On The Food Network’s website, we watched a video of Chef Jesse Kimball of The Memphis Tap Room in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, make this amazing-looking, crunchy, smoky, non-bacon bacon. We’ve been looking for a vegetable medium or process that'll have that crispy crunch like bacon, and this coconut idea is brilliant.
We emailed Chef Kimball out of the blue, and he was happy to share the recipe and talk about his food. Thanks to him, you too can whip up a batch using a bag of shaved coconut with soy sauce, vegetarian Worcestershire, and maple syrup added to the mix for that sweet, Southern, bacon-y flavor. The coconut takes the smoke beautifully, and when it’s baked, the inherent fat in the coconut crisps the flakes. The best part is that they stay crispy. You can make a big batch of this and have it as part of your lunch all week.
We have used this many different ways since first making it: as a garnish for an omelet, on pesto flatbreads, and on top of grits. However, our favorite has to be this avocado BLT. All you do is load up two slices of seeded whole wheat bread with sliced heirloom tomatoes, olive oil mayonnaise, crunchy romaine, sliced avocado, and plenty of Smoked Coconut Bacon. It’s beautiful to hear the crunch of the bacon when you slice the sandwich in half.
3 ½ cups unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon liquid smoke (only if you don’t smoke the coconut on the grill top)
Smoke the coconut flakes for 4 minutes using our Quick-Smoking Method (page 231). (That doesn’t sound like a long time, but the coconut really soaks up the smoke quickly. This ain’t no pork belly, y’all!)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place the smoked coconut in a large bowl, and add the maple syrup, soy sauce, pepper, Worcestershire, and sesame oil. (Only add the liquid smoke if you didn’t smoke the coconut. This is just an option for people without access to a smoker.) Toss to coat. Spread the dressed coconut into a single layer on a parchment-lined 17 × 12-inch sheet pan or two smaller pans. Cook the coconut for 10 minutes, stir it around, spread it back out on the sheet pan, and cook it another 5 minutes or until it is nice and dark brown. Let it cool and then store it in an airtight container for up to a week.
Makes 3 ½ cups.