13 replies to this topic

[GlorifiedRice]

Are there any NON Soy TVP meat substitutes?

[kbjesq]

Are there any NON Soy TVP meat substitutes?

Seitan comes to mind . . . I'm sure that there are others.

[david coonce]

beans? vegetables?

Besides that, Seitan seems like your only bet.

Seitan is pretty nasty stuff, but it can be useful filler with a decent sauce. It's pretty neutral.

[GlorifiedRice]

Do you know of any companies ONLINE with Sites that offer Seitan Crumbles or burgers etc?

[vinelady]

You might check veganessentials.com

[plk]

You could try some of the meat substitutes from Morningstar Farms: http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/

[rickster]

Or you could try Quorn

Quorn

[GlorifiedRice]

You could try some of the meat substitutes from Morningstar Farms: http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/

All Soy, but thanks

[vinelady]

You could try some of the meat substitutes from Morningstar Farms: http://www.seeveggiesdifferently.com/

All Soy, but thanks

I know that there is a seitan burger mix on the vegan essentials site.

[kbjesq]

Seitan is pretty nasty stuff, but it can be useful filler with a decent sauce. It's pretty neutral.

Whoa, friend. Seitan is definitely not "nasty stuff". You obviously have not had it prepared correctly!

I have witnesses . . . red-meat-and-potato-eating-only witnesses, who will attest that seitan, properly prepared, can be not only delicious but addictive! I don't know where you are from, but I'm in the US, and it troubles me that so many non-meat entrees are given short shrift or worse.

I still get requests, from some die hard carnivores, for the seitan "turkey" dish that I prepared one Thanksgiving. Please keep your mind open . . . you might be very pleasantly surprised.

[david coonce]

I am the kitchen manager for a natural foods place, and have used seitan every day of my life for the last nine years. In my opinion, it has a chewy texture but no flavor whatsoever, it is highly perishable (and if you've ever opened a bag of bad seitan you know it's the worst smell in the world - like a used diaper that has fermented), and, well, to put it delicately - seitan is very undigestible (it is pure wheat gluten, after all) and makes many people very gassy.

As a chef in a vegan/vegetarian friendly place, I have learned to accept seitan and all its limitations - the biggest one being that it is texturally always the same - you can't freeze or cook it in any method that creates a different texture than just "chewy." (Even tofu provides myriad textures.) I can live with seitan; I'm just saying that generally, it's going to taste like a fake processed food, because that is what it is. You're never going to wonder "is this beef? Is it chicken." It's a unique profile - no flavor and all texture. It's only as good as the sauce you drown it in.

[GlorifiedRice]

Or you could try Quorn

Quorn

I am turned off of ever tasting Quorn, due to reading this:
http://en.wikipedia....arium_venenatum
If anyone can dispute or back it up Ill be appreciative

[kbjesq]

I am the kitchen manager for a natural foods place, and have used seitan every day of my life for the last nine years. In my opinion, it has a chewy texture but no flavor whatsoever, it is highly perishable (and if you've ever opened a bag of bad seitan you know it's the worst smell in the world - like a used diaper that has fermented), and, well, to put it delicately - seitan is very undigestible (it is pure wheat gluten, after all) and makes many people very gassy.

I make my own seitan so thankfully, I don't know about the bad smell emanating from the prepackaged stuff. (I'll gladly take your word for it, though). All I know is that fresh homemade seitan can be quite delicious, and thankfully none of my guests experienced excessive flatulence (at least while they were at my house!)

[david coonce]

True, homemade seitan is much better. I've done seitan/potato "sausages" for a vegan catering and the seitan was made from scratch, and although it's time-consuming, it is a better product. I don't think most non-vegetarians have the patience to make seitan from scratch. (Or tofu, for that matter, although both are really easy to make)

In my kitchen we go thorugh 20-30# of seitan a week, hence the need for the bagged stuff. I'm not a big fan, although I accept that vegetarians love it and snap it up (especially smothered in a sweet barbecue sauce).