Meat Allergy, ISO Vegan/Pescatarian Advice

JasonT1985

Hello everyone,

I was recently diagnosed with an allergy to meats and other animal products, red meat in particular, due to a tick-born illness called alpha-gal syndrome.

I’ve since changed my eating habits to be mostly in line with a pescatarian lifestyle.

An occasional bite of something I am cooking for my kids doesn’t send usually me to the ER. I don’t dare more than that.

Being from and having recently relocated back to the Great Lakes area of the world, I don’t mind eating mostly fish as a staple source of protein anyway.

To that end,

I am looking for links, pictures, recipes, etc. from people with similar eating habits, or anyone who just has any really tasty vegan or fish recipes.

Eggs and other dairy/animal (mammal) products are also not well tolerated, but I can definitely work around modifying recipes that include those items so don’t be afraid to post something.

Thank you in advance!

I’ll share some of my favorites as well.

acpgee

When I cook for vegans I use seitan sold in asian supermarkets known as "buddhist mock meat". These are wheat gluten based. Use like meat in any asian stir fry. Here is a sample recipe. I cut down the sugar in these typical American/Chinese recipes. It really looks the part, and texture is quite meaty too.

https://yupitsvegan.com/mongolian-seitan-vegan-beef/

Have you tried nut, soy or coconut milks to replace cow's milk in recipes? Also aquafaba (the water from tinned chickpeas, for example) is useful substitute for egg whites when cooking. You can even use it for meringue's but it is generally useful for replacing eggs when you need a batter or something to get bread crumbs to adhere to fish, for example. Another useful cooking ingredient is coconut cream which can be whipped like double cream.

Do check out the lesser known vegan meat substitutes such as seitan, quorn and tempeh.

Here is mom's Chinese contact fried fish recipe.

Finely dice a thumb of fresh ginger and a bunch of spring onions. You can set aside a few hours in advance if you put the ginger in a deep bowl and put the spring onions on top so that the ginger doesn't discolour from exposure to a lot of air.

When you want to eat microwave some fish in a serving dish with a lip. My mom would use whole carp, but I do this with everything from whole salmon trouts to tilapia fillets. When fish is cooked through sprinkle on the ginger and green onion mixture. Add several large glugs of soy, a glug of something acidic such as vinegar or lemon juice, a glug of something alcoholic like sake, rice wine, or dry sherry, and a large pinch of sugar. Bring the fish to the table. Heat up a third of a cup of vegetable oil in a small sauce pan until very hot. Use your nose, when it starts to smoke that is as hot as you can take it. Careful pour the hot oil over the fish and herbs to blend the flavours.

I have read about this tic born disease. All my sympathy. Feel free to let me know if you have any specific requests, such as dairy free desserts, or substitutes for animal based ingredients in recipes.

acpgee

This is a better vegan mongolian beef recipe. Simpler and less sugar.
https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/vegan-mongolian-beef/
Photo here of what the tins of seitan look like in the asian supermarket. Also available at Trader Joe's but likely more expensive there. I always have a tin of seitan in the store cupboard so I can whip up a stir fry on days that the fridge is empty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock_duck

Also check out tofu skin and mock meat tofu skin recipes. My mom used to make a meat substitute using them. Deep fried tofu puffs available in asian supermarkets are a different tofu texture especially good in vegan curries as the halved cubes suck up tons of curry sauce.

Some fish and vegan recipes you can google that I like:

Salade nicoise (skip the egg yolks sometimes called for in mayonaise based dressings and skip the hard boiled eggs, you can make aquafaba vegan mayonaise)
Gado gado (skip the hard boiled eggs some recipes call for)
Bouillabaise (skip the egg yolks in the rouille, and replace with a vegan mayo using aquafaba)
Vietnamese prawn summer rolls
Vietnamese garlic noodles (some recipes call for parmesan so skip that)
Sole a la meuniere
California roll your own hand rolls (some recipes will include tomago or Japanese omelette so skip that)
Prawn laksa (sometimes calls for hard boiled eggs that can be skipped)
Kakiage
Penne alla vodka (replace double cream with coconut cream, a few drops of Vietnamese fish sauce, or some nutritional yeast is a good substitute for parmesan for adding a umami hit)
Spaghetti aglio olio (same replacemeents for parmesan)
Bagna cauda (skip the butter and use olive only)