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There are basically two groups of vegetarian/vegan food: those dishes that simply happen to not contain any meat (or animal products in case of vegan) and dishe

by Aaargh20318 3y ago

There are basically two groups of vegetarian/vegan food: those dishes that simply happen to not contain any meat (or animal products in case of vegan) and dishes that traditionally do contain meat/animal products, but where it was replaced with something else to make the dish veg(an|etarian). I have no problem with the former group, those are usually just things that taste great. For the second group, it’s often something where the original tastes great but they ruined it by taking out the meat. I avoid those. If something is labeled as vegan or vegetarian I’m going to assume it’s in the second group.

ip26 3y ago
Exactly. Broccoli can be delicious, but is never marketed as “vegan”.
delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
> I avoid those. You might want to reconsider. East and South-East Asia have been developing and using meat substitutes for at least several decades, if not centuries: they are based on soya, konjac, flour, mushroom fibres, etc, and they taste phenomenal. They may not precisely resemble the meat that they look like (there's mock mutton, mock shrimp, mock chicken, mock sausages, mock ham, mock duck, mock pork ribs, mock pretty much anything), but the texture, aroma, and taste are superb, and they work well both stir-fried, or as proteins in stews/gravies/curries. I think the Western effort to imitate meat is less likely to be successful than the already-existing Asian mock-meats industry: in the West, it seems people want their imitations to look exactly like meat, with all the blood and fat and everything, which is going to be significantly more expensive and taste a lot worse than something that merely resembles meat visually and letting the taste and texture be different. Consider the options here[1], for instance. [1]: https://www.friendlyvegetarian.com.sg/ https://www.friendlyvegetarian.com.sg/
- seba_dos1 3y ago
  Exactly. These days I even prefer some of the mock meats (especially seitan); not because they imitate meat so well (they don't), but because I often find their taste and texture nicer and more consistent than that of real meat.

ip26 3y ago

Exactly. Broccoli can be delicious, but is never marketed as “vegan”.

delta_p_delta_x 3y ago

> I avoid those. You might want to reconsider. East and South-East Asia have been developing and using meat substitutes for at least several decades, if not centuries: they are based on soya, konjac, flour, mushroom fibres, etc, and they taste phenomenal. They may not precisely resemble the meat that they look like (there's mock mutton, mock shrimp, mock chicken, mock sausages, mock ham, mock duck, mock pork ribs, mock pretty much anything), but the texture, aroma, and taste are superb, and they work well both stir-fried, or as proteins in stews/gravies/curries. I think the Western effort to imitate meat is less likely to be successful than the already-existing Asian mock-meats industry: in the West, it seems people want their imitations to look exactly like meat, with all the blood and fat and everything, which is going to be significantly more expensive and taste a lot worse than something that merely resembles meat visually and letting the taste and texture be different. Consider the options here[1], for instance. [1]: https://www.friendlyvegetarian.com.sg/ https://www.friendlyvegetarian.com.sg/

seba_dos1 3y ago
Exactly. These days I even prefer some of the mock meats (especially seitan); not because they imitate meat so well (they don't), but because I often find their taste and texture nicer and more consistent than that of real meat.