Vegan Smoked Salmon / Lox - Wow! Gluten free, Vegan!

tomato lox

So you guys are going to love me. I've seen tomato lox and i just sat there thinking, why hasn't there been a capsicum lox? Surely it looks closer to salmon? So I invented my all new recipe, that has not 1 but 2 SECRET unique ingredients that REALLY makes it taste like fish! This recipe smells like salmon/fish, looks like salmon/fish and even melts in your mouth like salmon! It even tastes super similar to salmon it's crazy! (with a veggie undertone of course, the more bland the veggie the better).

capsicum lox

So I used to be a HUGE smoked salmon fan once I finally tasted it. But going 6 months without it I was starting to feel like I could do with some. It's just so scary! So easy to get food poisoning from! No worries, boy do i have a recipe for you!! Wow! Is all I can say. It tastes JUST LIKE fish it's incredible! 

Mushroom "Fish" cake (battered portabello "fish")

It isn't better tasting than salmon, but it's the closest thing to fish, from a plant, that you can eat!  I always drench my fish in lemon so lemon was mandatory for me, omit if you think it's weird with sushi. It is a bit, but as a serving on a rice cake, perfection! This "salmon" goes best on a rice cake, not in sushi, in my personal opinion- since tomato or capsicum is a more common ingredient topper in this setting, it works well. My carnivore dad said it smelled like bacon, so, at least there's that. Who doesn't love bacon?

capsicum lox

Sushi roll with tomato lox

There's these weirdo 2 ingredients that really makes it SUPER convincing. What is it you ask? ALGAL OIL paired with DULSE FLAKES, it legitimately tastes like the sea (in a good way)

Carrot Smoked Salmon Lox

The tomato when overcooked in areas has a similar "melt in your mouth" feel like regular salmon, and the orange capsicum has a striking resemblance. Carrot also yields a beautiful result- and I might consider adding a tiny pinch of beet powder in future to bring out a bit more pink. Mushroom, while it looks nothing like lox, tastes pretty rad especially when battered and fried as fish cakes - and it is robust enough to work well as this!

Sushi

Carrot smoked salmon lox on a mushroom pizza bianco. Base recipe here.

Carrot smoked salmon lox on a mushroom pizza bianco. Base recipe here.

Vegan Smoked Salmon

Serves 2

Red capsicum lox, marinating

Ingredients (these are all approximate, taste marinade at the end and adjust to your tastes)

1 Roma Tomato, 'Roasted' Orange Capsicum/Bell Pepper, Portobello mushroom or a Wide Carrot (shaved with a peeler) 

1t soy sauce minimum, or enough to half cover the veggie
1 TB lemon juice (fresh is best, omit if in using in sushi)

1/2t liquid smoke
1-3 capsules of vegan ALGAL DHA EPA, pierced and squeezed
A few shakes of DULSE FLAKES

1t water (optional if needed to help cover vegetable better)

tomato marinating

Step 1- Tomato - Mark an "X" on the bottom of the tomato and boil for 1 minute. Put in cold water and then peel skin off. (alternatively it can be done in microwave for several minutes but doesn't yield as good results). Remove the internal seeds and flesh so you only have the tender fleshy outside part. 

Capsicum - You can broil the skin off under a flame/griller or in a microwave also. (I use my griller microwave on combo for about 6 minutes or more, or fire roast for extra smokey flavour and tenderness). Remove the internal seeds and flesh so you only have the tender fleshy outside part. 

Carrot -  Shave into thin slices with a vegetable peeler. Looks most convincing when you use a very wide carrot. Steam it until very tender but not breaking apart. 
Mushroom - Cook mushroom first by frying or boiling. You can use 2 forks to "shreds" the mushroom or batter it for a "fish cake".

Step 2- Combine ingredients (use only 1 capsule), stir and add veggies to the marinade for at least 30 minutes, pref over night or even longer if you wish.

Step 3- Once marinated overnight, serve with a drizzle of 1 ALGAL omega 3 oil capsule to intensify flavour and mouth feel to each serve.

Step 4- Serve! Suggested to serve as a topping to a sandwich, bagel, crackers, etc...and not in sushi. Unless lemon is omitted. Top with toasted sesame seeds to help cement that it is in fact, fish, if you usually ate fish with sesame seeds that is. Serve with whatever you are used to eating fish with - for some this might be tartare, or lemon, or mint, etc. 

Check out the shreds in the mushroom "fish cake"

Suggestion-
I personally prefer the appearance of the tomato, the flavour of the capsicum, and the taste of the carrot.
Make a double batch and freeze leftovers, once thawed they will might a better salmon-like texture - yet to be tested.

red capsicum, marinating. Note the shape is very similar to a slice of fish

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