Tips on Substituting Meat

*First Posted 10/12/12

It is true that being vegetarian is hard.

It is hard specially when you are conditioned to the taste and texture of meat.

Now this condition is very common for us Filipinos since our country has a lot of festivities and celebration. Majority of the food served are meat based.

But what if there will be a substitute for meat? Still the same with the taste and texture of a real meat.

It will be a perfect chance for those who wanted to try giving up meat.

You can still enjoy the taste of meat without eating the real meat.

There are manufacturers of vegetarian meat substitutes here in Manila where you can buy them.

I made a list of Meat Substitutes that I recommend for vegetarian starters:

• TOFU – you can use tofu as replacement for chicken. By just deep frying it the way you do to chickens you can achieve a tofu that tastes almost like chicken.

Tip

*Put your tofu in the freezer before frying. It makes your tofu becomes textured like chicken.

*You can also use mashed tofu, it can replace giniling or eggs once mashed. Tofu soaks up flavors and is best when marinated for at least 30 minutes or served with a flavorful sauce.

• TVP – Texturized Vegetarian Protein. It is used as replacement for minced or diced meat. So instead of using minced or diced chicken or pork you will now use TVP as substitute for your meat.

Tip

*Soak TVP with boiled water. It makes the TVP soft and crispy. Once you taste it you will not notice that it’s fake meat. You can use TVP for cooking menudo or ginisa recipes.

*You can buy TVP at Varona or Manila Adventist Medical Center (Buendia)

*There's a store near Bermuda Inn in Mandaluyong and they sell TVP

• MEAT MAGIC – It has the same concept with TVP. You buy it dried and per kilo. It is used as replacement for beef and pork. Since it is much bigger than TVP you need to soak it longer.

Tip

*Soak Meat Magic with boiled water. It removes the after taste of it, because most vegetarian starters would say that it taste like a paper or box.

*Use Meat Magic for cooking Barbeque.

*You can buy TVP at Varona or Manila Adventist Medical Center (former Manila Sanitarium in Buendia)

• GLUTEN – It is made of Soy wheat and flour. It is usually a substitute for Pork and Beef. You can buy this at Varona’s and Country Veggie Foods.

Tip

*The famous vegetarian barbeque sold in Bodhi is made from Gluten.

These are some of the Vegetarian Meat Substitutes that I recommend and I will update this as I get the updated price.

I will also be making a  list of places where you can buy Vegetarian Meat Substitutes in Manila.