Mushroom Gravy on Mock Chicken Drumsticks

- For an added glamour.

I find it entertaining when vegetarian meat producers actually put a lot of effort in making their products look like real meat. The soy-based bacon, for example, really looks like a bacon but thicker. I suppose it's a good start for people (like me) who would like to slowly step away from eating meat - but can't do it in one go. A full-fledged vegetarian doesn't normally prefer meat alternatives, but for starters, I think it's nice to have these mock meat products when you want to fight that craving for meat.

This evening, I opened a pack of vegetarian chicken drumsticks that Mark bought last weekend. The soy meat looks like small chicken legs - with a short skewer attached on the end to make it look like its bone. Well, it's not even close to looking like a real chicken, but I gotta give it a +1 for the presentation.

After I fried it, I knew that it's definitely not going to taste like real fried chicken so I had to improvise to add flavor to it. The mock chicken drumsticks looked dull and was in great need of glamour. So I topped it with mushroom gravy.

How to Make Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients:
- 30g cooking butter
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup or water
- 1 small can of mushroom buttons
- garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste

1. Open the can of mushroom buttons. Set aside the liquid.
2. Take about 4 pcs of mushroom buttons and set aside. Finely chop the rest.
3. In a separate bowl, dissolve the all purpose flour in 1/2 cup of water.
4. Heat a small sauce pan and melt the butter.
5. Saute the finely chopped mushrooms for about a minute.
6. Pour 1/4 cup of mushroom liquid (for more flavor) and 1 1/4 cup of water and bring it to a boil.
7. Set the stove on low heat and pour in the dissolved flour mixture. Give it a stir and simmer. It should start to thicken. If it's too thick for you, pour water gradually until you achieve your desired texture.
8. Give it about 1 tsp. of garlic powder.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Note : Use the remaining mushroom buttons as garnish. Slice them nicely and use it to top the mushroom gravy poured in your fried dish.

Mock chicken drumsticks with mushroom gravy.