Reconstituted Chicken

booneruk

My local Indian does vegan chicken, it's very liberating to have most of the menu suddenly open up to you - but it's an option, and clearly stated with "Ask to replace chicken with our vegan alternative for a vegan option" emblazoned across the menu.

The price doesn't reduce, so either it has similar base cost or I'm getting stitched up! (I lean more towards the former)

Pollycat

booneruk said:

From this page: https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-chicken/

Again (I think it's been said here before), if someone's selling that as chicken they need reporting. I'm dubious it's happening

As a vegetarian, I wouldn't mind if suddenly a large part of restaurant menus became ok for me! (but it's not the case)

The recipe seemed quite clear that it was vegan 'chicken'.
I'm not sure what this post/link is intended to prove.

booneruk

If you mean why did I post the recipe, it's where the image posted earlier by the OP came from. Which is what the OP was suggesting is being served up in restaurants under the guise of 'chicken'.

Mnoee

RomfordNavy said:

This is the stuff: https://jessicainthekitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Vegan-Chicken-21-720x1082.jpg

That's seitan. I make it all the time. I've also worked in restaurants. The chance of a restaurant making seitan that's passable as chicken instead of just cutting up chicken is 0.

Seitan is quite time consuming to make, and therefore has huge labour costs. Look at that recipe. Pressing tofu, kneading, steaming for an hour... Even just hands on time, assuming the chef can multitask perfectly, the manpower required is about an hour (so about £12 in wages) to make a kilo - and that's not including the cost of ingredients. Go look at the cost of vital wheat gluten, a main ingredient - more expensive per gram than chicken! 

Buying chicken is MUCH cheaper than making seitan. 

Pollycat

RomfordNavy said:

booneruk said:

From this page: https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-chicken/

Again (I think it's been said here before), if someone's selling that as chicken they need reporting. I'm dubious it's happening

As a vegetarian, I wouldn't mind if suddenly a large part of restaurant menus became ok for me! (but it's not the case)

It's been happening in the UK in Indian restaurants for at least the last ten years that I am aware of, just that more recently it has started happening in Chinese Buffets as well.

What proof do you have that this is happening?

Why did you post a photo from a vegan's blog?
How does that prove that restaurants are serving non-chicken described as chicken?

booneruk

I think the OP has a general suspicion that the chicken he's being served is well, suspicious! Maybe it might have gone through some reshaping process, mincing etc but I seriously doubt it's some kind of vegan alternative masquerading as chicken. That would be breaking some kind of law, surely.

I can't help but remember a Blackadder III line now, something along the lines of 'This huge sausage is VERY suspicious, if I didn't know better I would say it was a horse's........' ahem.

Pollycat

booneruk said:

I think the OP has a general suspicion that the chicken he's being served is well, suspicious! Maybe it might have gone through some reshaping process, mincing etc but I seriously doubt it's some kind of vegan alternative masquerading as chicken. That would be breaking some kind of law, surely.

I can't help but remember a Blackadder III line now, something along the lines of 'This huge sausage is VERY suspicious, if I didn't know better I would say it was a horse's........' ahem.

I think it's stronger than a suspicion, given that they say

It's been happening in the UK in Indian restaurants for at least the last ten years that I am aware of, just that more recently it has started happening in Chinese Buffets as well.

That's a clearly worded statement, not a suspicion.

andygb

I have never had anything in a restaurant, which is not chicken, being passed off as chicken. My favourite Indian style ready meal at the moment, is the Aldi Jalfrezi, which is definitely real chicken of a very good standard.

kempiejon

I miss the horsemeat option in lasagne.