I cook a lot of vegetarian/vegan meat supplements and they almost always have the same hurdles you have to get over to make them really good.
For one, most need some kind of fat added during the cooking process. A lot of recipes that are traditionally meat based are relying on fats from the meat to bring the recipe together. Since most meat replacements are mainly just vegetables or bean based, they need a little extra oil in the sauce or when pan frying to make a well rounded dish.
Another issue is that a lot of them can be texturally homogeneous. To fix this, if the sausages are a little too soft or mushy, you really want to double cook them. I will usually air fry them with a little oil coating them, let them cool back down and then add them into my saute or sauce.
A simple recipe that I do at home with veggie sausage
Airfry sausage with a spray of oil
Slice up an onion and saute in a wok or pan with a neutral oil -high heat
Once onions are translucent and beginning to brown turn down heat to low/medium and add sauce mixture
Sauce mixture - amount differs with how much you plan on making
40ml soy sauce
200ml water
15ml sugar
15ml vinegar
15ml cornstarch
15ml sesame oil.
Once sauce thickens add in sausages
Add msg to taste.
Msg is a magical ingredient for vegetarian or vegan cooking because it mimics the umami protein found in meat. It’s especially great for cooking for people who still eat meat.
I cook a lot of vegetarian/vegan meat supplements and they almost always have the same hurdles you have to get over to make them really good.
For one, most need some kind of fat added during the cooking process. A lot of recipes that are traditionally meat based are relying on fats from the meat to bring the recipe together. Since most meat replacements are mainly just vegetables or bean based, they need a little extra oil in the sauce or when pan frying to make a well rounded dish.
Another issue is that a lot of them can be texturally homogeneous. To fix this, if the sausages are a little too soft or mushy, you really want to double cook them. I will usually air fry them with a little oil coating them, let them cool back down and then add them into my saute or sauce.
A simple recipe that I do at home with veggie sausage
Airfry sausage with a spray of oil
Slice up an onion and saute in a wok or pan with a neutral oil -high heat
Once onions are translucent and beginning to brown turn down heat to low/medium and add sauce mixture
Sauce mixture - amount differs with how much you plan on making
40ml soy sauce
200ml water
15ml sugar
15ml vinegar
15ml cornstarch
15ml sesame oil.
Once sauce thickens add in sausages
Add msg to taste.
Msg is a magical ingredient for vegetarian or vegan cooking because it mimics the umami protein found in meat. It’s especially great for cooking for people who still eat meat.