You should try more veg food alternatives

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:06:00 +0000

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 buy/cook vegetarian food. My mom was vegetarian growing up, so I was already used to meals without a meat entrée. While I was in college, my brother’s environmentalism and morally righteous streak led to him becoming vegetarian. The abundant vegetarian options in the 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.

The veg-alternative-dex

I love trying new veg food alternatives. This list is certainly not complete, but these are certainly worth trying. I’ll subjectively rank each out of 10 in terms of availability (how common is it), flavor (how well it accepts different seasonings), and texture (how good it is and how many options there are).

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. I doc a few points from flavor because it can be bland if not marinated carefully. 9 + 6 + 9 = 24.

Paneer. Delicious melt in your mouth protein for Indian food. 6 + 8 + 8 = 22.

Beans. There’s too many kinds of beans to count up, great in a burrito, chilli, or stew. 10 + 8 + 4 + 22.

Yuba. 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. 2 + 8 + 10 = 21.

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. 7 + 8 + 6 = 21.

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

Impossible Meat. The closest / best ground beef substitute. Easily substitutes 1:1 into any recipe that calls for ground beef, mostly maintaining texture and taste. 5 + 8 + 6 = 19.

Grains: Bulgar, Grünkern, Spelt, Buckwheat. My papa makes a delicious burger patty out of these. The grains on the outside become very crispy, while the center stays toothsome. 4 + 7 + 8 = 19.

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 has a better texture than bacon. I haven’t yet tried a steak-like product, but I bet it would fry up nicely. 2 + 6 + 10 = 18.

Jackfruit. The unripe fruit fragments into little pieces, with a texture similar to that of pulled pork. It’s a bit sour, but nothing a little BBQ sauce can’t cover up. 7 + 3 + 7 = 17.

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. Its unique texture and transparent color also make it a nice vegan fish alternative for sushi. 3 + 7 + 7 = 16.

Quorn. Made from fungus cells cultured hydroponically, usually stuck together using egg. Kind of expensive, and not actually that novel. 6 + 6 + 4 = 14.

Textured vegetable protein (TVP). A waste product from the production of soy bean oil, naturally rich in protein. It fries up nicely into a ground beef alternative. I like using this in burritos or fajitas. 5 + 5 + 3 = 13.

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. 3 + 2 + 8 = 13.

Halloumi. A firm cheese that can be fried like a steak. Usually a bit too salty for my taste, but has a fun texture. 3 + 3 + 6 = 12.

Cell cultured meats. I’ve been following two companies in this space: Wildtype Salmon, and Blue Nalu Tuna. SF is one of the few cities where you can try it, and I plan to do so. 1 + ? + ? = ?

My moral failings

I want try more vegan alternatives. 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. APTEKA, one of my favorite restaurants, makes a killer sunflower double cream, and sunflower ice cream.

If I were a better person, I’d have ranked wonderful advances in vegan cheeses too. 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 try to pry milk and cheese from 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. Surprisingly often, I bring a friend to a vegan restaurant with me, and they enjoy it.

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

Unformed Delta - vegan

You should try more veg food alternatives

The veg-alternative-dex

My moral failings