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Tofu, Seitan, Quorn, Wheat Gluten and Co What's all in meat substitutes
Be it for ecological, ethical or health reasons: More and more people want to eat vegetarian vegan. In finished foods, however, often hide animal ingredients. It is best, therefore, as easy as possible to prepare yourself, for example, delicious meat substitutes such as tofu.
Vegetarian diet is trendy
For years, experts have been talking about a veritable boom in veggie food. Only recently, a survey commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) showed that more than one in two is willing to eat less meat. Some people opt for a vegan or vegetarian diet for ethical or environmental reasons, while for others the health aspect comes first. If you use finished products, they should be careful, as some foods are often not vegetarian or vegan. It therefore makes sense to do one or the other by yourself.
Vegetarian meat substitutes: nutritious, less calories and healthy. Picture: A_Lein - fotolia Meat substitute from soy or seitan
As a vegetarian alternative to meat is mainly soy used. But seitan, which is obtained by washing out the starch from wheat or the protein-rich seeds of sweet lupine spread in this country more and more as a meat substitute. Some call lupine the new soy.
Quorn, which is obtained from the fermentation of a mold, has long been a popular vegetarian alternative to meat, especially in the Netherlands.
For vegans caution is called for finished products
Above all, vegans should be careful with finished products. The Bavarian Farmers Association explained, according to a message from the news agency dpa, that many so-called meat substitutes such as veggie sausage often also contain some unnatural additives such as flavor enhancers, plenty of salt and colorants and flavorings. Veggie sausage often consists of egg white, soybeans, wheat protein and lupine seeds. Sometimes there is also whole milk in the products.
Read the ingredient list carefully
The Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety recommends that consumers carefully read the ingredients list for vegetarian patties. According to dpa, the experts examined 14 products and found in six of them labeling deficiencies. For example, allergens were not highlighted correctly. Vegetarian products are often unsuitable for allergy sufferers or vegans because they contain milk or eggs, for example. An alternative is to prepare one or the other yourself.
Just do tofu yourself
Something that can be done by yourself is tofu. However, you should prepare everything well, especially the first time. And that's because the different processing steps must follow each other quickly, as it says in the magazine "Effilee" (winter edition 2015/2016). It also requires some preparation time, as the soybeans have to soak for at least eight hours, better overnight. Furthermore, you need to prepare some special materials such as a bamboo insert or something similar to steam. Thus, for example, silk tofu or pressed block tofu can be produced. Everything went well, you will find on the internet Tofurezepte with which you can conjure delicious food. (Ad)