A vegetarian substitute for bacon – Revised recipe…

I’ve re-posted this as I have substantially rewritten the marinade and also made a change in the preparation of the tofu

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One of the high-lights of my previous veggie incarnation (20-odd years from 1985 – I can’t be more exact because it fizzled out over a couple of years rather than stopping abruptly), was the creation of a bacon substitute.

Not like the meat analogues you get today, which blatantly try to emulate, visually and texturally (but with wildly varying degrees of success), the food they otherwise go to great lengths not to be – what on earth is the point? – but something that gives you the intense savoury, salty, crisp, hit of bacon while quite clearly NOT

A vegetarian substitute for bacon…

This recipe has been substantially rewritten. Please go to https://ronsrants.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/a-vegetarian-substitute-for-bacon-revised-recipe/

for the new version.

One of the high-lights of my previous veggie incarnation (20-odd years from 1985 – I can’t be more exact because it fizzled out over a couple of years rather than stopping abruptly), was the creation of a bacon substitute.

Not like the meat analogues you get today, which blatantly try to emulate, visually and texturally (but with wildly varying degrees of success), the food they otherwise go to great lengths not to be – what on earth is the point? – but something that gives you the intense savoury, salty, crisp, hit of bacon while quite clearly NOT pretending to be bacon!

And it’s based on that most unpromising of raw materials that – justifiably in my view – in its natural state inspires widespread revulsion in the West – tofu!

The Tofu:-

My Veggie Store-cupboard…

About 20 years ago I took my veggie kitchen notebook and wrote it up as a veggie cookery book, mainly for my own entertainment and, as I said some little while ago, it’s my intention, when I’m able (it’s the equivalent of a medium-sized paperback, which has to be retyped), to transfer it to my blog, and the easiest way to do this, I think, is in self-contained stages, of which this is the first.

Part 1 – My Veggie Store-cupboard.

On my reversion to vegetarianism this Autumn, I had, perforce, to undertake a considerable restocking exercise, as many

More thoughts on veggie ingredients…

As I said in this post, I’d ordered a bunch of veggie staples online. They’ve all been delivered now, so let’s have a look at them. My comments in bold.

The first batch were ordered from Just Ingredients (formerly Spiceworld). I subsequently discovered that they don’t process orders until six days have elapsed – no explanation given. They also say you can’t cancel without their permission in writing, which is a clear breach of the Distance Selling Regulations, which state that you have 7 days to cancel, for any reason or for none. You certainly don’t need permission. I got

Is vegetarianism being pushed to the fringes again?

And other veggie thoughts suitable for newbies and returnees… Links, where appropriate, are  given at the end.

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Well, I reckon my newly-regained vegetarianism is going to stick – were I going to lapse, on past performance I would have done so by now.

True, I did, this morning, buy 4 packs of fishcakes, simply because there are times when I’m too ill to do anything more complicated that toss something in a frying pan for a few minutes. Few veggie products that are amenable to this treatment are worth eating, and often high in fat too. Anyway, given how little fish there is in them, the buggers are damn near veggie anyway!

Tonight, though, I’ll be having rice and peas with a marinated Quorn fillet (recipe posted a couple of days ago), fried til the outside is crisp, then thinly sliced on the diagonal.

There’s a bit of a problem, though. Of late