Drew, Itsi, Alec, Slimes all the way down, and Sean all have opinions on Veganism. Layla argues that both sides of the debate are missing important questions. I’m just here to argue that you should try more vegan/vegetarian food alternatives.

I’m 99% vegetarian. At home, I only cook/buy vegetarian food. My mom was vegetarian growing up, so I was already used to meals without a meat entrée. When my brother’s environmentalism and morally righteous streak led to him becoming vegetarian, abundant vegetarian options in college cafeterias made the opportunity costs of becoming vegetarian low enough, that I figured, why not try it.

Over the following years, the wonderful variety of veg food alternatives slowly made me miss meat less and less.

Tofu. Extremely widely available, versatile and well known. Different firmnesses of tofu can be used as anything from a meat substitute in a stir fry, to a sweet pudding.

Yuba is a close relative of tofu, produced by pulling thin layers of skin off of boiling high-protein soy milk. Stacked in layers it has a wonderfully complex texture. When fried it becomes delightfully crispy.

Seitan. Wheat gluten, mixed with spices and boiled. Good at replicating the chewier textures of meat, such as in stews, but also crisps up nicely when pan fried.

Konjac. A jelly made from the moyu plant. It has a remarkable texture, almost like a grape: firm when biting, but soft on the inside. Traditionally it is mostly used for making noodles and jelly. It’s unique texture and transparent color also make it a nice vegan fish alternative for sushi.

Jackfruit. The unripe fruit fragments into little pieces, with a texture similar to that of pulled pork.

Beans. There’s too many kinds of beans to count up, great in a burrito, chilli, or stew.

Textured vegetable protein (TVP). A waste product from the production of soy bean oil, this is naturally rich in protein, this fries up nicely into a ground beef alternative. I like using this in burritos or fajitas.

Tempeh. Fermented soybeans bound together by a fungus. It has a very interesting heterogeneous texture while being pan friable not unlike meats. Not my favorite, but enjoyable on occasion.

Halumi. A firm cheese that can be fried like a steak. Usually a bit too salty for my taste, but has a very fun texture.

Paneer. Delicious melt in your mouth protein for Indian food.

Beyond Beef. A ground beef substitute that is overshadowed by—

Impossible/Beyond. The closest / best ground beef substitute. Easily substitutes 1:1 into any recipe that calls for ground beef, mostly maintaining texture and taste.

Grains: Bulgar, Grünkern, Spelt, Buckwheat. My papa makes a delicious burger patty out of these. The grains on the outside become very crispy, and in the center

Quorn. Made from fungus cells cultured hydroponically, usually stuck together using egg. Kind of expensive, and not actually that novel.

Mycelium. There’s a fairly new range of products made from pretty much just compressed mushroom mycelium. MyBacon is the only one I’ve tried so far, but it’s by far the best bacon substitute I’ve ever tried. I haven’t yet tried a steak-like product, but I bet it would fry up nicely.

Cell cultured meats. I’ve been following two companies in this space: Wildtype Salmon, and Blue Nalu Tofu. I just realized that SF is one of the few cities where it is theoretically possible to try Wildtype Salmon, so hopefully I’ll be able to try it while I’m here.

I should try more vegan alternatives too. I’m starting to foray into milk substitutes, after discovering that fresh soy milk is really quite tasty. Nowadays, there’s vegan butter substitutes that just work for making cookies. Allegro is one of the best bakeries near where I live, even though they’re vegan don’t get to use butter to make their croissants.

If I were a better person, I’d have a section on the wonderful advances in vegan cheeses. I hear it’s now possible to get mozzarella substitutes that turn perfectly golden brown atop a pizza. But, as much I sometimes try to justify my vegetarianism for environmental reasons, for now, you can pry milk and cheese out of my cold dead hands.

I still sometimes eat meat. In Japan, I’d rather eat at a tofu/yuba restaurant that uses bonito in their stock, than have a vegetarian burger. When I visit home, I’ll often try a little bit of the meat dish that my papa cooked, because I know how much he loved cooking it and how delicious it will be.

But I’ll also book a Buddhist temple stay specifically because they have a completely vegetarian menu for their breakfast and dinner. I check the menu before visiting a restaurant with friends to make sure they’ll have at least some vegetarian options. I let friends know I’m vegetarian before visiting for dinner.

Having a strong preference for not eating meat, often ends up influencing those around me to eat less meat too. Sometimes, I bring a friend to a vegan restaurant with me.

Instead of trying to eat less meat, why not try eating more of the wonderful variety of veg alternatives.