I make a simple vegetarian bean soup with pinto beans; it cooks for a couple hours (with overnight soaking) and includes veggies, tomato, olive oil, spices and anything else that may lurk in the fridge come go time.
I would like to try adding Trader Joe’s soy chorizo to my next batch, but I’ve never cooked with the stuff before. In particular:
[ul]
[li]Do i saute it prior to adding to the soup?[/li][li]When do I add it? Beginning, halfway, at the end?[/li][li]Crumble it up, slice it, cubes?[/li][/ul]
I have used soy substitute meat products for things like bolognese sauce in the past and, as a rule, have had better luck with shorter cooking times. I would appreciate any thoughts or feedback, especially if you’ve used this particular brand before.
I’ve never used soy chorizo before, but this has also been my experience with other TVP stuff.
Have you used this stuff before, outside of soup? Is it basically just spiced TVP crumble? Does it fall apart completely once removed from the casing? The warning about the casing is pretty funny, actually.
Off the cuff, I’d say sautee it (maybe with a scoop of beans from the soup) and add it to the pot at the very end, or even into individual bowls.
I like Trader Joe’s soy chorizo, but I’ve only cooked it like regular chorizo; so I can’t answer the question. Cooked the normal way, it behaves like regular chorizo. It crumbles more than meat, but I crumble meat chorizo so the effect is the same.
So anyway…
An Englishman goes into an American diner and orders the soup of the day. When it comes he says, ‘Good lord. What is this?’ The waitress says, ‘It’s bean soup.’ The Englishman replies, 'I don’t care what it’s been; what is it now? :eek: ’
Well, I know for pig-based chorizo, the best way to add it to bean soup is to slice it (then half or quarter if you prefer), and saute it until at least lightly browned. The frying both adds a lot of browned flavor, and gets a little bit of grease out.
I don’t know how this applies to plant-based chorizo though.
I really like TJ’s soy chorizo. I’d sautee it and add it to your soup, but it might work just as well crumbled directly in, since it doesn’t brown much or release a ton of oil like regular chorizo does. I often add the cooked leftover soy chorizo to eggs, nachos, or chili and it works fine all around.
Unless you’re looking for that browned flavor from pan-frying first, I would just dump it on into the soup and let it simmer for 10 minutes or so. Chorizo in bean soup sounds good.
Thanks for the replies all. I made the soup today and it turned out great.
It’s very much as you (and Johnny L.A.) describe. Crumbles directly, no real way to slice it.
I went ahead and sauteed it for a few minutes as most suggested. A little bit of oil was released, but not much. I added it to my soup with about 20 minutes remaining. The soup is delicious, and I was pleasantly surprised that the chorizo did not completely overwhelm it.
I used the whole pack for about six quarts of soup, and it’s about right. Spicier than I thought it’d be, but that’s just fine by me.
I’ve baked similarly-textured TVP products before (as Snowboarder Bo suggested) with good results. That said, given the texture, I suspect SeaDragonTattoo’s method of adding it directly to the soup would work as well. I will try that next batch.
. . . You’re a sausage?
