Tuesday 12 February 2008

Foodstuff of the Day - Vegan Prawns!


Today I actually went to one of those vegan thai buffet places, that can be found, usually completely empty of customers, dotted around Soho. It was quite a fun experience, not least because none of the people who I went with were aware it was veggie, and that all the dishes were a charming variation upon the theme of 'soy'.

I have to admit I've never really bothered with soya meat replacements being a lazy unhealthy carnivore with a worrying love of Herza Frankfurters (although they barely count as meat). So I was greatly and pleasantly suprised to find what efforts vegetarians go to to make soya and tofu look like delicious edible meat.
At one point a friend and I were actually standing up over the buffet shoving bits of 'beef' in black bean sauce in our mouths going 'It isn't meat!' 'Really? No it is! It is!' 'When has meat tasted like watery mushrooms?' etc etc

But anyway, the most hilarious form of soy protein was far and away the 'tiger prawns' which were not only correctly sized and shaped, but actually had red bits painted on them to represent the shell of the prawn! They also bizarrely had the texture of prawn, and would be perfect, except they tasted like (and I quote)

"Not much."
"Hurrrh there is an aftertaste. Is it fish? No, nope."
"Interesting. Not good interesting"
"A flump that had been out the packet for a bit. But not sweet. A hard marshmallow that is not sweet"

Still, A grade for effort, vegan thai people!

No comments: