Unpopular Opinion
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1. NO POLITICS
Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.
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4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...
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This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.
6. Defend your opinion
This is a bit of a mix of rules 4 and 5 to help foster higher quality posts. You are expected to defend your unpopular opinion in the post body. We don't expect a whole manifesto (please, no manifestos), but you should at least provide some details as to why you hold the position you do.
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I have tried a number of the substitutes available in Australia, our products aren't even close. My missus is vegetarian and she hates them as well, there is some sort of underlying chemical taste to most of the products over here.
Impossible mince has entirely replaced beef in our pasta sauces and Mexican dishes. Soaks up the flavours around it well and has that familiar chew/bounce of minced beef. But it really can’t stand on its own. My mum even made some impossible meat pies for us and they were excellent.
As for the chicken substitutes in Australia, no real winners yet. Best we’ve had is rissoles that are 50% chicken.
Has a different name in the US so had to look it up, but yeah, it's great for sauces and spiced dishes. I also have had good results with the "meatless crumbles" which are just ground/minced beef-like textured vegetable protein as they also soak up flavor like nobody's business and have similar chew/bounce
I notice that with the beef substitutes (they vaguely smell like canned dog food lol) but finally just got used to it. All the chicken-like products, though, taste like, well, chicken lol.
Been a minute, but I want to say it was Impossible where some friends and I realized it had that aspertaine/diet coke after taste. Beyond was okay though.
But yeah. Anyone who claims the meat substitutes are "better" either haven't eaten meat in ages or never liked it to begin with. And vegetarian food needs to stop emulating meat and instead focus on its actual strengths (mostly sauce absorption).
Except for black bean burgers. Prepped right and I would totally consider those better than beef burgers (way better than turkey burgers).
No, just because it isn't replicating meat perfectly doesn't mean it isn't better. That's an opinion. I could say "if you like your meat seasoned, you never really liked meat." It'd be a pretty stupid opinion, but just as valid. It's all an opinion based on personal preference.
I agree though, the key thing about meat substitutes is realizing they aren't meat. They need to be treated a little differently. They can absolutely be better in some circumstances. You have to learn how to cook with them though, just as you did for meat.
Chicken is especially weird to care about emulating the flavor of. It's ass by itself. What makes it good is the stuff you coat it in.
Cook a chicken properly and it is delicious. The issue is that people mostly eat nuggets (which are good but...) where it is just breading and a bland flavorless mass.
Or they trim it to death and then overcook it (an ex managed to dry out thighs...). Which, to be fair, is true of beef as well. A LOT of the ultra lean cuts are horrendous without excessive amounts of sauce and spices.
That is actually a good point. I only eat white meat because I don't like the gristly gross parts of the rest of it. Maybe I just don't like the flavor of chicken...
And that is perfectly fine. But:
White meat is a real challenge. Tenderloins and wings (and back meat if you are a culture that eats it) are pretty easy to cook up. But breasts, especially modern breasts, are a huge challenge.
In large part because you don't want grizzle or dangly bits. That is what you SHOULD be trimming off. But you do want fat pockets and connective tissue in the meat itself. That melts/renders and keeps the meat juicy while also soaking it with a LOT of flavor. In thighs those are the little specs of white fat/"skin" that are left over on top of the meat itself even if you take the skin off. Trim those and you remove much of the flavor.
But for breasts? Most of that is going to come from the skin itself. A skinless breast is one where you better damned well have a good sauce (preferably marinade) because "dry brining" only goes so far. But, unless you (spatchcock and) roast it, getting that to a safe temperature (which is nowhere near as high as you think it is but...) without drying out large chunks of it is really difficult. Which is why people tend to butterfly and pound it to even things out. Which... means you no longer have the skin to flavor it.