I’ve been meaning to experiment with TVP (textured vegetable protein) in my cooking for a while, and today I’m making chili, a dish that seems like it ought to be well-suited to it. But I’m not exactly sure how to use it. I know that I can mix the dry TVP with approximately equal parts water, and then use it approximately the same way as an equal amount of ground beef. But beyond that, I’m not sure:
Should the water be hot before mixing? Should I let it stand for some amount of time before mixing in with everything else?
Ordinarily, I’d brown my ground beef before adding the rest of the ingredients. Can/should I do something equivalent with TVP?
Should I add the TVP the same time I would add the beef (i.e., right at the beginning), or should it be added later? And if I add it later, should I forgo the water, given all the other liquids I’ll have in chili?
I’ll probably start cooking in an hour or two, so answers before then would be appreciated.
You can throw TVP into the chili and let it rehydrate with the chili liquid.
I’ve gotten better results by rehydrating it FIRST (in an equivalent measure of HOT water) and then adding it at the beginning of the cooking process.
Even completely rehydrated and cooked for a long period of time in liquid, dry TVP will remain a bit chewy. This is true for the “bits” and the chunks.
Because of the lingering chewy texture, I don’t think browning it would be a great idea.
You might consider using 1/2 TVP, half hamburger, unless you are cooking for a vegetarian.
IMHO, many people consider chili to be a vehicle for meat simmered in sauce. With TVP, it’s more of a stew with the “meat” used as a flavoring, along with all the typical chili veggies.
My normal recipe is half hamburger, half sausage, and I’m planning on just replacing the hamburger half and keeping the sausage.
And most of the flavor of chili comes from the peppers and other vegetables-- I view meat in chili as being more a matter of texture, mouthfeel, and nutrition, which is why I figured TVP will be well suited to it: The flavor of TVP just isn’t a match for real meat, but the texture is very close.
Chili is a very good choice for TVP, especially since you’re putting some sausage in as well. I’ve had the same cook make her chili, a few times with hamburger (actually, beef in a chili grind, which is coarser) and a few times with TVP, and I couldn’t taste the difference.
Spaghetti sauce is also a good TVP vehicle, especially if you tend to put in a lot of veggies. I use mushrooms, bell pepper, onions, and garlic.
Are we talking the big chunks or the little crumbles?
I prefer to rehydrate the little crumbles separately in some beef stock (real stuff, or at least BtB, not canned broth or powder) and then add them to the chili about 15 minutes before it’s done. Otherwise I find that, far from being chewy, it disintegrates into mush. Or maybe what **VOW **feels as chewy, I find to be “meaty”.
It’s the little crumbles. I was worried about the possibility of them disintegrating, but since VOW said that it can end up chewy, I decided that that wasn’t a worry, and added it at the beginning. Ah, well, we’ll see how it works.
And Lynn, spaghetti sauce was my first encounter with TVP. I was rather surprised, since it was served at the house of one of my vegetarian aunts, and I was pretty sure she wouldn’t be putting meat in the sauce.
Well, I’m eating it now, and it came out fine. The TVP is neither disintegrated nor chewy, and I can’t tell the difference from my usual beef. Apparently the stuff is more forgiving than I’d feared.