The inspiration for this sauce came from my favourite vegan Vietnamese restaurant, V Cafe, where they make plant-based versions of lemongrass chicken, black pepper steak, BBQ pork and more. You can have your vegan “meat” of choice made into a salad roll or banh mi and either option is delicious!
Even though their food is inexpensive, they close pretty early, limiting when I can satisfy my craving for vegan Vietnamese food, so I wanted to try my hand at a sauce to pour over sautéed soy curls that I could stuff into my own salad rolls or banh mi.
I went with fresh lemon and ginger instead of lemon grass and the results are tangy, sweet and delicious! Make a batch ahead of time and you can throw together a quick and tasty Lemon Ginger Soy Curl Banh Mi in no time.
Or, if you’re looking for some a little lighter — apparently some people aren’t into bread or have trouble digesting it and I’m so sorry to hear this — you can try putting lemon ginger soy curls into a salad roll with some vermicelli rice noodles and fresh veggies.
If you’re not into soy curls (or you’re having trouble finding them where you live), this sauce would be excellent poured over some crispy tofu and added to a stir fry. Or you could use it with plant-based chicken strips — the options are endless!
To make this super simple sauce, start by making a little cornstarch slurry by dissolving the cornstarch in water so that it doesn’t clump together in the sauce. Then, take your slurry, stock, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, lemon zest and juice, fresh ginger, cayenne, and ground ginger and toss it all in a small sauce pot over medium heat.
Cook sauce for 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly, then reduce heat to low and continue cooking for an additional 3-5 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat. Once cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
Lemon Ginger Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Vegan beef broth (or vegetable stock)
- 1/4 cup Maple syrup (or sub agave or brown sugar)
- 3 tbsp Rice wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tsp Fresh ginger, grated (hint: store fresh ginger in the freezer and cut/grate off a piece as needed.)
- 1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp Ginger, ground
- 4 tsp cold water
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Instructions
- In a small bowl, dissolve corn starch in water to create a slurry.
- Combine all ingredients, including corn starch slurry, in a small pot on medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, then reduce to low for 3-5 more minutes until sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat.
- Use sauce to cook tofu, soy curls, meat substitutes, vegetables or whatever your heart desires. Store remaining sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week.
