Vegetarian Meat Substitutes - Do you use them?
By jedopi
@jedopi (401)
Canada
June 21, 2009 7:29pm CST
I have used tofu (firm and extra firm) veggie salami, veggie hot dogs and soy burgers but I have never tried TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) or Seitan. Have any of you tried it?
I found a recipe to make my own seitan on the internet, (lots of recipes actually) and I did try it, but I don't think I did it right because it tasted like a piece of rubber. I really don't think that is what it is meant to taste like, at least I would hope not. Who would want to eat it if it was meant to taste like rubber?!
3 responses
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
10 Sep 09
seitan, the other wheat meat. 
I had a sample of vegetarian chili made with tofu in a grocery store once and found that it actually looked like meat but was quite tough and chewy and I did not care for it. I hear there are different textures so I would imagine it is all a matter of getting the right one. I am not sure that commercial tofu around here is that cheap either.
I understand you can make your own starting with soya milk and it tends to be quite cheap to make that way although it takes quite a bit of work. Do you make your own or do you buy premade in packages? I am always tempted to buy some when I'm in the grocery store but tend to bypass it because I have already bought some chicken or beef and I really do not know how to cook tofu.
The look of it is quite bland and cheesy looking, and I understand that it does not have much of a taste, but it takes the taste of the ingredients that you cook it with. One of these days I will take the plunge and try it though.
I have never heard of C. 10 and had to look it up on the Internet, apparently it is made from wheat gluten, the gluten must make it chewy.
I had a sample of vegetarian chili made with tofu in a grocery store once and found that it actually looked like meat but was quite tough and chewy and I did not care for it. I hear there are different textures so I would imagine it is all a matter of getting the right one. I am not sure that commercial tofu around here is that cheap either.
I understand you can make your own starting with soya milk and it tends to be quite cheap to make that way although it takes quite a bit of work. Do you make your own or do you buy premade in packages? I am always tempted to buy some when I'm in the grocery store but tend to bypass it because I have already bought some chicken or beef and I really do not know how to cook tofu.
The look of it is quite bland and cheesy looking, and I understand that it does not have much of a taste, but it takes the taste of the ingredients that you cook it with. One of these days I will take the plunge and try it though.
I have never heard of C. 10 and had to look it up on the Internet, apparently it is made from wheat gluten, the gluten must make it chewy.
@ethereal1 (215)
• Australia
22 Jun 09
I have used TVP to make vegetarian bolognaise sauce. It is quite nice, a little bit salty, but it makes a good substitute for meat mince. I've seen a few recipes for making your own tofu, and I don't think it's really worth the effort because tofu is relatively cheap and the recipes seemed quite complicated. I have never tried seitan, what is that made of?
@mymelodake (1338)
• Philippines
9 Sep 09
I haven't tried any of that veggie/soy burger/salami/hotdogs, but we are pretty big on tofu at home. I've never tried TVP either, and am actually unaware of it, though we have this meat substitute we call "mi jia" in our Chinese dialect, and it's used a lot as meat substitute especially by Buddhists and Chinese vegetarians in our area. Personally though, I hate it. I love tofu, but I cannot get mi jia down my throat. There is something about its texture, not quite like rubber, but something else I can't describe, and I can't stand it!
