This is one of my all-time favorite comfort dishes – it’s sweet. It’s tangy. It’s got great flavor unlike anything else – a little sweet and sourish yet somehow different – more of the savory sweetness and less of the sour.
I can’t quite figure out what to call it though. It definitely has its roots and flavor profile in the Chinese-American Tomato Beef dish but the veggie meat doesn’t look like beef (not that it has to). It’s pale like chicken but not really chicken-tasting. But what kind of name is Tomato Veggie Chicken? Tomato Fake Meat? Tomato Soy Protein? You see, it just doesn’t have the same ring to it, not to mention no one would know what the heck I’m babbling about.
As I’m writing up the recipe, I just noticed it’s not even vegan. How can this be? Apparently, I’m going blind and didn’t see “whey protein” in the ingredient list of the veggie meat when I bought it. But it’s still a very tasty dish, I just need to find a vegan replacement for the “meat” part that would work in the recipe. Stay tuned for the answer to “Where’s the (veggie) beef?”
I’m not sure if you’re in a Trader Joe’s part of the world, but they have recently started carrying veggie beef and chicken strips that are supposed to be good.
Actually I have the Trader Joe’s veggie beef in the fridge at this very moment. I was thinking it might be good in fajitas or something. Have you tried them yet?
You should post your final version!
Delicious photo.