You can’t just replace paneer with tofu and call a dish palak paneer you twat. Like replacing black beans with lentils and calling it black bean soup IT’S NOT THE SAME AND DOESN’T TASTE THE SAME.
I swear half the reason people hate veganism is the fucking half assed garbage cooking content put out by vegan incluencers.
‘Hi today I’m going to make a yummy vegan grilled cheese sandwich but instead of cheese I’m GOING TO USE FUCKING ELMER’S GLUE’ And This doesn’t just go for cheese
You’re not wrong that a lot of Vegan cooking influencers are trash and anyone trying to use Tofu as a cheese replacement is deeply unserious.
Tofu is amazing in its own right and there really aren’t any perfect cheese substitutes. The science is improving but they aren’t there yet.
There a lot of fatty starch amalgamations that pass for cheese and cultured cashew butters but ultimately you just kinda learn to live without it and it’s NBD.
Sorta, there isn't any 1/1 but there I also think that while it's good to compare a vegan alternative to the not vegan version it also wouldn't be fair to not judge it on its own merits, like sure sometimes it doesn't taste like the meat version of something but it kicks ass in it's own regard. Like adapting a book to film if every book was bound in flesh.
Right I agree with you and that’s kinda what I’m trying to say.
I think there’s no reason not to admit that cheese Is objectively very tasty and no small part of that is the casomorphin and its effect on the brain.
That is not something vegan cheese will ever do and that’s ok, that’s what you learn to live without. The subs are getting better and better and absolutely kick ass in their own right.
I’m also trying to make the finer point that IMO a lot of vegan recipes and influencers over extend Tofu and don’t play to its strengths, instead trying to use it to emulate something it cannot. I say this specifically pertaining to firm tofu. Because nothing makes me raise my eye brow faster at a recipe than just tossing a big beautiful block of that stuff into a blender to make something creamy. I find I am often dissapointed and dissatisfied with the result of that as opposed to just cutting up wonderful little tofu cubes, marinating those and eating them.
I kinda feel the same way about Avocado, like Guacamole is good, but it is specifically a recipe to fully utilize over ripe and sub optimal avocados. Not every avocado needs to be mashed and IMO it’s just using the ingredient poorly to mash up a perfect avocado as opposed to fanning it and serving it with its original texture and shape somewhat intact.
And of course I completely forgot about silken tofu which probably can make a great paneer substitute when done thoughtfully by someone with skill and knowledge of what paneer tastes like and how it’s used. I live in an extra firm tofu household. All hail the mighty soy bean.
And of course all of you should abandon all dairy products if you haven’t already unless you are a literal baby cow.
You have forgotten silken tofu. You have come undone. We're for sure on the same page, but it's not really a vegan thing, it's people who suck at food. There's plenty of trash meat recipes too. Tofu is for sure overused, I've made some tempeh using non soy beans and lemme tell ya, that's a whole new world. Black bean, chickpea and navy bean tempeh all kick a lil ass and I wanna try one with sweet green beans too. But you gotta start with the experimental part and not force it into a role it's not gonna fit. When you dick around with tempehs and seitans and stuff, you gotta roll with the results, same with any food experiment with a mew ingredient. You don't trash it cause it doesn't work for the what you were going for, you at least try to see if you can match it with something more appropriate. I did a Seiten hoping it'd make a cool vegan Philly cheesesteak and it turned out better for Bahn MI, that's no loss, thars a lesson.