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Have you ever had tocino before? Tocino stems from Spanish meaning “bacon,” This soy curls tocino is my meatless take on the iconic Filipino breakfast dish. Typically this sweet cured meat is prepared with pork/pork belly. Also, famous in any Filipino restaurant served over rice and egg (Tocilog = Tocino + egg). To make Tocilog completely plant-based, opt out of fried egg, and use Just egg for scrambled egg or tofu scramble (recipe here).
What do you need?
Soy curls: These are a delicious alternative to meat and heart-healthy—gluten-Free, vegan, non-GMO, high in protein, and 100% natural.
Tocino mix: You can most definitely make your mix, but I used Mamacita’s tocino mix for this recipe. FYI (not sure if the sugar used is vegan friendly).
Soy Sauce: Feel free to use regular sodium soy sauce or tamari; I used low sodium.
Mushroom seasoning: This is the secret weapon to give these soy curls umami flavor.
How to prep the soy curls?
Preparing soy curls is so easy.
1- To rehydrate the soy curls, you’ll need to soak them with warm water for about 8-10 minutes.
2- After 10 minutes, completely drain and squeeze excess water from the soy curls.
3-For this recipe, I added 1 1/2 pouch of the Mamacita’s tocino mix.
4- The Mamacita mix suggested marinating for at least 1 hour; I marinated the soy curls for 24 hours.
How to cook tocino?
Traditionally, there are a few methods to how to cook tocino. This all depends on your preference. First, you can cook it in a bit of water and let the sugar caramelize. Or you can grill it, and finally fried in oil.
I fried it in oil for this recipe and it was perfection!
Final thoughts regarding this recipe:
I grew up eating tocino for breakfast, and before becoming a pescatarian, I was always a huge fan of this dish. However, with this recipe experimentation, after marinating, I realized the soy curls did not look red; it’s more of an orange color. So I thought of adding a drop of food coloring but did not have any on hand; maybe next time, I will.
Traditional tocino usually gets caramelized from the sugar content of it, this did not as much as I wanted it to, but the taste is INCREDIBLE! It is pretty close. The soy curl’s texture is unreal! I had my meat-eater husband try it, and he wanted his own plate (that says a lot).
If you re-create this recipe, please tag me on Instagram @melshealthybowl; I would love your feedback and see your creation. Thank you so much for your continued support.
Soy Curls Tocino
Ingredients
- 1 bag Soy curls
- 1.5 pouch Mamacita Tocino Mix
- 2 cups Warm water
- 3 tbsp Low-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp Mushroom seasoning
- 2 tbso Olive oil (for cooking)
Serve with: rice, fried egg (vegetarian) or Just egg (for plant-based)
Instructions
- In a deep bowl, pour the whole bag of soy curls, and add the warm water. Cover and let it soak for about 8-10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, completely drain the soy curls, and squeeze excess water from the soy curls (this is important, you need the soy curls to be completely dry).
- Once completely dry, add 1 1/2 pouch of the Mamacita's tocino mix to the bowl of soy curls. Add soy sauce and mushroom seasoning. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. For best results, marinate at least 24 hours.
Cooking the tocino
- In a hot skillet, add cooking oil, then add the marinated soy curls. Mix and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Taste the soy curls at this point, and add a pinch of mushroom seasoning if needed. Once you see brownish marks on the soy curls, you'll want to lower the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve over rice and a fried egg on top.
- Sprinkle salt and fresh cracked black pepper on top of the egg.