Guan Xiaotong faked it, we are playing it for real.
Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Banshu-Caijing” (ID: Banshu-Caijing), author: Kaiwen Yan, editor: Yu Le.
Recently, Guan Xiaotong brought “plant-meat dumplings” on Weibo and was suspected of fake eating, but I drooled silently. That dumpling looks delicious! To be honest, since I came to work in Sanlitun, Beijing, the choices of three meals a day have become dazzling. It is impossible to go on a diet to lose weight. It is time to consider being a vegetarian.
Will plant meat be a good companion for weight loss in summer? I decided to first engage in theory and then practice.
What is plant meat? I asked my friend Xiao Lu who majored in food science and engineering at Tianjin University for help. He told me: “The plant meat is called soy protein, but it’s not just made of soybeans. Plant meat is mainly derived from soybeans, peas, wheat and other crops. As the raw material, it uses chemical separation to extract the plant protein needed by the human body from the raw material, and then undergoes a series of steps such as heating, squeezing, cooling, and shaping to make it have the texture and taste of animal meat products.”
Are all plant meat products on the market safe? Li Jian, a professor at Beijing Technology and Business University, said: “Plant meat is a formally produced product that complies with relevant national regulations. Compared with animal meat, which may have pathogenic bacteria and excessive antibiotics, the safety of plant meat will be better. .”
After the theoretical foundation is consolidated, I can try it boldly. What does plant meat taste like? Open the takeaway software, search for “plant meat”, and quickly select a few plant-based fast foods less than 50 yuan. Start the evaluation! (Note: The filter is not turned on when shooting, the original appearance of the food is truly presented)
Xi Shaoye “vegetable beef with steamed buns”: I feel like eating yuba
Ingredients: white noodle buns, vegetable meat fillings
Price: 13 yuan for early adopters
Recommendation index: ★★
This is the first plant-based meat product I have tasted. Plant meat is large and distinct, and it is quite useless to chew. Imagine the difference in taste between “dried tofu” and “beef cubes”. There is a world of difference between soy fiber and animal meat fiber. If the filling can be cut into smaller pieces, it may be suitable for all ages.
However, this slightly spicy plant meat will take me back to my childhood in minutes.
Northern children should have eaten this when they were youngKind of “ancient taste” artificial meat, right? Through heating, squeezing, and noise spraying, the soy protein powder is made into various shapes, and the taste is similar to yuba. However, veggie meat and plant meat are quite different from technology to taste. To put it more simplistically, veggie meat is just a metamorphosis of a physical process, while plant meat has undergone a qualitative change through a chemical process.
Starbucks “Different Beef Tomato Cheese Burrito”: Anyway, someone buys it every day
Ingredients: tomato plant beef sauce, pasta, cheese, etc.
Price: 35 yuan
Recommendation index: Not recommended
After eating this plant-based meat burrito, I suddenly remembered the Starbucks lightning protection guide: “I would rather drink three cups of American style without sugar, rather than eat a piece of Starbucks.” The taste of quick-frozen food is too choking, and it is not even better than the food package ordered by Taobao. The price of 35 yuan makes me regret it.
Looking at the ingredients first, asparagus is added to the vegetable beef, and the surface is decorated with tomato and cheese. I carefully picked up the freshly heated burrito, and before opening my mouth, the tomato juice had been left on the wrist along the tiger’s mouth, decisively a bad review.
The tomato sauce is too thick, and the mouthful of cheese made me doubt my original intention. Didn’t I want to lose weight by being vegetarian? The vegetable meat is also very finely chopped, and there is no sense of satisfaction of eating meat. Although the minced meat melts in your mouth, you can filter out crisp and refreshing asparagus grains, which still has a special taste. In addition, the crust of this burrito is suitable for baking for a longer period of time. The thin and crisp crust with delicate fillings has the “inner taste” of Xinjiang baked buns.
I asked the cashier what the sales volume of this burrito was, and the young lady showed a mysterious smile: “Anyway, someone buys it every day.”
Tims Coffee “Meatless and Huan Farmer Roll”: The meat taste is not enough, pepper is here
Ingredients: vegetable meat beef patties, noodles, potato cakes, omelette, mayonnaise, cheese slices
Price: 20 yuan
Recommendation index: ★★★
Starbucks’ burritos use minced meat, which is not easy to contrast with the taste of real meat. The plant meat patties of this farmer’s roll of Tims are very thick, the tissue fibers are tight and elastic, and even imitating the feeling of meat tendons, which is very chewy. The fly in the ointment is that the taste of black pepper is too strong. I hope that the brand owners can understand that the taste of meat is not equal to the taste of flavoring agents.
However, this farmer’s roll is very suitable for breakfast. The smooth and tender eggs, crispy potato cakes, thin cheese, and vegetable meat patties that can be beaten eighth can start a full of vitality for the day.
KFC “Golden Chicken Nuggets”: Good taste, poor health
Ingredients: vegetable chicken, horseshoe diced, sweet and spicy sauce
Price: 12 yuan/4 yuan
Recommendation index: ★★★★
The sales of this vegetable chicken nugget is also very good. It was sold out in the evening for two consecutive days, forcing me to brave the scorching sun to line up at the offline store at noon. Obviously, you can buy five pieces of pure meat golden chicken nuggets for 11.5 yuan, but I can only buy four vegetable broiler chicken nuggets for 12 yuan. In terms of price, KFC’s vegetable meat does not have any advantage.
But the taste is really different, my friends! The scent that rushes over makes me wonder if KFC has mastered the “consumption code”-for young people like me, the fried taste is basically the same as the taste of chicken. The faint taste of black pepper is not overwhelming. If you chew it carefully, you will definitely add horseshoe diced to it, and the taste will suddenly become distinct.
However, if you say that eating plant meat is for healthier, then can deep-fried plant-based chicken nuggets be considered healthy? Isn’t fried real chicken fragrant?
I just learned that KFC’s vegetable tender beef Wufang has been on the market. Fans of this tender beef Wufang said, this is simply a big blessing! And it perfectly avoids the minefield of people who lose weight-deep-fried. The price of vegetable tender beef is 26 yuan, which makes me feel once again, what I eat is not meat or vegetable meat, but feelings.
Burger King “True Fragrant Veggie Fortress”: It’s really not too fragrant
Ingredients: vegetable beef patties, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, onion rings, mayonnaise, black pepper sauce, sesame bread
Price: 27 yuan
Recommendation index: ★★
It is another plant-based fast food with black pepper flavor. Burger King’s patties have always been famous for grilling. This vegetable beef patties have also been tempered by fire, and there is no sign of looseness, which proves that the texture of this vegetable patties can be comparable to real beef patties.
As for the taste, when I took the meatloaf out and tasted it, I had a mouthful of soy flavor. Although the meatloaf itself has been added with an excessive amount of black pepper, it is still too “vegetarian”. It only satisfies the chewiness of the beef in terms of taste, but the taste is unsatisfactory. I had to stuff the meatloaf back again and eat it together.
After eating this burger, I decided not to touch black pepper again for a month.
In addition to the above brands, brands such as McDonald’s, Dicos, Hi Tea, IKEA, etc. have all launched or will continue to launch various plant-based fast foods, but my Chinese stomach no longer allows me to continue eating.
Currently, most plant meat products entering the catering market are concentrated in Western-style fast food such as chicken nuggets, burgers, and hot dogs. Guan Xiaotong’s plant-based dumplings have confirmed to a certain extent that plant-based meat brands are working hard to achieve localization. Perhaps next month we will have the opportunity to eat plant-based dumplings, and even have the opportunity to eat hot pot-shabu plant-based meat rolls in the future.
Remember my original intention of eating plant meat? To lose weight, friends. Three days after the evaluation, I took a look at the test. Not only did I lose weight, but I gained two and a half catties. I blamed all the faults on the heavy oil and heavy salt of fast food-vegetable meat itself is healthy, but if you use a lot in deep processing Salt, oil, sauce seasoning, even after deep-frying, the calories are not necessarily low.
In addition, I found that the suppliers of KFC plant series burgers and Starbucks special series items are Beyond Meat, but the taste is quite different. Going through the roots, the problem is not the plant meat itself, the practice is also very important.
Recently, there has been a trend of “stigmatizing” plant meat on social networks, but there are also a large number of friends who will do it for environmental protection, health, and catch up.The hobby of peers continues to pursue plant meat. It is up to readers to judge whether plant meat is worth eating or not.
After reading this evaluation guide, I wish you all a happy meal!