Starch Water Bacon Recipes

VEGAN WHEAT STARCH BACON

Steps:

• Separate the starch from water: If you are saving the starch water from making washed seitan, save the water from the first 3 washes in a large container, or in several bowls. Let the starch water rest for 4 hours or overnight so that the starch and the water separate. The white starch will sink to the bottom, and the yellow water will rise to the top. Gently pour off and discard the water leaving behind just the starch. Give your starch a good stir to make sure it is smooth (it can get clumpy when it sits), and add a splash of water if needed to get a nice thin batter. *If you are using store-bought wheat starch, mix starch and water together until you reach a consistency similar to the photos above.
• Season the starch: In a large measuring cup or medium bowl mix together all of the "red bacon starch" ingredients. If making the white bacon starch, in a separate measuring cup or bowl, mix together the "white bacon starch" ingredients. The white bacon starch is for making the bacon look more realistic mimicking the fat of the bacon, but feel free to skip this step if you prefer.
• Make vegan bacon crepes: Heat a large skillet or non-stick frying, brush the pan with oil. Working quickly, pour or spoon a small amount of the red starch into the pan to make a thin crepe. Use a spoon to drizzle the white starch across the top of the crepe to make stripes (you only need to do this on one side). Cook the crepe a couple of minutes per side until cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Keep the crepes nice and thin to get the best texture. You can add more water to the starch to make the batter thinner if needed. Repeat these steps until you use up all of the starch, making several crepes.
• Cut bacon strips: Once the crepes are cooled, use scissors or a knife to cut the crepes in the bacon sized strips. At this point, you can store the starch bacon strips in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer.
• Fry up that vegan bacon! when you're ready to enjoy the bacon, heat 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Fry the bacon strips until they reach desired crispiness. Drain on a paper towel. Enjoy!

STARCH WATER BACON

Steps:

• PREPARE YOUR STARCH WATER After washing flour, let your starch water rest for several hours or overnight so it has time to settle. Check out the step-by-step for washing flour to make seitan here. Once settled, pour off most of the excess water, leaving about 15% on top. Then stir them together. This does not need to be an exact science, but you're looking for the mixture to resemble a very thin crepe batter when its all stirred up. TIP: You can leave your starch water in the fridge for several days if you're not going to be able to use it right away.
• MIX YOUR BATTER Separate the batter (mixed starch water) into 2 parts. Measure out 1 1/4 cups for the "meat," and 3/4 cup for the "fat." Then add all of the "meat" ingredients into the 1 1/4 cup batter, and the "fat" ingredients into the 3/4 cup batter. I used a blender stick to make it super quick, but you can use a whisk, blender, or even a spoon. TIP: The measurements do not need to be exact. I worked with what I had from one washing and you may have more or less. You can adjust the seasonings to however you like and think of this more as a general guide.
• MAKE YOUR "PANCAKES" Heat a large, non-stick pan over medium heat. Add a little bit of cooking spray or oil to keep the batter from sticking. Pour thin stripes of red and white mixture (using more red than white) into the hot pan, and move the pan as necessary to keep the batter as thin as possible, spreading it around the pan into a solid "pancake". If it's too thick your bacon will be more chewy than crispy. As a solid sheet, it should be able to easily slide around the pan. No need to flip, it will cook through fairly quickly if it's thin enough. Just transfer it to a plate and keep making pancakes until your batter is used up. TIP: My measuring cups have spouts so I kept everything in them as I mixed to make the batter easy to pour out later. I've heard some people transfer their batter to used squeeze bottles to make it even easier to keep the batter strips as thin as possible.
• CUT YOUR PANCAKES INTO STRIPS OF BACON Once you have your pancakes made, you can use a pizza cutter or kitchen scissors to cut, or rip them into strips. I did a combination of cutting and ripping for a more authentic look. TIP: Don't worry if your pancakes rip some as cooking, they will look more authentic with torn edges. Any little pieces can be made into bacon bits.
• FRY YOUR BACON Heat another tablespoon or two of oil on the pan over medium-high heat, and working in batches, fry your strips, adding oil as necessary to finish.

COUNTRY FRIED FLOURED BACON

Steps:

• Cut the bacon strips in half, and place into a shallow dish with the half-and-half, crisscrossing the bacon in a star pattern. Soak the bacon a minimum of 30 minutes, but no more than 2 hours. This step helps reduce the curling of the bacon during frying, tenderizes it, and adds a wonderful flavor.
• Stir together the flour, salt, pepper, and sugar in another shallow dish until blended; set aside. When the bacon has finished soaking, remove it from the half-and-half, and shake off the excess. Press each piece into the flour mixture to coat, then set aside. If desired, you can place a sheet of wax paper between the rows of bacon once the plate is covered. However, the flour does a good job of keeping the bacon from sticking to each other.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a deep skillet over medium-low heat. Fry the bacon in batches until browned and cooked to desired degree of crispness, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.