Not Soy Good
The highlight of this week is today, Wednesday. I decided that I would make today “Soy Meat Day”. As I am writing right now, I am staring at this:
my lovely soy ham sandwich with all the fixings. The brown-pink
substance that is resting on the bottom piece of bread is my new best friend,
soy ham (lucky me that my school’s sandwich station offers soy meat). Since I
am planning on eating soy chicken cordon bleu for dinner tonight, I opted for
soy ham rather than turkey on my sandwich. I’m nervous, but here goes nothing…
It doesn’t take like real ham, but I’m not really surprised. I would go so far
as to say it tastes hamesque, but what’s really off is the texture. I don’t
exactly know how to describe it, but the “meat” crumbles in my mouth which real
ham definitely does not do. There’s a chance I could get by on eating soy meat
on sandwiches forever, if I decide to stick with this dietary path. Did I
expect this foreign substance to taste like the real succulent rear pork leg that ham comes from? The answer is obviously no. This does taste better than I had hoped for; there is no funny after taste, and no foul smell (it does however, have a strange appearance and texture). My meat cravings are somewhat satisfied by this alternative, but there is still a part of me that is dying to give in to the temptation of all the meats I see my friends eating. This meal has made me more optimistic about dinner tonight (I’ve been dreading today).
Soy chicken cordon bleu,
looks delicious doesn’t it? I picked off the soy ham and cheese on
top of the “chicken” (too much “ham” in one day), and took my first bite of the
chicken-like substance. It was surprisingly delicious, and I felt like I was
eating real chicken. There was a nice crunch when I bit into its fried existence;
the only dead giveaway that it wasn’t real is that it lacked the juicy quality
of chicken. If I didn’t know it was made from soy, I probably would have been
pretty convinced. As much as I enjoyed my soy chicken, my body did not. I’m not
sure if it was the “ham” or the “chicken” that made my stomach upset, but while
I was going on a run an hour or so after dinner I was struck with nausea and
had to stop a couple times. I figured it was because of the heat, it was a
blazing high seventies when I went running, but when I was still feeling sick around
10:30pm, I knew it was something I ate. It’s disappointing that one or both of
the soy meats I consumed made me feel awful because I was just starting to get
used to the thought of eating meat substitutes often. Maybe I’ll get ballsy
enough to try again, but it will not be any time soon. I’m still recovering.
Have any of you tried soy meat? Did it make you sick as well? I’m curious as to
if it was just my body not agreeing with it, or if it has happened to anyone
else. Anyways, I’m back to my bed to sleep off the sickness.
Lauren-
ReplyDeleteI love the honesty and descriptiveness of your post. It made it very interesting to read. I am so sorry that you got sick from soy meat. I have only tried soy meat once in my life, and it was the soy chicken from Benson. I don't remember it hurting my stomach in any way, so my guess is that the soy ham is what did it. But again I have no idea. I am proud of you for not giving in to temptations from friends to eat meat- I know it is hard! Was this your first time trying a substitute? Maybe your body just isn't used to it. I suggest trying a Boca burger if you can find one because it tastes just like a real burger to me, and doesn't have soy meat in it. It is made of vegetables I think. Feel better soon!
Lauren, wow I give you a lot of props for trying out soy ham. In my opinion, that just does not sound appetizing at all, even though your sandwich looks pretty delicious-looking.
ReplyDeleteDid you get an odd reaction when you asked for soy ham? I am shocked that you got sick from the soy meat. Do you think it is from a sudden switch of food or was the meat expired? I hope your sickness did not last that long. I look forward to reading more about your experiences!
I really like the pure honesty of this post! I used to be vegetarian during high school, and while I could stomach veggie burgers (even though they're disgusting), I could never manage to keep down substitute meats. They just never tasted right. I never got physically ill from them, though. I wonder why this happened to you?
ReplyDeleteI also laughed out loud at your title. Very punny, I can definitely appreciate that.
Hope you didn't feel ill for too long!
Lauren- Great Post. I did not even know that Benson offered soy food. You should recommend it to Vik who is also on a diet similar to that of yours. I understand your temptations. In my diet, I decided to cut out carbohydrates, but its so hard to resist them when all your friends around you are munching away. In addition, it seems meat is involved in every meal Benson serves. Anyway, I hope you get better! I hope this one time occurrence with soy will not deter you from eating it in the future. My mom is vegetarian and she loves soy too. Maybe your body just needs to get used to it. The texture is definitely different, but is amazing the similar taste that they are still able to achieve. Do you plan on continuing to go Vegetarian after this diet? Overall, great blog and post!
ReplyDeleteLauren- I really liked this post! It was honest and gave many great descriptions of the soy substitutes. I've never tried any meat substitutes before and I don't eat a lot of soy because most of my family members are allergic but your writing style and observations made me feel like I could still understand your struggle as well as what the soy tasted like as well as your reaction to it. As James said above, maybe your body is just still getting used to the soy. It might work better to incorporate meat and soy together first instead of dropping meat and then immediately substituting soy. I can understand how this would make you want to drop your diet, I would also, but I admire how you're sticking with it. Good luck for the next week!
ReplyDeleteLauren, would you say that after eating these soy "meats" that we should stray away from them? I certainly do not want to get sick either! I love the honesty that you shared with us, you weren't afraid to share with us your experience. Thank you for being a guinea pig almost buy trying out the different types of soy meats available here at SCU. After these less than appealing soy moments, do you see yourself ever going vegetarian again? Great post!
ReplyDeleteLauren, I'm so sorry that you felt sick after eating your soy meat meals! It's unfortunate that you tried the ham and chicken for the first time and liked them, but then they just did not sit right in your stomach. Maybe it was because you had two meals with soy products in it, rather than just one? I wonder if the soy/meat alternatives are meant for consumption just once a day. I have never tried a soy meat before, but based on your spot on descriptions, I would not mind giving them a taste test. I'll eat only one meal with the soy product and then let you know if I feel sick afterwards. On a side note, I agree with Allee and love your title because it is witty and attracted my attention to this particular post. I really enjoyed your post, and look forward to reading your other ones!
ReplyDelete