults to a special blend of spices and a chickpea flour mix for Champignon’s batter. “You would certainly be amazed at how versatile they are.”
In a city where plant-based cuisine is a way of living, chefs across L.A. are pushing borders and redefining comfort food on their own terms. Whether you’re food craving spicy Thai wings, Southern-style comfort or something completely unanticipated, these seven places show that vegan fried hen isn’t just an option– it can be the main event.
