Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

I thought I’d share how I make my chickpea chuna as it’s slowly changed over the years. It was initially lacking any sort of fishy flavour, at that point in my veganism I’d not tried any seaweed, or vegan fish sauce, so I was unaware of those things. I actually always hated fish before I became vegetarian when I was 12. The texture, flavour, and even the mere appearance was so off putting to me. It was probably bordering on a phobia at some points. So I wasn’t sure how I would get along with toasted seaweed snacks. Especially if it ended up reminding me of the fish that, to put it mildly, I was not a fan of. But I absolutely loved seaweed snacks the first time I tried them! I suppose my tastes must have changed over the years, as tends to happen with people. I also love using them in cooking, as they add a fishy flavour to dishes. Which makes them ideal for a Vegan Fish Pie, or these King Oyster Vegan Scallops or this Vegan Seafood Chowder. It also elevates this chickpea chuna and adds a lovely flavour. One thing I would be mindful of is the salt content. As some toasted seaweed snacks tend to be fairly salty, I would season with salt after you add the seaweed, just so you don’t overseason the chuna

Serves; 10 Cook time; 20 minutes, plus soaking the chickpeas overnight

You’ll need;

1. 125g dried chickpeas
2. One quarter of a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate
3. 60g celery, diced
4. 75g sweetcorn, I usually use tinned sweetcorn
5. One teaspoon of dried parsley
6. Three spring onions, thinly sliced, this came to 25g
7. One 5g packet of toasted seaweed snacks, I like using the brand Itsu, as it’s available in many supermarkets
8. For the dressing; Three tablespoons of egg-free mayonnaise, one tablespoon of American/mild mustard, one tablespoon of lemon juice, one tablespoon of fish-free fish sauce. I use Thai Taste Vegan Fish Sauce which I buy from health food shops but it’s also available to purchase from online stores too
9. Salt and black pepper to taste

Method;

• Begin by sprinkling the bicarbonate of soda over the dried chickpeas and then adding at least 300ml of cold water. Leave them to soak overnight
• Once you’re ready to cook the chickpeas, drain and discard the soaking liquid. Then bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the chickpeas, replace the lid, and then once the water is boiling again, reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cook the chickpeas for 15 minutes
• Once the chickpeas are cooked, rinse them in plenty of cold water to stop them from continuing to cook. Add the chickpeas to a shallow dish and mash them with a potato masher. They don’t have to be smooth, just broken down will do
• Then add the chickpeas into a mixing bowl along with the celery, sweetcorn, parsley and spring onion. Then use your hands to crush the seaweed snacks into small pieces and add those into the mixing bowl. Finally stir the dressing ingredients together and pour this into the mixing bowl before folding everything together. Taste the chuna before seasoning to taste with salt and black pepper
• Pop the chuna in an airtight container in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving

You can eat chuna in salads, wraps, on crackers, or as a baked potato topping, anything you like