Six common Vegan ingredients
From a carnivore’s perspective, vegan ingredients sound like they come from outer space. They’re also just inherently weird: never have we creamed so many nuts, concocted so many protein alternatives, or repurposed well-known ingredients for various vegan-specific essentials. The very idea of vegan substitutes can sometimes be off-putting. Do you really expect me to believe TVP is real food?
But the fact is vegan ingredients are wildly misunderstood. Weird yes, but also mind bafflingly effective and healthy. If you don’t believe me, below is a list of six common vegan ingredients, what they are, what they’re good for, and where to find them:
1. Aquafaba
Aquafaba refers to any liquid that comes from canned beans (or the liquid in which the beans are cooked in). Other bean liquids can also be used, though the composition can prove challenging, making chickpea aquafaba the preferred bean liquid (also, it’s a lot more attractive in color than other bean liquids). Curiously, aquafaba is a relatively recent discovery, haling from 2014 as a result of kitchen ‘vegetable foam’ experiments and some frankly peculiar ideas of for ways to make vegan desserts.
Aquafaba is now a proven natural thickener with multiple uses. For the sweet tooth, aquafaba can be whipped just like egg whites and is frequently substituted in meringues or other desserts. It is also used in making vegan mayonnaise, vegan cheeses, or in meat substitutes.
Rarely will you find aquafaba in a grocery store. Instead, simply reserve the liquid from your canned chickpeas and store it in the fridge for later use. It will last in the fridge for up to 5 days, or you can freeze it and have it ready to use for months.
2. Nutritional Yeast
When you first see these yellow flakes, you might think of fish food. Rest assured, nutritional yeast, also referred to as "nooch", is quite healthy for human consumption. This supplement is crucial in vegan diets though it could prove tempting for any omnivore. With the complete array of amino acids, the protein content is comparable to that found in animal protein.
Nutritional yeast comes from saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is the same yeast used in baking breads or brewing beers. However, in this case the yeast is deactivated, meaning it wouldn’t be useful for baking. Instead, this ingredient is used to provide a savory, umami flavor in various vegan foods like cheese, soups, or salads. It can also be a thickening agent in soups or smoothies and is an excellent source of protein and B vitamins.
You can usually find this in your supermarket's baking aisle and/or by the seasonings, spices, and herbs. Most versions now have some sort of flavoring already added to it. I'm partial to the Himalayan Salt and Apple Cider Vinegar version but pick one that speaks to you!
3. Plant-based meat
Though perhaps not as foreign-sounding as the ones above, meatless meat/plant-based meat is a strange notion in and of itself. Though veggie burgers have been a thing for some time now, plant-based meat is slightly more complicated than plopping vegetables together until they look like meat. Plant-based meats are usually made with a conglomeration of various vegetables, soybeans, legumes, or proteins and extracts coming from a variety of vegetables. There’s a science to it.
Meatless options now abound in grocery stores. You can now buy 'Impossible' burgers, ‘Beyond’ sausages, or fake chicken nuggets. Some of these mixtures have come under recent scrutiny for being processed and therefore, unhealthy. They aren't wrong, though perhaps a bit misled. Real meat is, of course, also processed. That said, certain fake meat brands do use chemicals that should be avoided. Tertiary Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ for short), Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Propylene Glycol, and Erythrosine are only some of the problematic ingredients found in Beyond meat and other meatless alternatives.
All of this is to say, plant-based meat is great only if you check for unwanted ingredients. No one should be eating ten-syllable chemicals, and unfortunately, several meatless brands are using them. Key word : several, not all. Plant-based ‘meats’ are still available in fresher, less chemical-infused versions. And when done right, they’re delicious. For examples, check out ‘The Very Good Butchers’, ‘Boca Burgers’, or ‘Abbot’s Butcher’.
4. Tofu
Tofu is possibly the most popular of vegan foods and the most frequently purchased. Being one of the oldest vegan protein sources known to us, tofu is frequently used as a meat substitute, though it stands very well on its own (see my Tofu Bahn Mih recipe for proof!). Texturally distinct, tofu doesn’t have a distinctive flavor on its own, meaning it goes perfectly with any number of broths, sauces, or dips.
There are several varieties of tofu, varying in hardness. Extra-firm is the easiest to work with for slabs that don't crumble straight away. Soft tofu on the other hand goes well in soups or in crumbled form. There are various other tofus in between these two extremes that are just as delicious and useable for any type of dish you’re trying to prepare.
Tofu is usually found next to tempeh or by the dairy aisle in your grocery store, though others might store it in a refrigerated ‘plant-based’ section.
5. Tempeh
Though it looks weird and sounds strange, tempeh is another great source of plant-based protein. Originally from Indonesia, tempeh comes from fermented soybeans and can be incorporated in a variety of foods and dishes, ranging from ones aiming to mimic the texture and flavor of meat to those that make tempeh the star of the show.
Usually found right next to tofu, the two are often put side by side for their high protein content, though texturally they couldn't be more different. Tempeh looks meaty and bumpy, almost like a rectangular lump of corn kernels. It is also much firmer and harder to disassemble.
Like tofu however, tempeh can be prepared in a multitude of ways. A popular way is to sear it, much like you would a steak. Tempeh can also be crumbled, baked, boiled, or steamed. Even better: tempeh is great if it's been marinated. Try it with your favorite marinade for meat and see how it goes!
6. TVP
In your grocery store's baking aisle, you might see a bag for TVP, or Textured Vegetable Protein. This is yet another soy-based plant protein. Unlike tofu and tempeh however, TVP is used almost exclusively as a meat substitute, particularly for ground meat. On the surface, these little crumbles look somewhat like deconstructed Cheetos, but rest assured, there's much more nutritional value to TVP. Though it tastes like beans, it must be rehydrated before consumption, allowing it to take on the flavor of the dish you're creating.
For vegans aiming to get their daily dose of protein, TVP is an essential substitute and one that texturally looks and feels just like ground meat.
Like any new ingredient that makes its way into the fold, vegan ingredients have a ways to go before becoming ‘mainstream’ and ‘normal’. On the other hand, we’ve come a long way. New ingredients should (as our lesson with ‘Beyond’ meat has taught us) be examined and scrutinized before consuming. But thankfully, most vegan ingredients are proving to be quite capable of standing the test of time.