How to make vegan hot dogs? I mean why not. I don’t make them much anymore because I’m lazy and here at VV I’m trying to make things simple and easy about all things veganism, especially the food.
But I have tried making vegan hot dogs before and they turned out quite tasty even if not as firm as you might expect.
This recipe is based upon the many commercial vegan hot dogs out there along with the help of fellow bloggers. Give it a try and see if you like it. One of the trickier recipes you’ll get out of me. Feel free to experiment with ingredients and quantities to come up with something that you love.
The long and hard vegan sausage
Pardon my double entendre 😉 You can’t always get the child out of the man. Anyway, this recipe will make about 6 good sized sausages. Of course, if you’re intimidated by large vegan sausages you can make 8 or even 10 small vegan cocktail wieners out of them if you want!
I prefer to call these vegan sausages, ‘cos after all they are being handmade and are more crumbly then the firm vegan hot dogs you can buy. Sausages have often been handmade so let’s keep the tradition alive vegan style.
1 package (12 ounce) tofu – I prefer a medium tofu for this
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp liquid vegan smoke
0.33 cup water
0.25 cup oil
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 or 3 garlic cloves pressed
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
0.25 tsp cumin
1 tsp sage
1.25 cups wheat gluten flour
Squish the tofu into the blender and add all the remaining ingredients except for the gluten flour.
Blend until the mixture is smooth and somewhat creamy.
Empty into a large mixing bowl and add the wheat gluten flour and mix well. You should have a soft dough that is somewhat moist but not wet. Add water or more gluten flour to get to the right texture. This is more like a soft bread dough than a cake batter. So you’re looking for it to form rather than be runny.
Now take this “dough” and divide into 6 or however many vegan hot dogs you want to make.
Take each ball of hot dog and roll out into a hot dog shape with your hands. Tap the ends in to keep them well formed.
At this stage with all vegan hot dogs made, I like to wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. Then I like to book end them with books so they’re in a tight square and lay a heavy book on top of them. Doing this in a single layer is best. Yes, it will make them a bit flat or square on sides but it helps to form them better.
Allow them to rest like this for an hour or more. More if you can do this in a fridge.
After that, you can boil them for a few minutes in their plastic wrap in water or if you don’t like the sounds of boiling them in plastic you can wrap them in wax paper and then in tin foil and boil them that way.
I prefer to gently fry them in a little oil for a few minutes. Take the plastic wrap off first! Enjoy!