Sweet chilli ‘shawarma’ burger recipe

Sweet chilli ‘shawarma’ burger recipe

This is a fusion mix of two of my favourite cuisines – Lebanese and American-Chinese. My best friend of 30 years, Lina, used to invite me to her house every Saturday night for a Lebanese dinner. When we wanted a plant-based option, we made a shawarma-spiced seitan. Seitan originates from ancient China and is a firm-textured meat substitute made from wheat gluten. You can buy it in blocks or pieces, or use tofu. For best results, slice and chill the slaw ingredients so that, when you come to serve, the slaw is nice and cold.

Prep time: 30 minutes | Cooking time: 5 minutes

SERVES

Two

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, finely grated

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 tbsp Shaohsing rice wine or dry sherry

2 vegan brioche buns or seeded wholemeal buns

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise

1 tsp sriracha

For the shawarma-spiced seitan

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp ground all spice

¼ tsp garlic or onion powder, or vegetable bouillon powder

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of ground nutmeg

Pinch of ground cardamom

2 pinches of dried chilli flakes

Pinch of dried oregano

Pinch of cracked sea salt

330g seitan pieces (available online at Asda, Morrisons and Ocado), or use tofu, drained and