I’ve been trying out Textured Vegetable Protein in these “burrito bowls” I do (literally just rice + beans + protein and some seasoning/sauce) and I don’t think it’s for me. Sawdusty vibes tbh.
Out of the three other meat alternatives I put in the title what would you recommend? I’m leaning towards tofu because it’s somewhat familiar but the whole “pressing” situation seems annoying
Tempeh is the only one of the three that doesn’t seem to have a Hexbear emote yet.
Here’s how to make god-tier TVP Obviously you don’t need to follow it all the way through to make the meatballs though.
TVP requires lots of flavouring. Did you soak it in a very concentrated broth? If not, then it’s a bit like eating unseasoned tofu. You can reduce the sawdusty taste of TVP by putting it into a sieve and shaking it lightly to get rid of the defatted soy flour, that way the flavour won’t be all through your dish.
I boiled water and dumped it in at a 2:1 ratio in favor of the TVP which is what I read online. I added some taco seasoning to it but that didn’t help too much. I think the broth is good tech, I’ll pick some up grocery shopping tomorrow.
Hmmm… it’s hard to know how much seasoning that would be. If you have a liquid that you’re putting with TVP, I’d put all your seasonings in that as the flavour will get absorbed through the TVP rather than just sitting on the outermost part.
As a rule of thumb, the broth or liquid should taste too strong as a broth. Like borderline unpleasant without it tasting like you’re eating broth powder straight. That can apply to taco seasoning mixed into water or other spices or a combo of things.
Don’t buy liquid broth since it’s a scam. Better than bouillon is your friend. It comes as a paste in a jar and can last years in the fridge. You can make a broth out of it.
Seconding Better Than Bouillon. Vegetable, onion, and not-chicken flavors are all dope.
Ah I’ve used that for Mac and cheese before, good shout
I use tofu as a meat substitute all the time. Extra firm unpressed crumbled in a large skillet with some peanut oil then once very lightly browned I add a taco seasoning packet. Couldn’t be easier. Can be eaten hot or cold in burritos, tacos, salads or nachos.
TVP seems to be better if it is heavily flavored imo and very moist like a bolognese.
I was into seitan for a few months but it’s a lot of work and takes a lot of tinkering to get it right. Local stores ran out of my preferred brand of vital wheat gluten so I had to get it online and the quality was different so I once again had to experiment and gave up after a couple meh results.
after these past couple tries that description of TVP seems to line up. that tofu sounds not too bad to do, and yeah definitely not looking for extra work so seitan is out
When frying it up on the skillet what you’re looking to do is dry it out a bit by cooking off the water otherwise the texture will be closer to egg. If the pan isn’t large enough then cook in smaller batches.
Like with any new dish, there’s a bit of a learning curve but the tofu tacos are now so easy that on any given day I can have a decent meal in 30ish minutes with lots of leftovers
It really depends on the dish. I think for a burrito bowl, probably tofu. You don’t really need to press it that much if you’re just going to crumble and pan fry. If you can find a superfirm especially, just crumble and fry. You can just cook out the moisture.
I finally tried that pumpkin seed tofu the other day (chorizo spiced). It’s way too expensive, but damn it makes such a good crumble. It’s fattier than soy tofu, so it really lends itself to something like chorizo. I hope it catches on because I’d like to see the price drop.
Sometimes i just get a big block of tempeh from the asian supermarket and put it in every meal until it’s used up, but then i’m done with tempeh again for a while.
Tofu usually. Soya de carne when I’m making mexican dishes.
I got my tofu game on lock, genuinely better than meat for certain dishes. Freeze it, cut it, dehydrate it, marinade it, dry it, then fry it. Freezing it gives it texture and makes it easier to soak up marinade and dehydrating it allows the marinade to soak in fuller.
I prefer tofu, I haven’t found it essential to press it but maybe some varieties you need to. I cut open the edge of the pack and squeeze it a little before taking out the tofu to get some water out though. Super simple and no saw dust vibes. If you do press it it’s not very troublesome, it just takes a little extra time but not more than half an hour.
I worked in a ramen restaurant and didn’t press or even cook the tofu, I thought it was odd at first but it became my favorite way to do it because it’s so easy and has a nice texture but it depends on the type. I can’t find the brand we used that I really enjoyed but some have a much less pleasant flavor IMO and probably need more draining.
Honestly? Tofu is nice as a staple, and it really doesn’t need to be pressed IMO. But for burrito bowls, I almost always just use beans and rice, and maybe mushrooms.
Tempeh is nice from time to time, and seitan is better if you miss meat dearly, but honestly tofu is nice and cheap (though it’s best in curries and mapo tofu or soon dubu style recipes, yum)
Crispy fried smoked tofu is a great ramen topping, too. I just cut it into sticks that i can easily flip in the pan so it gets nice and crispy from all sides. Usually don’t bother with pressing it, either.
But for burrito bowls, I almost always just use beans and rice, and maybe mushrooms.
in that case it’d just be beans and rice (i’m not a mushroom head sadly) which feels a little sad. maybe if i switch from refried beans to whole beans like black or pinto it’d feel less gruel-like
I add raw onions, seeds, hot sauce, avocado if I have some, some vegan sour cream, it really all comes together. Whole beans are nice, but so are refried! I dunno, maybe I’m weird
oh i’m saucing it up for sure with some habanero stuff i’ve been into. might try to keep some queso or something similar around to add in as well
That works! I use some homemade fermented fresno sauce these days
Also, don’t be afraid to add tahini, actually really good if you thin it out a bit with garlic, lemon, and water
Definitely make beans from scratch if you can. I prefer black beans over pinto but both are good. Lentils are easiest with zero presoak time and 25 minute cook time
Seitan is my fave but it’s completely unavailable at stores. Tempeh I don’t really like the nuttiness but I should probably try it in an Indonesian recipe. Tofu is versatile and easily acquired. So, tofu I guess.
I guess it depends on where you live but seitan is sometimes available in slices, I’ve tried cooking it a few times but the results can vary widely. I’ve never liked tempeh either.
I’m thinking homemade wash the flour type seitan. It’s very good I just don’t want to do it myself lol.
Check if your grocery store has vital wheat gluten. Seitan from there isn’t so much effort.
Sigh fiiine I’ll make the seitan
Yeah it’s pretty labor intensive so I decided outside of special occasions it’s not worth it.
hmm i’m not a nutty enjoyer so tempeh’s prob out then
I have the perfect recipe for exactly that sort of thing: get extra firm tofu, slice short ways across the brick into slices maybe 1cm thick (I actually just halve it, then halve the half, then halve that as well, because that gives a clear visual indicator and gets them all roughly even), lightly press those slices by hand, then stack them and cut them into thin strips. Fry these on medium high in a pan with some oil, topped with mix of salt, sugar (a small amount, maybe half a teaspoon), ginger, and garlic, with or without additional chopped aromatics like onions, fresh garlic, ginger root, etc, stirring regularly once you can see them starting to brown on the sides because it’s a pain to flip these strips compared to larger cubes so just continuously poking at and flipping them is needed to get them done evenly. Once they’ve got a golden brown finish to both sides they’re ready to mix into whatever.
If you can’t get them all touching the metal in the pan, do it in two batches, because they won’t get a good finish on the outside without direct contact with the pan/hot oil.
I prefer tofu, and you def don’t need to press it typically, although some recipes call for it. I have skipped that step before out of impatience and it can be fine
I use tempeh when I want junky american crunchy tacos. Just crumble it up and pan fry it in spices with some onion and chipotle pepper. It comes out resembling something like an elevated taco bell crunchy taco.
That might not be selling it very well, but they’re great. The only downside is the texture of everything is pretty soft, so having a crunchy taco is kinda required. Haven’t tried it in a burrito, but if you added some crushed up tortilla chips, or a crunchy cabbage slaw of some sort, I bet it would be great.
Pressing tofu doesn’t do much I like all three but seitan seems to be the most diverse if you can consistently make it. Tempeh seems like the hardest to get nonvegan people to like I usually have to make some citrus or vinaigrette to cover it’s bitterness.
I stopped bothering pressing tofu years ago as I didn’t really see the difference either.
Huh, I’ve pressed tofu since forever and I can get a ton of moisture out - I usually do so overnight though
I usually dredge tofu in corn starch and fry and it turns out fine. I don’t really see the difference in stir fry when there’s moisture being cooked out of the veggies anyways.
Depends on the purpose & specific moisture of the tofu being used I spose. I’ve found in some applications non-drained tofu has been too prone to crumbling. Even the “extra firm” stuff around here tends to be extremely soft.
I do before I freeze it for texture reasons (faken and waffles). Other then that I don’t anymore. I mostly use tofu for scrambles now that I’m thinking about it. I prefer tvp it seems.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
tempeh is my favorite and it would be a great taste and texture in a burrito bowl for sure, especially crumbled up and fried all golden!
TVP is great to add protein to something already flavorful. My favorite use of it is in a chili. I wouldn’t use it as the main star of a dish. Tofu needs good prep/seasoning. Seitan is tastier than tempeh IMO but both are great.
