substitute for lamb
Posted by havenolegs on Aug 13, 2006 · Member since Nov 2004 · 52 posts
anyone know good sub for lamb meat?? i was thinking maybe the Gimme Lean sausage style, but it will definately not taste like lamb. any ideas?
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im trying to make a soup my great granny used to make:
Kalderash Morenas:
1 pound lamb
5 potatoes
3/4 pound of fresh string beans
garlic
olive oil or lard
onion
fresh parsley
cayenne and crushed pepper, garlic powder
HOT small peppers
red and yellow bell peppers (optional)
tomato paste and fresh tomato
Chop one onion into small pieces. Cut the lamb into little pieces. Stir fry with oil until brown. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes with lid on. Add diced onion and parsley. Cover and simmer for another ten minutes.
Add cut and peeled potatoes and the string beans (just cut the very ends off). Add water as needed, not to let it dry out. Simmer another 15-20 minutes. Add tomato paste for red sauce with one can of water. As needed, stir in garlic powder, salt, cayenne, crushed pepper, small hot peppers and garlic.
Throw in red and green peppers while stirring (optional: add yellow, red, and green bell peppers for color).
Add rice on the side.
see thats why i thought the sausage style tvp might work, but it wont really have the same flavor/consistency.
i think you've actually answered your own question havenolegs. lamb is lamb is lamb. it seems to me that you will need to be content with a substantial variation on your great granny's recipe. treat any experimental attempt as an entirely new creation. judge it by its own merit, or lack of. don't make comparisons.
cheers!
adagio
Shoot, I wish you had gotten some suggestions, because I came here looking for the same thing - a substitute for lamb in a soup recipe (Lamb, Bean, and Pumpkin Soup). I might just leave it out without a substitute.
I would make up some seitan using about 1/4-1/2 cup of other flours (whole wheat, garbanzo) along with 2 cups of vital wheat gluten flour. If you include other flours with it, it remains a little more tender when it's poached. The flavor won't be the same, but it might be a nice substitute, if you poach it in broth seasoned with flavors you associate with lamb.
If I recall correctly, lamb is the meat without any real flavor of it's own. It's very mild and pretty much takes on what you make of it, so I will second the motion to make seiten, but recommend that you go lightly on seasoning it, and as Duckalucky said, use seasoning you relate to lamb (that would be mint jelly for me!) ;)
Hi, I don't agree with the assessment above. Lamb has a most definite flavor. It was actually my favorite meat product growing up, sorry to say. I don't think that anything can really replace its distinctive taste. I think seitan would be good for texture, but you are going to need to add something else to fill in the flavor gap. Sorry if I'm not being more helpful.
I've been thinking about it-- how about poaching your seitan (the texture isn't too far off) with a broth flavored with tamari and a small dose of a sweetener, and a little thyme, marjoram, shallot, and rosemary? The slightly-sweet-savory, slightly herbaceous flavor might be enough of a parallel to work, that way?
Hi there
I have had a dish of Mock curry lamb here in Australia at some veggo chinese restaurants. I have never eaten lamb so cannot comment on the flavour but have been assured by those who've eaten it that the texture is quite the same.
It was made with some kind of mushrooms cut into long strips - it could have been shitake mushrooms. I've been trying to figure out what they use as I'd like to try my own recipe at home. The "lamb" in the mock curry at the restaurant is very chewy & has stood up to being cooked for a long period in the curry stew liquid. Don't know if that helps at all but you could try it - maybe try the dried variety & reconstitute. Get the pre-chopped kind of shitake as they're pretty hard to chop if they're whole ones reconstituted.
That might help a bit.
there is a local shop here that specializes in mock meats and they (used to?) carry lamb. i haven't been there in about a year and they are always changing stock, so you never know what they'll have in stock. i've gotten everything from crab legs to honey cured ham. i didn't get the lamb and i don't even know if they carry it anymore. perhaps i can make a trip down there to see if they still carry it. the only problem is, a lot of their stock is not written in english as it comes from taiwan