Recipes
Appetizer
Rice Paper Bacon

Rice Paper Bacon

by Brian Watson

The easiest, tastiest and cheapest vegan bacon I’ve ever encountered: RICE PAPER BACON!

Ingredients

Rice Paper – Obviously we need rice paper for these! They are often labeled as spring roll wrappers too. I can find them at most grocery stores in the “Asian” section, and you should be able to find them at any East Asian Market like 99 Ranch.
Neutral Oil – any neutral flavored oil will do!
Soy Sauce – for some umami and color. Use Gluten-Free Tamari for GF.
Liquid Smoke – To make it smoky! If you can’t find this stuff use more smoked paprika.
Maple Syrup – A little sweetness to balance out all the salty smokiness!
Sriracha – I like to add a little heat to mine.
Nutritional Yeast – For added umami of course!
Garlic & Smoked Paprika – Because this rice paper ain’t gonna season itself!
MSG – optional but recommended for some added flavor.

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Taste for seasoning. It will be strong and salty! Don’t worry, we are only using a little bit on each strip of bacon, so it won’t be as intense. Add the marinade to a large rimmed plate or skillet.
Add some lukewarm water to a skillet or rimmed plate. Take two pieces (or three for thicker bacon) of the the rice paper, and gently coat them in the water for about 15 seconds. Gently press them together and try to get rid of any air bubbles.
Then lay your rice paper bacon sheets in the marinade and coat both sides, flipping it over to coat as thoroughly as possible.
Add the rice paper to a cutting board, careful not to let the rice paper fold onto itself. Seal off the edges with your fingers so there’s no air bubbles and to make sure the pieces are stuck together.
Using a knife or pizza cutter, slice the rice paper into bacon strips (about 3/4 – 1 inch thick).
You can add the strips to a wire rack or leave them on the cutting board until they are ready to fry. Additionally, if you only want a few pieces of bacon, you can store them in a tupperware container and fry them later. Or fry them all and store the cooked bacon. Again, up to you!
Bring a skillet up to medium heat with a bit of oil. Fry the strips to your desired doneness. I recommend doing a few test pieces to figure out what kind of texture you like. They will crisp up a bit after frying so keep that in mind!
Once they are cooked, use them any way you want. You can literally use these them same way you would use non-vegan bacon!
ENJOY!

Notes

You can store these in some tupperware either at room temperature for a few days (like 2-3) or in the fridge for about a week. I recommend reheating them in a pan. The oven is good if you want to make them super crispy. Bake them at 350 F / 175 C for 5 minutes to heat up, and longer to get crispier. You can also simply marinade them and then store them to fry later on. Just keep in mind they will stick to each other, so layer them in between parchment paper or something similar.
Jewish Veg loves making this recipe! We have a tip for you: With Step 2, be very careful not to oversaturate the rice paper, or it will become rubbery and difficult to work with. You want it to remain firm, so you can easily slice it.
Find more of Brian’s recipes at Thee Burger Dude or on his YouTube channel Thee Burger Dude.