Check That Chicken Nugget: It Might Just Be a Plant

DJ Kim, owner of Java Green, which recently won a Most Progressive Restaurant Award from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says his customers have more than just their healthy hearts in mind when they dine sans meat. "People want to cut down on their meat consumption because they are concerned about E. coli, foot-and-mouth disease and the meat process," he said. "They are concerned about what they eat and where their food comes from." (About nine months after opening in June 2003, the cafe turned all-veg in an effort to "become more earth-friendly," Kim said.)

To be sure, unlike with many processed meats, the ingredients in the fake versions don't require a chemist's dictionary to decode. Most substitute meats are derived from one of three "meat analogs": soy protein, wheat gluten (seitan) or tofu. Gluten, the "white meat" of the veg world, is noted for its chewiness and dense texture, and it often appears in stews and beefy recipes. Soy protein is more malleable and easily wears many disguises: pork, chicken, fish, turkey, etc. As Yuin of Terry's Healthy Food explains, the "chicken" patty can pass for poultry, beef, pork or black pepper steak. Tofu is best for scrambling, salads and stir fries.

"You can easily manipulate the taste," said Gail Naftalin, owner of Gail's Vegetarian Catering in Wheaton. "You're not trying to trick people; you're just trying to create an end result that is extremely close to the original."

Naftalin readily incorporates alternative meats into her gourmet menu, which has been prepared for clients as diverse as the Mars candy company and the Humane Society of the United States. Her holiday offerings included petit "meat" loaf and barbecued spare ribs, and her standard menu features such culinary classics as boudin, pot roast and beef bourguignon -- all prepared with seitan.

Vegebest, a California-based mock-meat manufacturer, enhances its products with spices and other ingredients in an effort to replicate the real-meat experience. For its "salmon," the company uses seaweed to suggest an ocean taste and carrot powder to re-create the pink flesh color. However, sometimes the embellishments veer toward the comical: A chicken breast with a cross-hatch anatomical design resembles toy poultry best served in a Fisher-Price kitchen, and the "bone" in the drumstick is actually a chopstick stub. Do you serve the protein popsicle as an entree or a dessert?

"It is easier to know the taste and texture of the [imitation meat], and how to cook it, if it is almost the same as the real one," explained Vegebest vice president Helen Ou when asked why mock meats are designed to approximate their full-blooded counterparts.

Yet newbies to the alt-meat world, or those cooking for wary pals and mates, might need some initial coaching in the kitchen. First lesson: Make friends with condiments, sauces and spices.

Naftalin sprinkles paprika, garlic and anise flavoring into many of her dishes. Blake advises cooks to "mimic the foods you are familiar with." She suggests dousing "meatballs" in tomato sauce, mixing soy crumbles into spaghetti sauce for pasta, or smothering a veg patty with salsa and low-fat cheese, popping it inside a whole-wheat pita and calling it a Mexican burger. Meanwhile, Wansink recommends marinating the faux meat, then dimming the lights. "It might be difficult at first for a beef-etarian," he said, "so you might need to disguise it."

Or you can always borrow the technique of Germaine Andino-Rexach. The 22-year-old medical assistant at a Virginia community college prepared tacos for his meat-loving roommates one night, substituting soy crumbles for ground beef. Only after they finished their meal did he admit the switch.

"They were like, 'Ooh, that was so disgusting,' " he said. Yet their plates were clean.