VVP Edition: Mini Jackfruit and Kimchi BLT Slider Bites

Peppered Maple Jackfruit Bacon

Yeah, I invented a new vegan bacon, especially for the Virtual Vegan Potluck 3.0. It might just be the meatiest and most versatile vegan bacon yet… You’re welcome.

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Since I can’t just serve you bacon, (I mean, I could, but this is supposed to be the appetizer course). I’m sharing my take on some special bite sized BLT’s. For size reference, the plate I’m using in these photos only has a 3 inch diameter.

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To assemble these little cuties, you’ll need the following: Mini Caraway, Onion and Rye Pretzel Rolls (recipe follows), Kimchi, store bought or homemade, Peppered Maple Jackfruit Bacon (recipe follows), sliced tiny grape and or sun sugar tomatoes, and Vegan Wasabi Ranch Dressing (1/4 c. vegan ranch dressing + 1 t. wasabi paste, stirred til combined)

Vegan BLT Sliders

Peppered Maple Jackfruit Bacon

  • 1 can young green jackfruit in brine (unsweetened) I bought mine from a local Asian Market
  • 1-2 T. liquid smoke (mine is concentrated, so I only used 1 T.)
  • 1 T. Bragg’s liquid aminos or coconut aminos for those with soy allergies
  • 1 T. extra virgin olive oil or melted unrefined coconut oil
  • 2 T. pure maple syrup
  • 1 t. – 1 T. ground black pepper (depending on how peppery you want your bacon)
  • 1 t. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 t. unsulphered molasses
  • 1/2 t. sea salt (optional)

Method: Rinse and drain the jackfruit. Press lightly onto clean kitchen towels to drain any excess moisture. Slice jackfruit into very thin strips with a filet knife, it’s okay if some of it shreds. Jackfruit is kinda shreddy like that. Press sliced jackfruit on the clean kitchen towels again to remove additional moisture. Place jackfruit slices in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together all the other ingredients to form the marinade. Pour marinade over the sliced jackfruit and gently toss to coat with your hands. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the jackfruit absorb the flavors. Preheat your oven to 425°. Lightly oil a large rimmed baking sheet and arrange the jackfruit slices on it so they don’t overlap. Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring a time or two and watching to make sure the jackfruit bacon doesn’t burn and that it gets nice and crispy (a fine line). Remove from oven and spread onto paper towels and let cool a bit before use.

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Mini Caraway, Onion and Rye Pretzel Rolls

  • 1 1/2 C. unbleached organic all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 C. dark rye flour
  • 1/2 t. sea salt
  • 1/2 C. warm water
  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 1/2 t. active dry yeast
  • 1 T. caraway seeds
  • 1 T. cocoa powder
  • 1 T. vital wheat gluten
  • 1 T. unsulphered molasses
  • 1 T. dried chopped onion or 1 t. onion powder
  • caraway seeds, sesame seeds and flaked sea salt for sprinkling on the rolls

Method: in a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (including yeast). Add the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon til combined. If mixture seems to dry, add warm water, a tablespoon at a time. knead dough for 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and Let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled. Punch dough down, divide into 32 mini pretzel roll bites or 16 slider sized rolls. Lightly press each piece of dough down with your fingertips. Arrange rolls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or a silpat (otherwise they’ll stick like crazy). Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes until doubled in size. In the meantime, bring to a boil: 2 quarts (8 cups) water with 1 T. kosher salt and 4 T. baking soda.  When the water comes to a rolling boil, Poach 4 rolls at a time, if doing bite sized, poach for 20-30 seconds, for slider sized 30-40 seconds, turning over halfway through poaching time. See photos of this method here. Remove rolls with a slotted spoon. Slash each roll a couple of times across the top with a sharp knife. Quickly sprinkle with caraway seeds, sesame seeds and flaked sea salt. Repeat until all buns are poached. Let rest while oven preheats to 400 degrees. Bake for 10-15 minutes for bite sized or 15-20 minutes for slider rolls. Please use parchment paper or a silpat to bake on, otherwise you will need a chisel and a hammer and quite possibly ruin your favorite baking sheet.

Bite

To start at the beginning of the potluck, click here:

vvpIf you run into any broken links along the way, (some bloggers show up a little late to the party) here’s a list of the bloggers in the potluck to help you get back on track. Pretty cool to see over 169 bloggers from all around the world flaunting their vegan awesome! Use the buttons below to Go Back to visit the lovely Bex (Sparkles) at Vegan Sparkles in Australia. Go Forward to see what The Singing Vegan brought to the party.

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173 comments

  6. Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™ and commented:
    As a hardcore bacon addict/aficionado, I sneer at any type of fake bacon. Trusting Ms. Vedged Out as i do, I’ll give this recipe a shot.

    Don’t expect any miracles tho….

    Reply

      1. Exactly….I’m having faith in her based on my past results when recreating her recipes. She is magic.

        Have a wonderful weekend.

        (° ͜ʖ ͡°)

        ♥ ❀ ✿ Namaste ❀ ✿ ♥

        Reply

      1. (° ͜ʖ ͡°)

        ♥ ❀ ✿ Namaste ❀ ✿ ♥

        ❤¸¸.`•♪Happy Mothers Day❤¸¸.`•❤

        Reply

  7. yes i want to eat those cute little sliders.. look at thos buns trying to accommodate those seeds:)) yay for jackfruit bacon!

    Reply

    1. You are so clever! You nailed it right on the head when no-one else could! So fun! xx Can’t wait to see your canapes after I do some more police patrol 😉

      Reply

  8. Looks like food mimicry beyond veggies disguised as bacon into neatly organized, sushi-form sandwich bites. Looks GREAT.

    Reply

      1. Totally. When you prepare food like that, it organizes it for smaller portions and mindful eating, so it’s kind of an art of healthy, mindful eating.

        Reply

  10. Wow. These are amazing. Just spent WAY more time on your post than I planned. That’s like being at a potluck with 169 dishes and filling up on just one!! Way to go. You amaze me. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Haha, I planned to try to go through all the posts (that showed up) tonight. Got to the end of appetizers and I’d had my fill, will start again in the morning 😉 xx

      Reply

  11. There are so many good things in these sliders. I think the combination of ingredients is wonderful! Delicious!

    Reply

    1. They were totally adorkable. I mean finger food that tiny is a bit ridiculous, but you can’t help but want to eat it 😉 xx

      Reply

  14. Waw, Somer!

    You invented great, tasty & smashing sounding & looking appetizers! What is a jackfruit? What does it taste like? Otherwise I will google it, you know!
    I must make these beauties soon! Yummmm! I am in the dessert section today! 🙂 xxx

    Reply

    1. Hey girl, so jackfruit is a fruit that comes from Asia. Vegans have figured out that because it’s shreddy and has a bit of a neutral flavor that it makes a good “pulled pork” or carnitas substitute. It is pretty meaty. You can buy it (young jackfruit isn’t sweet) in a can at Asian markets here. I thought since others were using it as a pork replacement, it might be a good bacon replacement… AND IT IS 🙂 I’ll be seeing your post tomorrow, I’m going in order and only made it through appetizers tonight. xx

      Reply

    1. I kept reading about it til I finally had to get myself some! I cooked it wrong the first time I tried it and was sorely disappointed, but this recipe surpassed my expectations.

      Reply

  18. Hi there, Facebook Blogger!

    I first had my jackfruit sandwich at Whole Foods Las Vegas for the very first time and I remembered having jackfruit in Malaysia (and hated it), but with the proper sauces and flavors, it was so tasty in the end! Thank you for making savory jackfruit dishes tasty!

    Happy Virtual Vegan Potluck 3.0 Day x

    ♡ rika, vegan miam
    http://www.veganmiam.com
    ★ we travel + eat vegan blog ★

    Reply

    1. You are so right, the first time I had jackfruit it wasn’t a good experience either and I was ready to throw in the towel and consider it a vegan fad. I think marinating this one makes all the difference! Happy VVP 3.0 to you too!

      Reply

  22. I haven’t ever seen jackfruit before but now you’ve said you can buy it in a can I’m going to hunt it down! Hopefully my local Asian supermarket will have some 🙂 I need this in my life!!

    Reply

  23. I hope this isn’t insulting but these look like the best bar food sliders ever. These need to be featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. I bet even pork-fanatic Guy Fieri would have a hard time passing these up.

    Reply

    1. Jackfruit is a fruit that comes from Asia. Vegans have figured out that because it’s shreddy and has a bit of a neutral flavor that it makes a good “pulled pork” or carnitas substitute. It is pretty meaty. You can buy it (young jackfruit isn’t sweet) in a can at Asian markets here. I thought since others were using it as a pork replacement, it might be a good bacon replacement… AND IT IS 🙂

      Reply

  25. Somer these look so cute — I can’t imagine what the jackfruit tastes like. will have to give it a whirl sometime!

    Reply

  26. I’ve probably never wished we were neighbors more than I feel at this moment… Although, since I’d be knocking on your door in the middle of the night, you’ve probably never been more glad that we’re NOT neighbors. 😉

    Anyway, I love everything about this! Jackfruit is so fabulous, and you and I have the same preferred liquid smoke. I love how simple they keep their ingredients, as opposed to some brands that let weird junk slide in.

    Reply

    1. Oh Cadry! I would LOVE to be your neighbor, it’s your link to the chickpea bacon that got this all started! I love that stuff, but wanted to create a more “authentic” vegan bacon for meat lovers.

      You also clued me in on a better brand of liquid smoke. So yeah, I wish I was YOUR neighbor! xoxo

      Reply

  29. Once again you have completely outdone yourself Somer… these Mini’s look totally mouth watering….such an amazing post, the photos/layout is fantastic!! I can taste it, feel it… and I WANT them!!! NOW!! 😉 Wow!! xox

    Reply

  32. Jackfruit, eh? Don’t know that I’ve ever seen a live one…or a canned one for that matter. Luckily, there are lots of international markets in my area, so now I know what to do. Canned, not fresh, you say?

    Reply

    1. I’ve never tried it with fresh, but I do know that the canned variety I buy is the young green jackfruit. I assume as jackfruit matures it gets sweeter, which would not be a good think in this recipe. Good luck on the hunt!

      Reply

  33. YUM! Never worked with jackfruit before – I’ve seen the fresh at the Asian market but had no idea what to do with it…this is perfect!

    Reply

  34. I have wanted to do a jackfruit meat for some time, I may have to skip straight to your bacon! this IS impressive, and the whole sandwich looks fabulous!

    Reply
  36. Pingback: Quinoa Salad Stuffed Avocados | The Singin' Vegan

  41. Matt used to eat just bacon for dinner, why not as an appetizer? and by the way, pretty awesome effort considering your beverage threat…love this!

    Reply

    1. Yeah, the hubby here snarfed down all the leftovers of the bacon as is… I just wasn’t sure it was going to come together…. 🙂

      Reply

  42. Jackfruit you say? I can get that here! Consider these babies nailed and devoured…an excellent potluck recipe Somer and accomplished while you were going nuts behind the scenes…you are a powerhouse girl! 🙂

    Reply

      1. Although it looks like a long winded recipe it didn’t take all that long (once I had made the cheeze which only takes about 15 minutes from go to whoa all up and that includes setting!) to assemble and cook. Once you get the cheeze made and the pesto the dough only takes about 20 minutes to make and prove and is very easy to work with. I am very curious about using jackfruit in a savoury context. I love savoury food and am not really into sweet things much so using it as a pulled meaty ingredient is very interesting. I loved bahn-mi and this promises to give me back a “sandwich” option :). Cheers for your kind words about the Stromboli. I am already working on Novembers recipe and will remember Daylight Savings this time 😉

        Reply

  48. Hang on a minute, I seem to remember you saying that you weren’t going to be able to compete with your previous VVP contribution. Hello?! You just outdid yourself! These look totally amazing, I’m in awe.

    Reply

    1. Lorna, you are too kind! I still think the Brie is more visually stunning, but I’m glad I found something that I think is equally delicious. Thanks so much ! xx

      Reply

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