Chicharon is a well-loved Filipino snack made of fried pork rinds (similar to the Mexican chicharron). It’s usually enjoyed as food paired with beer known as “pulutan“. Filipinos love to dip chicharon in condiments such as spiced vinegar. It’s also a popular topping on Filipino noodle dishes.
Vegan chicharon is great if you’re an omnivore trying to cut back on cholesterol, or if you’re a vegan who wants to snack on something crunchy, or if you are just plain curious what vegan chicharon tastes like. For me, I like to munch on vegan chicharon because it’s simple to make and fun to eat. All I need is an interesting, quirky ingredient called white fungus.
I first discovered white fungus when dining at a vegan Vietnamese restaurant called Golden Lotus in Oakland. I ordered a vegan pho soup and white fungus was in it to replace tripe. I hadn’t really thought much of white fungus after that dining experience. Several vegan phos later, I realized, maybe I should use white fungus in my cooking!
Searching for white fungus was easy; every Asian grocery store I go to carries it. As it turns out, snow fungus is used in chinese cuisine (I later learned this when I spotted a warm dessert with white fungus and sweet jujube at a chinese buffet). I also learned that white fungus is considered a chinese medicinal herb (major bonus points!). White fungus is a type of mushroom that is usually sold dried, next to the dried shiitake mushrooms. Since I’ve spotted white fungus at the store, I have been using it in my recipes like Lugaw, Kare-kare, and now chicharon.
While other kinds of vegan chicharon already exist (made of shiitake mushrooms, pea protein, or gluten), I prefer to use white fungus. I think it has the most wholesome ingredient with the simplest recipe to boot. The name may not be sexy – white fungus, but it does work wonders in many vegan recipes!
White fungus, after being soaked in water. On the right were shredded by hands.
White Fungus baked for 10 minutes. Crunchy and crispy.
- 2 pieces dried white fungus (see note below)
- pinch of salt
- pinch of vegetable broth powder (optional)
- drizzle of oil
- Soak white fungus in a bowl of water for 1-2 minutes to reconstitute itself.
- Remove from water. Shake and pat dry with kitchen cloth. Shred in pieces using your hands.
- Air dry for about 30 minutes. Or dry in the oven by putting it in its lowest setting then turning it off once it's ready. Place white fungus in the oven to dry (about 15 - 20 minutes). Remember to turn off the oven before placing the white fungus. You just want a warm environment to speed up the drying process.
- Once the white fungus is dry, remove from oven and preheat oven to 400 F.
- Drizzle oil and sprinkle salt and vegetable broth powder. Toss to evenly coat seasonings.
- Once oven is ready, bake white fungus for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve as snack or garnish.
Aside from baking, you could also fry the snow fungus. The result will be crunchier but more fattening (because it gets really greasy).
You could find vegetable broth powder at most Asian grocery stores but you could also skip it and just use salt.
If making this for a group of people, simply multiply the recipe according to your guest headcount.
I love how vegan chicharon could be a handy snack. It stays crisp and crunchy the whole day. Even if it does lose its crunchiness after a few days, I would just toast it in the toaster oven and it will be good as new again.
Aside from being a convenient snack, vegan chicharon is great as topping and garnish for Pancit Palabok, Lugaw, and many other dishes. It is also great as a homemade holiday gift, or a dish for Thanksgiving.
The possibilities are piling up. I’m sure you will come up with our own idea too. After all, white fungus is fun, versatile, and interesting. It could disguise and take form many ways including the unimaginable like tripe and pork rinds. Who knows what else white fungus could replace without the guilt and cholesterol. I am excited to find out!