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Fried Tofu-Egg

04/09/06 @ 01:17:05 pm, by Kate Hopkins Email 2129 views • Categories: Web Finds, Vegetarianism

With all due respect to my vegetarian friends out there, a vegetarian fried egg sounds appalling, no matter how you dress it up.

The Vegan fried egg has been made with a special blend of tofu for the egg white and a Jamaican fruit called Ackee for the egg yolk. "The final icing on the vegan cake was the new vegan omega 3 oil with DHA and EPA made from algae called V-Pure that gives the egg a perfect nutritional breakdown of essential fats and amino acids" (said Yvonne Bishop-Weston, one fo the creators of the dish)

I've never quite understood the desire of some vegetarians to replicate meat-like meals. It strikes me as a half-hearted way of admitting that meat provides better tastes than what fruits and vegetabes can provide.

In reading the description of the fried tofu egg, I once again realize that I could never last as a vegetarian. If it was me that had to go through all of those steps to get a veggie-friendly fried egg, then about the time I was looking at algae suppliments in order to get the nutritional egg equivalent I would have said "To hell with this" and simply cracked open an actual egg.

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Permalink • 14 comments

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: Christiane [Visitor] · http://28cooks.blogspot.com
I'm a vegetarian, and even I wouldn't touch it. I also don't like the "meat-like" products that are out there. If I was really that into meat, I should just eat it, instead of some faux product.
PermalinkPermalink 04/09/06 @ 15:56
Comment from: mk [Visitor]
I've never understood it either, especially since I don't like the taste, texture, or cost of most fake meat products. Having worked in natural food stores, I will admit to steering customers new to a meat-free lifestyle away from fake meat in general, suggesting they try a good cookbook like one by Crescent Dragonwagon. And don't get me started on vegan cheese.
PermalinkPermalink 04/09/06 @ 22:39
Comment from: Raspil [Visitor] · http://raspil.blogspot.com
we did a four-course feast last night with (the point of the story here) pheasant confit with pear chutney with a buckwheat crepe and fried basil leaves. of course, there were vegetarians in the house. our only option, yes -- vegetables or tofu. they got both but the sous chef had me going for a moment when he said the he fried the tofu in pheasant fat. that would have been the best thing ever.

the bacon-substitute product, "Fakon," doesn't even look like food. it looks like a woven belt from about 1978 that had been in a goodwill bin since 1993. HORRIBLE! they won't touch meat but they'll eat that garbage. is that really healthier? i believe most vegetarians (and almost all) vegans are not eating this crap for the health benefits but more for political reasons which i think is ludicrous. you only have a short time on this planet. eat what you WANT not what you don't feel guilty about because PETA wants you to.
PermalinkPermalink 04/09/06 @ 23:32
Comment from: Barbara Fisher [Visitor] · http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/
Don't get you started on vegan cheese? Fine, get me started on it.

Tofu cheese is disgusting stuff.

I love tofu. But I eat it as tofu--not as some ersatz meat or dairy product.

Soy cheese is foul. It is gummy, rubbery, doesn't melt and tastes like plastic. I used to cook for vegan couple, and I used to make them lovely dishes, but they would ruin them by insisting that I add soy cheese.

I was like, "Oh, for god's sake, if you want cheese that badly, bloody well eat it!"

They thought that real dairy food was poisonous.

Whatever, but don't ruin my lovely vegan lasagne with three sauces with that foul soy cheese stuff!
PermalinkPermalink 04/10/06 @ 06:37
Comment from: Kymm [Visitor] · http://www.kymmco.com
Agreed on all counts! Tofu is such a wonderful food, why muck it up and try to make it taste like something it is not? As a former vegetarian, that vegan egg makes me shudder.
PermalinkPermalink 04/10/06 @ 13:47
Comment from: Nicole [Visitor]
I can assure you that I've had both a "real" fried egg and a "fake" fried egg and personally I wholeheartedly prefer the non-embryonic version. As for animal products tasting better, I say it's not the animal products that make the dish, so much as the added ingredients and the preparation that make any dish worth while... But it's good to know that there's still someone out there fighting the good ol' meat tastes better fight... I thought they were all in ICU with heart problems...
PermalinkPermalink 04/10/06 @ 20:53
Comment from: Kate Hopkins [Member] Email · http://www.accidentalhedonist.com
Nicole,

What brand of fake pseudo egg did you have? I'd like to take a whack at it myself.

PermalinkPermalink 04/11/06 @ 04:02
Comment from: eric braun [Visitor] · http://www.mlive.com/food/homegrowntomatoes
The goofy part of this is that ackee on its own tastes and looks like scrambled eggs.

I was in Jamaica in February and had salt fish with ackee for breakfast and it was terrific meal.

No reason to make it something it's not.

Ackee is prohibitively expensive in the states though. If you don't pick it when it's ripe it's poison, so the government puts restrictions on it.

I found a little store here in Ann Arbor that had some and it was $10 for 10.5 ounce can.
PermalinkPermalink 04/14/06 @ 06:42
Comment from: Syd'sLovebuzz [Visitor] · http://www.myspace.com/ladylovebuzz
I just had ackee for the first time in my life about 10 minutes ago.. and i as well thought it resembled an egg. I'm a vegetarian as well but found it difficult to eat because it had a strange texture that reminded me of eggs!

And about fake meat products.. I have scolded people for purchasing tofurkey during thanksgiving. Yes i've had a veggie burger.. its not part of my everyday or monthly diet.. but why would i take part in "carving" a large chunk of tofu shaped like a turkey. WHY!?

Anyways, ackee is a good food once in a while..cooked properly... and without trying to portray a fried egg. go to recipe books for ideas for help.
PermalinkPermalink 07/25/06 @ 20:28
Comment from: cheekyvegan [Visitor] · http://vegan.com
Can i please throw my 2cents worth... Being an ethical vegan i oppose to the using of animals by all means. I have no problem eating any mock meat, vegan "cheese", or any other "replacement" food unless it tastes bad, is made of crap ingredients very synthetic and industrial junk. I have no moral problem in trying to find the same tastes i was raised with, for 18 years. Since my 18th birthday i became a vegetarian for ethical reasons, i am a vegan now, 10 years later. I do not see why i won´t be able to eat a variety of foods, that can please my taste, even if they look like meat, and or taste like it, or eggs, or any other animal produce, as long as there are no animals being exploited/used in the making of it.
PermalinkPermalink 09/06/06 @ 08:51
Comment from: Tony - Foods For Life [Visitor] · http://veganworldwidenews.blogspot.com/2006/03/worlds-first-vegan-fried-egg-with.html
This whole Vegan Egg thing was actually an April Joke (released on April 1st GMT)

It's amazing how the story flew around the world.

Redwoods make great Vegan Sausages, turkey, truly delicious melting vegan cheese and vegan fish products but sadly no vegan fried eggs yet.

PermalinkPermalink 10/17/06 @ 12:02
Comment from: JA [Visitor]
Faux meats are a good transition food for new vegetarians but most of us end up disliking them because they taste too much like meat. Once you are off meat, you will notice what a foul odor it gives off, raw or cooked and so those transition faux meats end up being as gross as the real thing. The same goes for eggs.
PermalinkPermalink 10/09/07 @ 08:48
Comment from: Renea [Visitor] Email
As a newly transformed vegan, I skipped the vegetarian thing all together. But coming from a background of meat and evening becoming a chef (I use a lot of meat or products), I truly appreciate the mock-meats. They do make an easy transition to so many recipes that I have learned to make and tastes that I truly do like. Fortunately, I am not a picky eater so things that taste like crap to others, are fine by me. Try MRE's or other foods you don't have as much of a choice.

Maybe some point I will be appalled all meat smelling, textures, or the like. But for now....THANK GOODNESS for these substitutes.
PermalinkPermalink 03/17/08 @ 09:09
Comment from: Gabe [Visitor] Email
Alot of vegans/vegetarians don't hate the taste of meat but choose not to eat it because they don't want to support the factory farming and inhumane slaughterhouses. Meat takes many times the amount of environmental resources as non meat products so it makes sense not to eat it with the rising cost driven up by biofuel demand.
PermalinkPermalink 07/21/08 @ 22:31

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