Fake Meats

[alamut]

I know that asking about fake meat is going to be a sensitive topic. Let me say, I love real meats in all their forms. I like hanger steak rare, home cured guanciale, braised lamb legs with rosemary, and sometimes I even like White Castle (Chateau Blanc among my friends). But I am in love with and reside with a very nice young lady who doesn’t eat anything with legs. Its not really her fault. She grew up in a vegetarian house and never (and I mean never) had any meat. At this point not only does she not find meat appealing, but if she tried it probably would not agree with her digestive system. In our household I do most (all) of the cooking because I enjoy it my schedule permits. I/we do eat lots of fresh produce and seafood and a very happy to prepare both.

There are, as you might imagine, lots of things I do occasionally want to fix that I can’t. So knowing that there is no substitute for the real thing, I am soliciting your advice for faux meats and their uses. There are many products out there that taste good, but not meaty (and that’s OK), and there are some that are just plain crap. Has anyone else any positive experiences in cooking with the fake meat? (I managed an halfway decent Shepard’s pie once)

[vinelady]

These guys make an excellent project that I think has good taste and texture. http://www.nowandzen.net/unturkey.html

[jgm]

Welllllllllllll, I can't vouch for any specific substitute, because I don't eat them. I have sampled several, hoping I'd find something acceptable so that I could have a healthier alternative from time to time, but I didn't find anything.

One other possibility is to try to find dishes, such as stir frys, that could be divided towards the end of cooking, and meat added to one, with tofu or whatever for the lady. Another possibility is to try to come up with menus that have, for instance, risotto; you could eat a small portion along with meat, and your significant other could simply have an entree-sized portion of the risotto. Some types of salads would work well that way, also.

[Kent Wang]

The imitation soy meats made by Buddhists in China are undoubtedly the best in the world. They are so good, I enjoy them just as much as the originals. Too bad it's very difficult to find them outside of China.

[SuzySushi]

Yes!

My husband and I are very happy as omnivores. For several years, however, my stepson was a vegetarian (he's now back to eating *some* meat but nothing that resembles an animal -i.e., with bones).

Some vegetarian "meats" I've found to my liking are:

Boca "ground beef crumbles." It's hard to find (try a natural foods store; most supermarkets don't carry it although they carry BocaBurgers), but it tastes so good that my husband and I found ourselves sneaking bits of it, frozen, straight out of the package! The Boca sausages are not bad, either.

A company called Vege1 out of Taiwan makes incredible Chinese-style vegetarian "meats" such as Chinese-style mock roast pork and roast duck. They used to have a way longer product list than I see now on their website. You might try contacting them, though, to see if anyone in your area carries their products.

[munchymom]

This is a topic I have plenty of experience with, because my husband is vegetarian and I am an omnivore. I do use meat analogs in cooking, because they're an easy protein source and can be pretty tasty. My main advice is - don't expect them to taste like meat, and you will be less disappointed with them. Also, use them in dishes where meat is not the main focus, and where highly flavored ingredients are used.

Veggie Burgers - My favorite brands are Amy's (I especially like the Chicago and Texas varieties) and Morningstar Farms - (their Tomato Basil burger in particular is good served topped with melted mozzarella and pizza sauce.)

Quorn - Quorn makes several products that, as folks are wont to say of many strange foods, taste like chicken. I use the Naked Tenders and Naked Cutlets in dishes that have a liquid component - they tend to be dry. Just this week I made a "chicken" salad by cooking the Quorn, then combining with minced celery and onion, chopped walnuts, and mayo. It came very close to the real thing in both taste and texture. I also use them in soup, stew and curry.

I toss Morningstar Farms ground beef substitute into pasta sauce and vegetarian "chili". It adds a nice texture and the crumbles by themselves don't really have a lot of flavor.

Tofu - It took me a long time to get used to tofu, but now I actually like it. Most often I use it in stir-fries. I saute the tofu in oil first to give it a little texture, then take it out, stir fry the vegetables, and add the tofu back in at the end. Oh, and I always use Extra Firm and drain it on paper towels for half an hour before starting to cook.

[mizducky]

Yep, I too have found the faux meat products out of the Chinese vegetarian tradition to be the most satisfying. As this article says, they've been at it for a very long time, and IMO have gotten it down to a very tasty science. Part of their secret is the use of some key products (wheat gluten a.k.a. seitan, dried bean curd skin, etc.); the other part is cooking technique (not necessarily difficult, but you have to handle them right to get them to pick up the desired flavors and textures). You can find the ingredients in any well-stocked Asian supermarket; some, like wheat gluten, you can also find in natural food stores.

Sadly, I've been extremely unsatisfied with the fake meat products one finds in mainstream groceries--all those fake hot dogs and cold cuts and whatnot taste pretty wretched to me. IMO, it's that kind of stuff that helps give vegetarianism a bad name.

Edited December 16, 2005 by mizducky (log)

[Tess]

Quorn is by far my favorite faux meat. It stands up very well to spicy sauces. I'm not a vegetarian but I cook with Quorn anyway.

I really like tofu, but not so much as a fake meat, just as itself.

I was using Boca products for a while but the texture started to irritate me. Now if I want a vegetarian burger I use Dr. Praeger's burgers or other burgers that don't try so hard to taste like meat. And you can get ground Quorn.

[Arianna]

Quorn is definately the best one for Chicken, and I enjoy the "Gimme Lean" sausage rounds for anything that requires ground beef- meatballs, chili, tacos. It is really tasty when you brown it on the outside.

I would suggest not trying to use tofu as a meat subject. It always is treated the wrong way in that context. It's such an amazing and versatile ingredient on it's own.

[moosnsqrl]

I like Yves products. They are from Canada and lately I've had difficulty finding some types, but their dogs, bologna, salami, pepperoni and Canadian Bacon are good.

Morningstar Farms for veg burgers, black bean burgers, breakfast patties (I don't care for the links), crumbles and breakfast strips.

Boca Smoked and Italian Sausages.

The parent company of Morningstar Farms is Worthington and they make Chik Sticks and Stakelets (among other things) that we find satisfy that McNugget kind of craving more healthfully (whethere your omni or veg).

Many, many of the products are lamentably bad so you are navigating a minefield. Be prepared to toss out a few dishes until you find what you like.

I occasionally find some canned Asian products featuring wheat gluten (essentially seitan) in a kind of gravy/stir-fry sauce, and it really punches up an otherwise vegetarian wok, both in terms of protein and texture. And seitan, sliced thin and heated with your favorite bbq sauce, topped with caramelized onions and served on a bun will fool even hard-core carnivores, as long as you assemble it (it is visually not terribly convincing but we've served it to friends and they don't realize they're not eating a pork sandwich...and these are KC people). I stole that from Native Foods (Palm Springs).

[OnigiriFB]

I'm an omnivore but I really like MorningStar's Prime grillers. They are tasty. If you in an area with a large asian grocery you may want to try looking for gluten "meat" products. There's a vegetarian chinese restaurant that I adore out in LA that makes "meat" out of gluten. I had this chinese "chicken" dish that was amazing. It was actually made out of deep fried batter coated mushrooms. A little off topic but you may want to check out indian or chinese vegetarian cuisine. They have a lot of different dishes. I was dragged once to an all vegetarian restaurantwhen I was younger and didn't miss meat at all. Now I enjoy going occasionally.

[eje]

I'm not sure which brand they use; but, the soyrizo burritos at Papalote here in San Francisco are really tasty.

I will have to ask the next time I go in.

-Erik

[lia]

Love seitan. Love tempeh too, but I've never had any luck cooking anything edible with it.

There used to be a good 'organic' restaurant called Au Natural in NYC on 2nd Ave and 55th st. (I also worked there for about five minutes, but that's another story.) The food wasn't all vegetarian, but the 'fake meat' dishes were excellent.

[daniellewiley]

Love seitan.  Love tempeh too,  but I've never had any luck cooking anything edible with it.

I love tempeh as well. And, once I started steaming it prior to cooking, I had much greater luck!

Our favorite is Moroccan Tempeh. I cut it into bite-sized pieces and steam for seven minutes. Then, mix up a marinade of lemon juice, water, olive oil, paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic, and cilantro. Throw the tempeh into a shallow baking dish, cover with the marinade and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. The longer you cook it, the nicer crust the tempeh gets.

We also do barbecue Tempeh. I steam it and then bake the same way as above, but with a tasty homemade barbecue sauce.

[nacho]

I had tempeh chili from Whole Foods today (from their prepared soup bar)...it was very good. I didn't know what tempeh was when I picked it up though, so I didn't even realize until it was halfway gone that it was vegetarian.

That said, one of my favorite cookbooks is Karen Lee's The Occassional Vegetarian. Her recipes are very tasty, and like the tempeh chili above, I often forget the fact that they are vegetarian. Most recently, I made her Middle Eastern chickpea soup that I will definitely make again. She has great recipes that don't try to fit "fake meat" in, but rather focus on being really good without meat.