5 Best Plant-Based Proteins for New Vegans - December 2024

Vegan food is not like how it was 20 years ago. With recent developments in food science, plant-based diets are better than they have ever been. In terms of nutrition and taste. At the pinnacle of this technology is meat substitutes. Contrary to popular belief, some vegans may still crave and miss the taste of animal meat; and try to replicate the texture and flavour of it. While factory-made, commercially available meat substitutes exist, the best vegan recipes are the ones you can make at home at a fraction of the price. While tofu still ranks high in the most-used meat substitutes, more are entering the market every day, here are a few of them. Vegan Meat Substitutes You Should Try Yuba Another word for tofu skin, yuba is now being used in more creative ways than it usually was. Sold in its dried form, yuba needs to be rehydrated before it can be used. An Asian staple in soups and stir-fries, yuba is quickly being recognised worldwide for its versatile application in vegan cuisine. The most recent one is a form of chicken drumstick made by winding several layers of softened yuba around lollipop sticks (or lemongrass stalks, depending on the recipe). These are then soaked in flavouring to mimic the umami taste of meat before being deep-fried, broiled or baked as you would any chicken dish. But this is by no means the only way to use yuba. Tofu skin can be used as a substitute for omelets, fish cakes, long pasta (like linguine or lasagna). Jackfruit Many Singaporeans recognise jackfruit as being sweet and yellow-fleshed. You may be thinking, ‘That doesn't taste anything like meat’. But what vegans use for their recipes is not the ripe jackfruit but the young, unripened ones, which have a neutral flavour and meat-like texture. These come cooked, canned and ready to be used without all that time-consuming cutting. Young jackfruit mimics the taste and texture of various meats, which is why it’s so versatile. Some have used it as a vegan substitute for chicken, beef, and even pork. But its most popular use is in recipes for popcorn chicken. You soak young jackfruit in a brine (or vegetable stock) before drying them off. The pieces are then coated in a batter you’d normally use to make fried chicken and then baked or deep fried in hot oil. Seitan A good substitute for mock chicken or mock beef, seitan is a vegan protein that you can easily make at home. All you need is flour and water. You mix them into a dough and ‘wash’ or ‘rinse’ the starches out until the water runs clear. It’s that simple. After that, you can use the resulting product or ‘seitan’ for a variety of dishes and recipes. However, it’s important to flavour or season the ‘meat’ first before cooking it. Some good seasonings include liquid smoke, vegetable stock and of course salt. Braising or grilling is a great way to cook seitan. You can use it in a variety of ways, you can cube it, slice it or even mince it. However, seitan is best cooked whole. Vegan Cheese Out of all the animal byproducts that vegans tend to miss more than actual meat, it’s cheese. While not technically an animal ‘product’, cheese is one thing that can be challenging to replicate. Barring the supermarket brands that sell vegan cheese, you can technically make vegan cheese at home. depending on what kind of cheese it is, you can replicate mozzarella, cheddar and even parmesan. The secret ingredient is of course, nutritional yeast, which is an umami powerhouse. You can look up plenty of recipes online but the other ingredients usually tend to be lemon juice, garlic, salt, corn starch or agar-agar (to harden the ‘block’ of cheese, a plant-based milk (usually cashew milk), and others. More complicated recipes require exotic ingredients that will be hard to track down. Vegan Patties Burgers are usually the easiest type of ‘protein’ that vegans can replicate. All it takes is putting together a handful of ingredients and forming it into patties before frying them in oil. Vegan burgers have traditionally been made using walnuts, lentils, soy and other legumes like chickpeas and black beans. However, there’s one other ingredient that’s been overlooked since recently—mushrooms. Meaty and full of umami goodness, some people may look down on the fungi family because of their texture and shape. But used properly, they make delicious vegan burgers. Begin Your Vegan Journey with These Meat Substitutes Regardless of why you chose to be vegan, the truth is the same for everyone. Once in a while you do miss the taste of real meat. While you may not be able to go back to your carnivorous ways, the plant world has no shortages of ingredients that can easily replicate animal products. Whether that’s chicken, beef, pork or even cheese, vegan recipes have definitely come a long way since it first came about. So try out these plant-based substitutes, mums, you may just be surprised at how good they are. Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Mamahood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner. For more insightful stories and parenting advice, stay tuned to Mamahood Singapore!

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