Plant/Vegan Smoked Salmon alternative winner

I love Veganuary 2023 because this year there was smoked salmon alternatives available at the supermarket.

The first one I managed to get hold of was the Aldi Plant Menu no salmon which was really impressive I decided to try ASDA and Squeaky Bean for comparison.

The Aldi Plant Menu won me from the start.

Although, they could be from the same manufacturer with the same ingredients, they are very different in taste because they are made to each supermarket/brands requirement.

I liked the way you can buy them as slices rather than in sandwiches because you get to appreciate the taste and can eat it however you want.

I felt that it is just as pricy as salmon so I am not sure if this is to level up with salmon or the costs to make this product just like lab diamonds and real diamonds.

At first, I thought this salmon alternative was going to be the same as the vegan konjac salmon sashimi but it was a million times better.

With the Aldi one, as soon as I opened the pack, the smell was promising as you get that smoked salmon smell.

Touching it with my fingers, it was impressive as it truly felt like salmon your fingers will get slightly greasy just like touching salmon without any fishiness.

Trying it on its own, the taste was bang on and it didn't really need any other seasonings or flavours.

If you add dill and lemon juice, it is just like having the cured salmon at IKEA.

It was just as delicious on baguette so if I closed my eyes I would have thought it was salmon although there is a slight aftertaste if you eat too much.

The texture is just like salmon which melts in your mouth and a slight resistance like jelly.

Visually the only giveaway is the uniformity and the square slice because you can't get salmon like that.

Second best was Squeaky Bean which was close but on the sweet side.

Last was ASDA because it was too smokey, salty and sweet but ok when eaten with a bagel for example.

I'm not vegan but it is interesting trying these like molecular gastronomy.

Spread and Besserts aka dessert pots at Original Kitchen

Came across Original Kitchen in 2020 when they had a stall in London with all these cashew based spreads and sweet treats.

Three years later, their dessert range has gone to the next level with all these choices for dessert pots.

The savoury ones can be used as spreads or stirred into pasta for a creamy sauce.

Starting on the spreads, there were creamy pesto, creamy mushroom and creamy tomato.

All were nice in different ways, the creamy mushroom had a nice hint of dill and strong earthy mushroom in it, while the pesto was nice and fresh with sweetness because of the peas and courgettes.

I found the spreads comforting as it was a bit like baby food with flavour.

It is interesting that both sweet and savoury contain Rosemary extracts which does not add any taste/aroma to it like cashew.

The besserts were a delight with Chocolate, mango passion and lemon.

They are called besserts on the concept better-for-you dessert

The chocolate was like a rich ganache, while the mango tasted like a fresh mango in dessert form and the lemon was really comforting and reminded me of the M&S lemon desserts which I can't remember the name because I don't think they do it now but they were in glass pots.

To summarize, the texture of the desserts were thick like ganache with a starchy gritty texture.

Overall, I really liked their spreads and desserts and glad to see their new and exciting offerings.

Thank you Original Kitchen for sending them over to me.

 

alpro not milk - semi and whole

alpro are renowned for nut milks and oat milks so it is good to see that they are now offering plant based milks.
What's more interesting is that there are two options being semi and whole fat just like regular skimmed milk.
Comparing the ingredients, I found then quite similar so I don't get why they made the whole version.

I got to try this for free because a free coupon popped up on my socials.

On the first few sips, it tasted like regular milk but then as you drink more you get this malty aftertaste like this Asian Vitasoy malt drink.

The malt taste comes out even more if you add it to tea.

Overall, it wasn't too bad but I will be trying the semi to see if there is much difference in taste.

The Coconut Collaborative Mango & Passionfruit Yoghurt

While I was in London, I was given a free sample of The Coconut Collaborative Mango & Passionfruit Yoghurt.

I was quite surprised at how tasty it was.
The coconut in concern was not too offending and worked well.
Trying the yog on its own was quite comforting as it was creamy and light with that yoghurty taste and texture without being sweet.
Having it with the bottom layer gives it a more exotic fruity kick.
Overall I really recommend it.

Sainsburys Plant Pioneers No Prawn Toast

Sainsbury's own plant based Plant Pioneers brand is quite competitive and some of the items in the range can be quite good like the pork belly.
They have now taken the pork belly to the next level by pairing it with bao buns.

This post will be about the No Prawn toasts which were surprisingly good.

According to the label, it was White sliced bread topped with jackfruit, king oyster mushroom and sesame seeds.

The presentation was definitely convincing and not hard to achieve with the mock prawn paste covered in sesames seed.

There was one odd slice in the batch which clearly belonged to another piece of prawn toast as it was a different colour.

After putting it in the halogen oven, the toasts were nice and crispy but they were a bit oily so I should have blotted the oil with some tissue paper.

Despite the oil, the taste and texture was on the right track.

It strangely tasted like prawn with a bounce from the mushrooms.

Overall not bad, so you can think of it like eating a real prawn toast with a stingy layer of prawn paste with enough to give it a taste of prawns where you can't complain there are no prawns in it.

Adding lemon juice to it made it flawless.

Rating: 4/5.

Plant Pioneers no pork belly bao buns:

The pork belly is basically the same as the no pork belly bites launched for Christmas but the size is bigger paired with a bun.

https://supersupergirl-food.blogspot.com/2020/11/plant-pioneers-no-pork-crispy-belly.html

Coop GRO Plant based eating Hoisin Du'k Wrap (duck)

I love hoisin flavours so I have been eyeing the Coop GRO Plant based eating Hoisin Du'k Wrap which is made of soya bites.

Finally tried it and I have to say the sauce and texture is spot on so this is my favourite plant hoisin duck wrap so far.

The second favourite is boots and then Marks and Spencers.

The COOP Gro hoisin du'k was good because the texture was like duck paired with tasty spinach leaves and cucumber while the sauce was balanced and not too strong on the anise.

Rating:4/5

alpro pistachio mousse plant based review

Spotted the new alpro plant based pistachio mousse at Tescos so had to give it a try because you don't often get pistachio flavours in English desserts.

The pistachio wasn't as intense as hoped because if you've had pistachio gelato then you know how strong the flavours can get.

Overall worth trying.

Rating: 3/5