Vegan Bunny Elle

Golden crispy on the outside, flavorful, juicy, and incredibly meaty on the inside! These scrumptious, high-protein stuffed pita pockets will have you coming back to them again and again.

There’s quite an interesting personal journey behind these flavor bomb pockets. What started as a spontaneous creation turned into a learning experience! So what sparked the initial idea for me was when I went to a cafe a few weeks ago, and they were promoting a new lunch item – pita melt. The cafe put standard sandwich fillings into a pita pocket, added cheese, and melted it like a panini.

Of course, I couldn’t order it because of the cheese, but it made me think, hey, I could stuff the pita with a soya “meat” filling, then pan fry it! And the idea turned out even better than what I had imagined in my head, it’s so amazingly satisfying, the golden crust with a charred note, paired with the meaty, flavorful filling, and dipped in a zingy, creamy yogurt sauce! And the whole time I had no idea there was already an existing dish just like it!

Eventually, this creation led me to the discovery of Areyas, which is a very popular Middle Eastern street food. Traditionally, it’s made by stuffing pita bread with raw lamb or beef, then pan seared or baked. The very origin of Areyas sparked a heated debate on my Instagram, as the origin of many food creations across different cultures, there are so many myths, stories, and versions. To me that’s what makes food so fascinating because it always carries so much history and cultural heritage with it. What do you believe is the very first inventor of Arayes?

Stuffed Pita Pockets Vegan Arayes

DId you know you can turn pitas into these scrumptious and high-protein power hand food?! These meaty flavor bombs will live in your head rent free after your first bite.

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Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients

  

• 3 pita bread cut in halves
• 4 oz soya chunk
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 carrot finely chopped
• 3 oz shiitake mushroom diced
• 1/3 cup sweet pea
• 1/3 cup sweet corn
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon coconut amino
• Cooking oil

Method

 

1. Bring a pot of water to boil, add a generous pinch of salt, then add in the soya chunks, boil for 10 minutes until rehydrated and plump;
2. Drain the water, and once the soya chunks are cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much water as you can, then tear them into small pieces;
3. Heat a drizzle of oil in a pan, saute the onions first until golden and caramelized, about 3-4 minutes, then add in the dry spices – cumin, coriander, paprika and garlic powder, toast the spices for a minute until aromatic;
4. Add in the shiitake mushroom, carrots, and soya chunk pieces, color and season the soya chunks with soy sauce, coconut amino, stir to combine all the ingredients;
5. Once the mushroom has let out the moisture and the carrots are slightly softened, add in the sweet peas and corns, season with more salt if you prefer, and finally sprinkle in the arrowroot powder or cornstarch, stir quickly to mix the powder in evenly, you’ll notice the mixture thickens, turn off heat and set aside;
6. Stuff the filling mixture into the pita pocket halves, gently press on each pita pocket to make sure the pita adhere to the fillings inside;
7. Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a clean pan, pan sear the stuffed pita for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown;
8. Serve warm, enjoy!

Video

Notes

• If you’d like to make the yogurt dipping sauce, please follow the sauce portion in this recipe.
• For the soya chunks, they have such an amazing meaty texture. you can usually find them at Asian grocery stores. But if you’re having difficulty sourcing this ingredient, feel free to substitute soya chunks with crumbled extra firm tofu, or shredded seitan, or beyond meat/impossible meat!