Jalapeño Popperz

This beloved finger food has largely been cursed to wander the halls of late-night Jack in the Box runs — an exodus not befitting anything so cute. We think hot peppers can be wonderful vehicles for snacks, though the Anaheim peppers of chile relleno fame are snooze-ville and Habaneros can hurt people, leaving only the Jalapeño.

So, for our latest addition to the “No Drive-Thru” haute vegan fast food menu, we veganized the Jalapeño popper. We roasted and deseeded them, stuffed them with an herbed vegan cream cheese concoction, dipped them in tempura batter and rolled them in panko crumbs. Once fried these peppies become scorching vegan cheese torpedos. Holla back y’all!

10 Jalapeño peppers
8 oz. vegan cream cheese
2 large sprigs of tarragon
1 bunch of chives
1/2 cup tempura batter
1/4 pale ale
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
2 cups canola oil

1. Roast two peppers at a time using your stovetop burner. Place your peppers directly over high heat, leaving them to sit 1-2 minutes at a time, rotating them as they blacken. Once blistering, dunk them in cold water and rub off black skin. Chop off their tops and make one long incision, pulling apart so you have one flat pepper skin. Carefully remove all seeds and set aside. Repeat.

2. Mix your cheese with chopped herbs. Using a small spoon put one large dollop on ach pepper and roll them shut.

3. In a large bowl add the beer to the tempura batter. Add more batter or beer as necessary to get a pancake batter consistency. Place bread crumbs on a deep plate and put a wok of canola oil on high heat.

4. Once oil is hot, dip the peppers in tempura making sure to shake off excess batter, then roll them in breadcrumbs. Immediately drop them in hot oil. Let fry for 3-4 minutes each or until golden brown on all sides.

5. Serve in a basket alongside some honey-mustard or homemade ketchup.