asian inspired Impossible meat recipes!

Plant-based eating and manufactured vegan meats are becoming popular. I get many questions from friends, family and clients on the plant-based diet. I want to share some of the common questions I get with you in case you have similar questions:

Q: Does plant-based eating mean that a person can no longer eat animal products? A: No. The basic concept of plant-based eating is to focus on eating mostly plant foods and keeping animal-based foods to a minimum. This means to include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, seeds and nuts as your main daily food intake and to eat animal product foods in limited amounts. Some people may eat meat once or twice a week. Others may eat meat at every meal but in limited amounts. People who practice whole food plant-based eating (WFPB) eliminate all animal products. All types of plant-based eaters also limit or avoid eating processed and added sugar foods such as cookies, chips or sweetened beverages such as soda. Think of plant-based eating as a lifestyle choice, not a diet. If you are interested in plant-based eating, start slowly and do what works the best for you.  

Q: What are the benefits of plant-based eating? A: Many studies show that eating more plant-based foods can help manage and improve medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, gastrointestinal health and prevent certain types of cancer. Studies also suggest that plant-based eating may also improve memory, anxiety and depression.

Q: How can eating plant-based foods have so many benefits? A: Foods included in plant-based eating are high in antioxidants, fiber, and omega 3 which are considered as anti-inflammatory foods. Anti-inflammatory foods are known for the benefits that I mentioned above.

Q: Is it good to eat manufactured vegan meat? A: Well, that depends on what you mean by “good”. I think manufactured vegan meats such as Impossible and Beyond Meat are a good starting point for those who are curious and want to give plant-based eating a try. Vegan meat can help ease people onto the path of plant-based eating. Still, these vegan meats are considered “processed” foods because the manufacturers do have to “process” all the ingredients together. It is always a good idea to add other plant-based protein foods such as tofu, legumes and beans for variety and to make eating fun.

Q: Are there differences between Impossible and Beyond Meat? A: They use different protein sources. According to their websites, Impossible Meat uses soy whereas the Beyond Meat uses pea, potato and mung bean as the protein sources. For more details, visit their websites.

There are many recipes online using either Impossible or Beyond Meat to make all types of cuisines. I got inspired and wanted to create some Chinese dishes with the Impossible Meat. After many tries, I am very excited to share my oven-fried egg rolls, wontons with spicy chili sauce and eggplant in garlic sauce with minced meat (vegan meat) recipes. I have found that marinating the vegan meat for at least 30 minutes (even better if overnight) is very important. This will allow the flavor to get into the “meat” and create the taste you get from Chinese restaurants. I could definitely tell the difference in flavors when I skipped this step.

Make sure the egg roll filling is as cold and dry as possible before wrapping the egg rolls. Otherwise, the egg roll wrappers will tear during assembly. One trick I learned from my mom is to place an upside-down bowl inside a bigger bowl. Put as much of the filling on the top of the small bowl as possible. This will allow the water from the filling to go underneath that small bowl and help to keep the filling dryer. Refrigerate the filling for at least 30 minutes. If time allows, leave the filling in the refrigerator overnight. To help the oven-fried egg rolls become crispy, heat an empty baking sheet in the oven for 20 minutes. You can do this while you wrap the egg rolls. Before baking the egg rolls, spray the heated empty baking sheet with oil spray. Also spray the top of the egg rolls after placing them on the baking sheet. This will help to brown the tops and the bottoms of the egg rolls. Will these egg rolls taste like the traditional deep-fried egg rolls? The answer is no. To be honest, nothing beats that deep-fried taste and texture. However, are these egg rolls just as crispy, delicious, and healthier than the deep-fried ones? The answer is absolutely! My family was so surprised how crispy these egg rolls were and had no guilt in eating them (their own words!). This egg roll recipe is definitely worth your time if you love egg rolls and want a healthier way to eat them.

 My wontons with spicy chili oil sauce dish is very versatile. Add more or less of the spicy sauce to your liking. You can also replace the Napa cabbage with regular cabbage or spinach. Add chopped shrimps to the filling to make seafood wontons. Make or save extra wontons for wonton soup later. How about making oven fried wontons using the same techniques in my oven-fried egg rolls?! The possibility of creating and using these wontons are endless.

My family and I love eggplant, so I wanted to make eggplant in spicy garlic sauce with minced pork, a popular dish at Chinese restaurants but with vegan meat. It is best to use Japanese eggplant for this recipe. The traditional way is to shallow fry the eggplant which uses quite a bit of oil. To avoid using an excessive amount of oil, I coated the eggplant with cornstarch to help with browning and simmered the eggplant with water twice to soften the eggplant. Although I make my own garlic sauce, you can find the packaged pre-made garlic eggplant sauce in Asian supermarkets. If you prefer a saucier style, double the amount of spicy garlic sauce in the recipe.

Let me know which recipe you like the best.

Happy Eating!