king prawn free king prawns
By jb78000
@jb78000 (15139)
November 23, 2009 8:17am CST
substitutes are available for lots of foods, sometimes exactly like the real thing, sometimes nothing like but nice, and sometimes revolting.
i'm vegetarian so have tried lots of pretend meat and fish products. the latest one was in a malaysian restaurant when there was an impressive array of mock duck, chicken and prawn dishes. i was curious but expecting basically tofu. well the pretend prawns were indeed tofu and nothing like prawns but well flavoured and quite nice. other things i've tried are pretend frankfurters (indistinguishable, as proved by tests i have done on carnivorous pals, this is possibly because genuine hotdogs contrain virtually no meat anyway), mince (ok) and fake beef strips (utterly disgusting, gave up when even the pet rats wouldn't touch them).
other common fake foods are alternatives for wheat, dairy and sugar. so what if any of these kind of things have you tried (because of allergies, health, ethics or curiosity)? and were they any good?
4 people like this
10 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
23 Nov 09
Hi JB, the most intolerable food substitute ever has got to be fake tofu. I'm a real tofu fan but it has to be the thick creamy block kind which is bought in water, not that hideous dry stuff they sell in cardboard for health nuts. I mean why make fake tofu, it might have a long shelf life but who cares, it tastes like the packaging. In the last two years we've been able to get tofu out here, but only the fake kind.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
23 Nov 09
thea hi fake tofu wow. sounds awful I like the kind that is firm and comes p acked in water but never ran into the fake stuff. I sort of keep my distance from most of the fake stuff. I tried the fake bacon once and it was so very salty that it made my home pucker and probably sent my high blood pressure up a few more notches.It certainly did not taste like real bacon. and veggieburgers the one time I tried to eat that it made me actually'ill. It ended up in the toilet instead of in me. so I vowed from now on only the real stuff, even if I can only have'
a small amount. I know it will not make me upchuck.
2 people like this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
23 Nov 09
I used to have real tofu in hot and sour Chinese soup weekly, with prawns, spring onions and vegetables and the tofu was the best bit. I really miss it. When I first came here they had a very expensive tin of it in the supermarket which I bought for tom yom soup and whilst better than the dried gerbit stuff it wasn't the same as the real stuff. Wonder if I can make it in the bread maker.
3 people like this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
23 Nov 09
Hi fahadfaiz, what a fascinating and interesting response to the question of if you have ever tried eating fake food. Your illuminating response indicates that you have indeed tried eating fake food but not even a hint as to whether you felt it was fake or if it tasted real, which really convinces me that you really had no actual interest in the matter when you responded to this discussion. Maybe next time we'll hear a little more from you.
1 person likes this
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
23 Nov 09
Years ago I was advised to stop drinking coffee. I tried a few substitutes and they were dreadful, but Bambu, a product made from beetroot, barley, rye, figs and acorns was quite acceptable. Bambu is no longer available here. I found I had to go back to coffee (that's a long story) but I limit myself to two cups each morning.
Apart from that, I haven't tried any fake foods, unless you count chocolate frogs or - dare I mention them - chocolate bunnies.
I love fresh foods and could almost live on fresh fruit and veges, but I do like my meat.
1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
•
23 Nov 09
aren't there coffee subsitutes made from dandelion roots? which probably taste as you'd expect. my sister is very sensitive to caffeine and i think still gets bambu, which i have tasted and it was fine. now chocolate bunnies are not i think meant to be substitutes for real bunnies (which i would hope none of you would cook anyway) so i too am not altogether sure that they count.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
23 Nov 09
I use fake sugar. I just cannot stand the taste of real sugar in any drink it started when I was pregnant with my middle child and developed gestational diabetes. I had to go on a strict diet because of the size of my first child, apparently when one suffers from diabetes their babies are bigger than if one did not. Needless to say I have never went back to using real sugar. And, by the way, no matter what you do to tofu you can't make it taste better unless you throw it away and not eat it 
I use to not eat meat and I could never bring myself to eat tofu after trying it.
I use to not eat meat and I could never bring myself to eat tofu after trying it.1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
•
23 Nov 09
my problem with tofu is that it has NO taste. at all. so dried stuff will certainly have the taste and texture of shredded carboard. proper tofu can be ok if cooked properly, but if you don't like the texture like zeph then you are never going to like it.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (166976)
• Boise, Idaho
26 Nov 09
I have tried several vegetarian hamburgers and they were all awful. I don't care for duck anyway so the mock wouldn't go over well with me anyway. I would be interested in trying the mock prawn. I love fish! I am not sure I understand why fish is a problem or not liked by vegetarians. It is so good for you!
@celticeagle (166976)
• Boise, Idaho
28 Nov 09
I think they have a different names for those that don't eat meat for moral reasons. I think it is silly myself but then that is my opinion. I think God put things here on the Earth for us to utilize including fish and such. But we are all different.
1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
•
26 Nov 09
well the mock prawn i had was nice, but absolutely nothing like prawns. people who are vegetarian for health reasons - yes i am not sure about the reason for no fish there either - for moral reasons (as in my case, but don't i don't witter on about it) the reason is basically not eating animals when you have a choice and that includes fishies.
1 person likes this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
23 Nov 09
I tried fake veggie hamburgers - I think they are called Boca burgers, but I am not entirely sure that is the correct name. I think they are basically soy and vegetables with some other stuff added in. I expected them to taste dreadful, but I was very hungry and that is all there was, so I decided to give them a try. They were actually very good, and they tasted like meatloaf made into a patty. I did not even miss the fact that there was not any real meat in them. I actually went to the store thinking that I might buy a package and try them out on my family, but they were too expensive for our budget. Why does it seem like eating "healthy" has a higher price tag than eating junk?
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
23 Nov 09
those called boca burgers were not too bad but very expensive, the ones called veggieburgers are just really vile and revolting,not veggie not hamburger but salted sugared oily something that really made me feel ill. they did not stay
down long however. hence I would never buy another veggie burger thing again. I would rather eat one real hamburger once in a great while just as a treat then go back to sensible food for a diabetic.
1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
•
23 Nov 09
especially with these kind of things it is because they can get away with it. i will bet you 5p that they cost less to produce than real hamburgers (i doubt soya is more expensive than beef somehow...). i've tried countless variants of veggie hamburgers and they tend to be fine. although there is a vile dried mix thing, invented in the seventies, in fact i suspect made in the seventies and kept since then, that my mother thought was a good idea when i was in my teens (don't however think she ever ate any of it). you mixed it with water and produced truly revolting patties with it. pointless.
2 people like this
@purplealabaster (22091)
• United States
23 Nov 09
Rabbit, I think you are correct that they cost far less to produce than actual hamburgers. In fact, soy is one of the crops that they grow and harvest to feed to the cows in the winter with the hay and corn, so you know it has to be less expensive than hamburger if that is what they feed to the actual cows.
I also think you are correct in that the only reason they are more expensive is that they can get away with it, because it is thought of more as a "fad" or "status symbol" than a necessity. Unfortunately, that is a sad way to look at it.
Hatley, I had once been tricked into eating another kind of veggie burger, and I found it to be revolting, too. That is one of the reasons that I was so hesitant to try the Boca burger, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I tasted it. I was not so pleasantly surprised when I saw how much they cost, though.
I also think you are correct in that the only reason they are more expensive is that they can get away with it, because it is thought of more as a "fad" or "status symbol" than a necessity. Unfortunately, that is a sad way to look at it.
Hatley, I had once been tricked into eating another kind of veggie burger, and I found it to be revolting, too. That is one of the reasons that I was so hesitant to try the Boca burger, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I tasted it. I was not so pleasantly surprised when I saw how much they cost, though.1 person likes this
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
24 Nov 09
I tried a cheese substitute, one with no milk protein in it. Tasted tolerable but was absolutely useless for hamburgers because it wouldn't melt. There are cheese substitutes made of soy that do, but when you look at the fine print, you see that although they are lactose free, they do have milk protein in them. I tried a lot of dairy free stuff attempting to stay totally off milk for 3 months to see how it would affect my psoriasis.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
24 Nov 09
Slight improvement, not enough to give up cheese for. You would be amazed how many different things they manage to hide milk protein in. In addition to looking for milk on the ingredient list you have to look for whey, casein and a few other things too.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
24 Nov 09
that is pretty dodgy. i would guess that most of the people who buy fake cheese are doing so either because they are allergic or intolerant to dairy or are doing so because they are vegan. in the first case this could be downright dangerous and in the second is disrespect for people's ethics. how do the manufacturers get away with hiding this in the fine print in the interests of flogging their product? btw did staying off dairy help? - guessing not if you stopped 
1 person likes this
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
2 Dec 09
Hello, Judith. I'm not vegetarian, but my daughter is, and when she came for Christmas dinner a couple of years ago I bought a Quorn Roast for her. It was really tasty, but I was expecting it to be okay as on previous occasions I'd bought Quorn fillets and mince for her. Honestly, if you didn't know, you'd think you were eating chicken.
A couple of years ago we bought a prepacked haggis around New Year. Yes, I know they're not a patch on the real thing you get up here, but some of them are quite nice. Anyway, I served this one up, and we all enjoyed it, but my husband said he thought it tasted different to one we'd had the week before. We only get haggis down in Cornwall for the month between New Year and Burns Night, so we tend to have one a week. Anyway, when I looked at the wrapper, it was green instead of the usual blue. We'd eaten a vegetarian haggis without knowing!
@sutent (1060)
• China
24 Nov 09
Hi jb,
I am not a vegetarian and i seldom try those fake food. The only one i had tried is vegetarian chicken made by tofu. It is different favour the real chicken. As to me, i prefer chicken than vegetarian chicken.
Additionally, diabetes patients may take some fake food subsituting sugar.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
24 Nov 09
hiya, i sometimes get fake chicken pieces made from quorn (a fungus i think), not bad as the texture is good but probably doesn't taste much like chicken. as for the sweeteners that people with diabetes or on diets use i can't tell the difference between say a diet soft drink (with sweeteners) and a standard one (with sugar) but some people say they can.
@mylosha (286)
• India
24 Nov 09
i am also experienced such a disgusting one at in one vocation where they given me beef meat in the name of mutten as i dont like beef i feel inconvinience there.
