Reconstituted Chicken

RomfordNavy

How can I tell the difference between real and reconstituted Chicken in a restaurant?  Sometimes it is obvious from the look and texture that a dish is made from square cubes of soy based chickem product.  However, what about when it is raw, how do I tell the difference with say raw chicken pieces at a chinese buffet teriyaki grill?

sarah1972

RomfordNavy said:

How can I tell the difference between real and reconstituted Chicken in a restaurant?  Sometimes it is obvious from the look and texture that a dish is made from square cubes of soy based chickem product.  However, what about when it is raw, how do I tell the difference with say raw chicken pieces at a chinese buffet teriyaki grill?

By looking at it and the restaurant will also state whether it is vegan/veggie soy or actual chicken ?

RomfordNavy

sarah1972 said:

By looking at it and the restaurant will also state whether it is vegan/veggie soy or actual chicken ?

I have never known any list it as vegan as it is usually a mixture of soy and chicken.

booneruk

Do restaurants actually list chicken on the menu but serve non-chicken? That would be very odd, and wouldn't it fall fowl (ha) of some part of trade descriptions guidelines?

sarah1972

RomfordNavy said:

sarah1972 said:

By looking at it and the restaurant will also state whether it is vegan/veggie soy or actual chicken ?

I have never known any list it as vegan as it is usually a mixture of soy and chicken.

Never heard of a mixture of soy & chicken?

Sorry, to me you are either being served chicken or a soy based substitute 

Cheslea2010

I have noticed this particularly with chicken curry. The chicken is almost perfect cubes of meat which suggests it is mechanically recovered meat produced in a similar way to Mcdonalds chicken nuggets.

Tucosalamanca

Cheslea2010 said:

I have noticed this particularly with chicken curry. The chicken is almost perfect cubes of meat which suggests it is mechanically recovered meat produced in a similar way to Mcdonalds chicken nuggets.

McDonalds chicken nuggets aren't made from mechanically recovered chicken, they're made from ground inner breast meat. They want high quality meat to ensure consistency of product, same applies to beef.

McDonald’s doesn’t use mechanically separated chicken – Full Fact

RomfordNavy

booneruk said:

Do restaurants actually list chicken on the menu but serve non-chicken? That would be very odd, and wouldn't it fall fowl (ha) of some part of trade descriptions guidelines?

Yep, that is exactly what they do.  Trading Standards are completely useless now.

tastyhog

Nobody is selling tofu in place of chicken. 

You're probably just confusing velveted meat or meat treated with baking soda, because it has a different texture to chicken you might cook at home. 

RomfordNavy

tastyhog said:

Nobody is selling tofu in place of chicken. 

You're probably just confusing velevted meat or meat treated wtih baking soda, because it has a different texture to chicken you might cook at home. 

Well they kind or are actually; many dishes labled "Chicken", like say chicken curry, are being served-up using MSM instead of real chicken.

Often this is obvious because it is cut into geometric squares.  However there now appears to be some MSM which is shaped more like real chicken pieces.  I now realise, having read elsewhere, that this MSM chicken is identifiable as it has an unnatural looking 'spiders web' textrue to it.

sarah1972

RomfordNavy said:

tastyhog said:

Nobody is selling tofu in place of chicken. 

You're probably just confusing velevted meat or meat treated wtih baking soda, because it has a different texture to chicken you might cook at home. 

Well they kind or are actually; many dishes labled "Chicken", like say chicken curry, are being served-up using MSM instead of real chicken.

Often this is obvious because it is cut into geometric squares.  However there now appears to be some MSM which is shaped more like real chicken pieces.  I now realise, having read elsewhere, that this MSM chicken is identifiable as it has an unnatural looking 'spiders web' textrue to it.

I would disagree, geometric pieces mean nothing. No restaurant would get away with selling non chicken as chicken. 

Processed chicken ie things like chicken nuggets can be minced and formed into any shape but is still chicken.