East meets West in this vegan Hoisin Pulled Mushroom Pizza, inspired by the flavours of Peking duck
For the first week of The Great Vegan Bake Off challenge, I recreated one of the most unique and tasty pizza’s I’ve ever had: the Peking Express from Virtuous Pie. You can see the original in one of our saved Instagram stories under ‘Things we ate’. They no longer serve that pizza so I took matters into my own hands to make it at home!
So what’s on it?
- Hoisin pulled mushrooms
- Five spice onion nut cream
- Gai lan
- Caramelized red onion
- Fried shallots
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Green onion (aka scallion)
I made a half recipe of this pizza dough from King Arthur Flour and followed the detailed instructions to the best of my ability. Vancouver has a very dry climate so I needed more water than the recipe called for, but then added a bit too much water. Despite not being able to do the whole folding process properly or having a pizza stone, this ‘faux sourdough’ crust still turned out amazing! If you love bready crusts like me, you’ll adore this no-knead and fluffy pizza dough recipe.
- CRUST
- 1 ball fresh pizza dough*
- TOPPINGS
- 4 sprigs of baby gai lan, sliced**
- 1 tbsp high heat oil (I used grapeseed oil)
- 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- MUSHROOMS
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 3 king oyster mushrooms, shredded with a fork
- ¼ cup vegan hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- ONION CREAM
- ¼ cup soaked raw macadamia nuts***
- ⅓ cup water + more as needed
- ¼ tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
- Dash of salt
- GARNISH
- Sliced green onion
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Olive oil for brushing
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Sautee gai lan until bright green and stems are tender.
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil over high heat until it almost starts to bubble. Fry the shallot slices in a single layer until golden brown. Remove shallot from pan and dry on paper towel.
- Set aside a few slices of red onion for the topping and caramelize the rest in the frying pan with the hot oil over medium-low heat. Once caramelized, transfer to a bowl.
- Make sure there's still about 2 tsp of oil in the frying pan; add a bit more if there isn't enough. Sautee the grated ginger, garlic, and five spice powder until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the shredded mushroom, hoisin sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, and salt and cook over medium-high heat until all the mushroom liquid is evaporated and the mixture is reduced, sticky, and caramelized. This will take a bit of time so stir it every now and then.
- To make the onion cream, blend about ¼ of the caramelized onion with the soaked nuts, water, five spice powder, and salt until very smooth. You may need to add a splash more water if your blender is not high-powered.
- Preheat your oven to 550°F (or as hot as it will go) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Stretch out your pizza dough to a 1-inch thick circle (or thinner if you don't like such bready crusts) and place it on the parchment paper. Trim the paper around the dough so it doesn't burn in the oven.
- Top with about 3 generous tablespoons of onion cream, caramelized onion, sauteed gai lan, plenty of hoisin pulled mushroom, and the few slices of raw red onion you set aside earlier.
- Bake for 10 to 13 minutes in the centre of the oven, until the crust puffs up and turns golden brown.
- Once the pizza is out of the oven, immediately brush the crust with a bit of olive oil.
- Garnish with a few dollops of onion cream, sliced green onion, toasted sesame seeds, and fried shallots. Serve warm!
**Found at Chinese supermarkets. If using regular gai lan, 2 sprigs will probably suffice.
***Raw cashew nuts also work
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