meat texture
Posted by Anonymous on May 30, 2007 · Member since Dec 1969 · 11789 posts
a friend of mine mentioned the other day that she wanted to eat less meat but that whenever she did she missed the meat texture. The biting into it and tearing/chewing of the meat. This is something I never miss and I couldn't think of any veggie alternatives to recommend to her.
Can you guys think of anything? I know there are some Asian companies out there who make really authentic meat like things. I once had Mock Duck that I couldn't eat because it was too similar to meat, it freaked me out a little. However it was some random brand at the Chinese Cultural center and I'm sure I couldn't find it again if I tried.
If you can get oyster mushrooms, grill or fry them whole and they have a satisfying "meaty" chew. I pan-fry them with chopped garlic and olive oil and they are lush, esp. if you have a well-seasoned iron skillet to do them in. Salt and pepper. Yum. Good on a sandwich or as is, on a plate.
If you have the "Vegan with a Vengeance" cookbook, her seitan recipe is amendable to baking like the Seitan O'Greatness or the veggeroni seitan that Tofuttibreak posted the link to. Her recipe is also on her ppk website (last time I looked.) I followed the recipe up to the point of making the broth and added a little bit of Bragg's Amino Acids (about a tablespoon) because I thought it might be too dry for baking. Then I wrapped it in aluminum foil and baked it for 90 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Very chewy and firm in texture. None of the "animal fat", fluffy texture on the outside of the chunks that you get when you boil in the broth. The taste is not bad, sort of meaty but not so much as to gross me out.
I do kind of miss the texture of meat. I like to slice tofu really really thinly (1/4 inch or less), marinate it in something, and bake it thoroughly (20 minutes each side, minimum). That makes it somewhat chewy, with the outside being a bit crispy. Maybe not exactly like actual meat, but still, it does the trick for me.
I don't miss the texture at all! Just thinking of it makes me ill. Thankfully, nothing vegan is as greasy, fatty, stringy as all of that. Furthermore, the longer I go without, more sickened I am by the very thought!
Some meat analogs, I think, come close in some ways if what she misses is the "chew" part. I had frozen tofu for the first time last weekend and I loved it, so I froze several more packages for later on. Morningstar Farms has like a meal starter beafy strip thing. It tastes all wrong to me, but the texture was okay. I just didn't like the seasoning. I keep plenty of Dixie Diner "Carvery Cuts" around anymore and they remind me of deli sliced stuff, sorta.
Finding a meat sub is like finding a cheese sub. At first, they all taste nasty and the texture strikes one as weird, but you know the longer you go without the real thing the better the sub tastes. Give me NY over cheese any day of the week. Just the way cheese smells is gross to me now.
Seitan is number one. Vegan pepperoni, vegan bacon, tofurky whole turkey and the recipe on happy cow for vegan burger but I substitute white rice instead is I think the best hamburger recipe I've ever tasted.
Meat texture was the reason I became vegetarian in high school. Eck... *shiver* especially ground meat.
Is there a vegan kind of jerky?? Maybe that could do the trick?
I know there is turkey jerky at TJs for the non-red meat eaters... maybe there's a vegan kind? anyone know? "soy jerky" LOL
Yep, there are soy jerkys (jerkies?) out there. Sometimes at HFS they are near checkout. You can also buy some online at Vegan Essentials and probably other vegan stores.
I like Tofurky Jerky which is kind of meatlike. Tofurky itself is a reasonable comparison in how it slices and to the fork.
Honestly, I grossed myself out with the texture recently by following Bryanna Clark Grogan's Beefy Seitan Steaks. These were kneeded for 10 minutes, let to rest and kneeded again before getting flattened and added to the slow cooker for 8 hours. When mine cooled I put the whole thing in the fridge and the next day took out four small 'steaks' and slathered with bbq sauce and baked. Some of the slightly pointy spots got overly crisp. Getting a bite with harder lumps in it is very typical of meat. Even knowing everything that went into that, I spit it out.
The recipe is on several of her newsletters that you can subscribe to for a year for only $20, which also gives you access to years of archives.
Cali, this is a good post. Every time I see you post I smile. You may know of Diver Di's beloved Cali, the rescue dog. Well she keeps saying that someday *her* Cali wil learn to use the computer. When I see your name I do a little double-take and think--"Whaddaya know! She finally mastered it!" However I know that's silly. Don't take it amiss, I'm just laughing at myself, not you! ;)