Gingery Vegan Egg Foo Young pancakes are full of crunchy vegetables and made with moong dal instead of tofu. Served with silky baby shiitake mushroom sauce on top. Gluten-free, dairy-free, and whole food.
Place yellow dal and rice in a medium-sized bowl. Cover with 2 cups of water and soak for 4 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. Rinse in a strainer and shake off the excess water.
Make pancakes
Place soaked dal and rice in a blender with ginger, lemon juice, black salt, pepper, turmeric, onion powder, oil, and water. Blend on high speed until the batter is very smooth, light, and fluffy.
Pour batter into a bowl. Fold in bean sprouts, water chestnuts, and carrots. Dissolve baking soda in soy sauce. Lightly stir the dissolved baking soda mixture into the batter.
Grease a large cast iron skillet with a small amount of neutral oil and set it at medium-low heat. Pour the batter into the heated skillet ¼ cup at a time and spread to 4 inches wide with a fork. Cook until golden on both sides.
Shiitake mushroom sauce
Dissolve arrowroot starch in a bowl with water, soy sauce, garlic powder, and salt.
Pour oil in a skillet and heat to medium. Add mushrooms and sautee briefly.
Add arrowroot mixture to mushrooms. Turn up the heat and bring it to a quick boil. As soon as the gravy thickens, the sauce is ready.
Serve
Serve vegan egg foo young with mushroom sauce and slivered green onions over the top.
Store
Store leftover pancakes and sauce separately in the refrigerator for 5 days. The pancakes can also be frozen for up to 3 months. The mushroom sauce does not freeze, but the reheated pancakes are delicious topped with chipotle mayo or other sauces you might have on hand.
Notes
Ingredient NotesKala namak Indian black salt is essential for the recipe.Arrowroot starch will make a clear, silky shiitake mushroom sauce that glistens. You can substitute cornstarch 1 for 1 in this recipe, but it will change the texture and appearance of the sauce slightly.Reheating leftoversIf you are lucky enough to have leftovers, the pancakes taste incredible reheated in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes. Top with chipotle mayo or any favorite sauce. They make a delicious 5-minute breakfast.I have even used them in place of sandwich bread, filled with greens and juicy tomatoes!