Does vegetarian pork belly exist?? Hmmm....

[codychop]

I'm just tossing an idea around in my head-- I am making pork belly momofuku style buns for my chinese new years party- and was wondering if something similar could be made ... but vegetarian!!??

Crazy talk. I know.

What a challenge-- finding a pork belly type of texture and flavor enhancer -- but vegetarian...

does anyone have any ideas?

[HLing]

They have already made some. The one in Chinatown had a different version: less peppers.
http://goods.ruten.com.tw/item/show?1...

[pinkprimp]

this reminds me a vegetarian restaurant that we have in Toronto that makes a vegetarian roast pig that can pass for the real thing - it even has the crispy "skin" and layer of "fat"!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/...

it's art, really.

[codychop]

OMG, that's amazing! The crispy skin looks like a deep fried crouton of some sort-- genius!!!

[pinkprimp]

Yeah!! They also do fake "sashimi"! For all the items, I thought the texture was pretty close to the real thing!

more pictures: http://www.blogto.com/restaurants/joe...

[Miss Needle]

I think it would be best if you use shitake mushrooms. That's what David Chang uses in his vegetarian version.

[codychop]

Oh wow! I didn't know he had a veg version - hmmm, shitakes...I wonder if he used fresh or rehydrated?

[Miss Needle]

From the pics I've seen (I eat meat so I always order the pork), they are the rehydrated ones. I think the rehydrated shitakes tend to be chewier and have more of a "meat-like" texture.

Here's a recipe from somebody who adapted Chang's recipe.

http://www.kitchensidecar.com/2008/12...

[babette feasts]

And layers of silken tofu could mimic the silky fatty layer, or try to : )

[femmevox]

I quite like the "mock duck" you can buy in cans in Asian groceries--Companion is my brand of choice. (They make a mock pork, too, but I don't think it's as good.) It's gluten based.

I think a mix of slivered mock duck and slivered silken tofu (and maybe some slivered soaked shitakes) would be worth playiong around with. Me, I'd put in some sliced scallions, too.

[codychop]

Wow! Thanks for the info about the mock duck! I'm going to try it! i think the mock duck, shitakes, green onion, hoisin, and maybe some pickles... I'll try to post the result.

[babette feasts]

I realize that pork belly is not necessarily smoked, but smoke flavor is so often associated with bacon that it might be a nice addition to your experiment.

[tazia]

You also could think of trying smoked tofu. We're huge fans of it in stir-fry, and it makes a mean veggie carbonara. It definitely vaguely mimics the umami of pork.

[joonjoon]

No.

[codychop]

ha ha! I think I am inclined to side with you on this one. The seitan bacon recipes floating around don't even look that good, and I love seitan!

[joonjoon]

Sorry, didn't mean to be a douche but I honestly feel like certain things aren't worth imitating. :) And pork belly is just one of those nature's magical creations...I just don't see how any vegetarian concoction can come close to duplicating that taste and texture.

[Cinnamon]

Could involve some experiment with meat substitutes and some gels or gums, like agar agar and guar gum. Not sure what all you'd do, though.

[gnomatic]

Vegetarian Cha Siu? Not sure about making it from scratch, I usually just buy it from a store, but here is a recipe:
http://kuali.com/recipes/view.aspx?r=...

Chinese vegetarian food have a lot of products that are "fake" meats..some just look like meat, others do have the taste & texture. Most are made of tofu, wheat gluten, soy beans etc. You can find them at special vegetarian stores/restaurants, and sometimes asian supermarkets.

If there is a chinese buddhist temple near by, it might be worthwhile to give them a call to see if they can give you any recommendations to find these products locally.

[im_nomad]

Well, I've seen recipes for seitan bacon.... I would however have no idea if it is a match for texture and flavor to what you need.

http://pdxvegancookingclub.blogspot.c...

Worth a shot ?