today's cooking project

I'm making veggie burgers and keto buns today to see if I can make a halfway-edible meatless meal. I've got lettuce and tomatoes at the ready, and since this is supposed to be a vegan meal, no cheese. I wouldn't even know where to buy vegan cheese in Korea (via Coupang, maybe?). I tried one of my veggie burgers already, and while it's nothing like meat, it passed the "doesn't taste like cat food" test, so that's a win in my book. It means I'm one up on that nasty, nasty Beyond Meat nonsense (recall my adventures with Beyond Meat here). I just wish the consistency were more ground-beef-like, but we can't have everything.

The burgers are being made with a base of TVP (textured vegetable protein, i.e. dry soy crumbles that you rehydrate with water or vegan stock), lentils (which you kind of have to cook like rice, i.e., bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-ish minutes), and methyl cellulose (which can apparently also be spelled methylcellulose, one word). Plenty of other ingredients are in there to provide depth of flavor—a little more oomph if not actual meatiness. There's nutritional yeast, which lends a vaguely cheese-like dimension to the "meat"; there's also vegan Worcestershire, balsamic vinegar, dried onion, garlic powder, cumin, herbs like oregano, and other ingredients as well, including a bit of red food coloring since I didn't have any beet juice on hand. Methyl cellulose adds no flavor, but it's a binder that's supposed to give veggie burgers a firmer, springier texture. This is a function of what happens to methyl cellulose when heat is applied to it: it firms up and becomes a rubbery gel.

In terms of looks, the patty I cooked up looked suspiciously like a Beyond Meat burger. It did brown up: the Maillard reaction is similar to caramelization, but it's the browning of both sugars and proteins. With all the TVP in my burger, a little Maillard was inevitable.

My understanding is that you can get really close to the texture of actual meat if you use mushroom-based products. Mushrooms have much the same meaty chew and resistance as regular meat does. Something to think about as I continue these experiments in the future.

Anyway, expect photos of my efforts tonight.