[Linda7852]

Hi all, I'm vegetarian, in Malaysia, and I was raised in a meat-eating family and society. (I turned vegetarian July 1st this year - yeah only few months back).

I have read how vegetarians/vegans raved about how good seitan is. I asked around and no one have heard of it, so I have been looking for mock meat instead. I was actually hoping that if I indeed found mock meat (the ones made of soy/tofu) being sold, there would be chances for me to find seitan as well. There are indeed some vegetarian restaurants in town, but the good ones are so expensive so I thought I might as well find seitan and make my own meal, as I don't wanna eat out everyday anyway.

I'm not gonna eat mock meat everyday, of course. I wanted to find it because I remember more than 6 years ago, a friend bought some dishes from a vegetarian restaurant for me and those dishes containing mock meat were really tasty. I was an omni back then yet I thought they tasted better than meat. So, I was thinking maybe once in a while I could cook some local dishes (which originally, most, if not all, contains meat) and substitute the meat part with mock meat so that everyone in the family get to enjoy the food that I cook (they're all omnis).

Since there's almost no Malaysians here, I turned to a local online group asking if anyone have seen mock meat being sold around. It's not a vegetarian group, instead, it's a group for people having interests in a certain stuff (I'm not gonna name the group). But since there's a forum for open discussions, I posted a message asking if anyone know where to find mock meat.

However, rather than getting people help me on where to find it, I was getting bashed for being vegetarian and yet wanting to find mock meat. Some of the messages really made me feel so down, like "there's no point in being vegetarian if you miss eating meat". And one even said "If you're an animal lover, why wanna try mock meat? Sheesh, go real vege" and yet another minute said to his defence, "Non vegetarians doesn't mean we don't love animals."

Ok I agreed. There are people volunteering in animal shelters and yet they're non vegetarians/vegans. But isn't it a bit biased, saying that omnis can still be animal lovers and yet my vegetarian practice are useless simply because I would like to try cooking an artificially flavoured, artificially shaped soy/wheat-gluten for me and my sisters and mom to eat?

It's hurtful enough that whenever my conservative and typical relatives come over, learned about my new choice and started to preached about animals being here on earth to be our food. And all of a sudden strangers were bashing me because of it.

I really feel down still

. All I asked was the availability of mock meat locally, I didn't ask what people think of my practice being vegetarian and yet wanting to try mock meat is really worth it. But somehow, these people really got to me, I've started to feel that I'm indeed a hypocrite and worthless/pointless vegetarian

.

Or were these people right, and it is indeed wrong for vegetarians/vegans to eat mock meat even though they're made of soy/tofu/seitan?

 

[meatless]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda7852

Or were these people right, and it is indeed wrong for vegetarians/vegans to eat mock meat even though they're made of soy/tofu/seitan?

No they are not right. Most people aren't vegetarian because they hate the taste of meat. Nothing dies to make mock meats, so there's no ethical issue around it. Sounds to me like these people are just defensive and feel like they need to justify their own diets even though you just posed a simple question.

p.s. you can make seitan at home. Are you able to buy gluten flour? (it's a type of wheat flour that has only the wheat's gluten in it)

 

[Linda7852]

Thanks meatless.... Glad that I didn't get bashed here as well. Sometimes I wonder why some people screw me up because of my choice. I mean, I'm vegetarian, right. But I don't go around trying to convert people to vegetarians, or bashing omnis and calling them murderers. I don't force people around me to eat only vegetables, I don't brainwash them into believing what I believe in. People have their own preferences and I respect them for that. But somehow they refuse to respect mine.

I just mind my own business and yet people still come around and say hurtful things. I don't mind meat being served to them when I am at the table and chomping down on vegetables as long as they don't shove the meat down my throat. But still, some people just have to irritate me. Oh well.

Anyway, I haven't tried to find gluten flour here yet. Is it hard to make home made seitan?

 

[Astarte]

If you're a vegetarian because you love animals then mock meat is absolutely no contradiction for you. You like the taste of meat but you don't like killing animals. You get the best of both worlds. It's a win/win.

Home made seitan is very easy to make. I've done it myself with good results. Two variations of it can be found here.

You're not hurting omnis by not eating meat. Tell the mean ones to go shove their criticisms where the sun don't shine!

 

[das_nut]

If you are looking for mock meat, I've noticed it being sold in Chinese groceries. (It tends to be in cans.)

Quite tasty.

I seem to recall that Malaysia has a Chinese minority, but I haven't heard if there are Chinese groceries in Malaysia.

 

[derwenna]

There's nothing wrong with trying 'fake meats', the point is you're not eating meat, so what if the non-meat thing you're eating in some way resembles meat. As for the person who said "there's no point in being vegetarian if you miss eating meat", well that's just a poor excuse people give for not being vegetarian themselves, as in, "I couldn't possibly be vegetarian, I like the taste of meat too much". As if you're only allowed to be a vegetarian if you dislike the taste of meat! Don't let these people get you down, remember you're doing a good thing by being vegetarian.

 

[Linda7852]

Thank you all. I feel a bit better now. The local thread I started has now been locked by the moderator there; I requested for it since I was getting fed up with the bashing.

I will start looking for gluten flour now, hope I can find it here.

 

[honeyfugle]

i'm a big fan of mock meats and dairy personally... i still like the taste of meat, but now i don't have death on my conscience. there's no need!

(by the way, Tofutti makes awesome soy cheese! i have some of their mozarella slices on my fridge)

also, good luck concerning relatives/friends/others. as much as we can accept omni diets and lifestyles, there are always those who choose not to accept the veggie/vegan lifestyle.

i'm afraid to say it but you'll get people like this every so often, wherever you are. even where i am (london, uk) where i'm there are loads of vegetarians and vegans around, i still get the odd idiot telling me i should eat meat/eggs/dairy/honey. i don't listen to em! what do they know?

 

[Kill Uncle]

I have a guy at work that has told me a few times that i eat mock meat because i really want to eat meat.

i told him that i dont eat meat because i dont want to eat an animal.mock meat is NOT an animal.

he said that i am just fooling myself.he thinks it is being a phoney.

i really dont care what anyone thinks,so everything is good.

 

[isowish]

there's probably no need to say it again because everyone on this thread has been quite clear, but yeah, the simple fact is that if you are vegetarian for the sake of the animals there is nothing wrong with fake meats, because they are not made from animals. Good luck with finding some!

 

[Life2k]

If it never had a face, eat it.

 

[Skylark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Life2k

If it never had a face, eat it.

I'm not interested in eating muscles, spongues or other faceless animals.

Linda, those people had little cause to criticize you for looking for mock meats. I've heard of some sects of Asian religions (might have been Hinduism, I forget) that prohibit its followers from eating mock beef products. IIRC, the reasoning was they're not supposed to enjoy the taste/texture of beef or something that mimics it. I could understand criticism of mock meats from that angle, but it doesn't sound like these people looked at it that way.

BTW, technically, meatless, your statement that nothing died for a mock meat is not true. No animals did, but plants and/or mushrooms are killed.

 

[isowish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skylark

I'm not interested in eating muscles, spongues or other faceless animals.

Yeah. And I am interested in eating the awesome pasta I can get from ikea in the shape of mooses faces! yum!

 

[ybveggie]

I used to feel self-conscious about eating mock meat, but then I finally realized that IT'S PERFECTLY FINE!

Many of us did not give up meat because we hated the way it tastes. We gave it up because of the environmental, societal, political, and health implications. We can still support a healthy lifestyle, ethical business practices and more while eating veggie burgers!

In fact, I recently discovered veggie corn dogs, and I absolutely love them!!

I'm not sure of where you can find seitan, but best of luck to you.

Enjoy your fake meat and be proud that you're choices are making a difference

 

[elibrown]

Ummm...I became a vegetarian for health and because I don't believe in eating dead bodies. HOWEVER, I still love some mock meats even though I hate the taste of animal flesh. Are we forgetting the simple fact here that mock meats never taste like meat at ALL?

I'm just saying...if I loved meat so much that it made it really difficult to be a vegetarian, I'd just eat meat. Because mock meats to me would be a poor substitute.

 

[Bonoluvr]

elibrown, have you tried Quorn? i think it tastes just about exactly like chicken. my omni hubby thought so too

 

[delicious]

Having never had the real thing myself, I say that meat is mock seitan

 

[starseed13]

Thats the dumbest thing Ive ever heard. Why would it be "wrong" to eat any certain thing if you like it? It has nothing to do with being vegetarian! Ive eaten mock meats all my life, long before being veggie. These people are obviously idiots. Please do not converse with them again.