I am beginning to think the future of meat may be, well, no future. It would be plant-based. I mean, it could happen now that Nissin Foods, the Japanese food company that is mostly famously known for its cup noodles, has successfully developed plant-based eel. You heard that right. Even the iconic Japanese eel dish Kabayaki has taken the vegan route.
But what Nissin Foods have done is not out of luxury or holier-than-thou beliefs but more of necessity. The freshwater eel that is used to prepare Kabayaki is Anguilla japonica which has been classified as IB on the list of endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which compels the eel-loving Japanese food culture to look to aquaculture.
But breeding eels is not easy. It requires glass eel, which is basically juvenile eel, which needs to be captured in the wild which nature has little to offer. The shortage of naturally bred glass eels drove the price up. While the technology to breed eels from eggs is available, the cost of doing so remains too high to be commercially viable, said Nissin Foods, and hence the decision to go the plant-based route in order to satisfy the demand for this delicacy without causing the extinction of eels. Here are the official words:
“The development of plant-based eel involved the major challenges of achieving the texture and appearance close to real kabayaki without the use of animal-derived ingredients… In order to achieve a texture similar to real kabayaki, the batter is divided into three layers: the white meat layer, the middle layer, and the skin layer. The white meat layer is made mainly from soy protein granules to create a fluffy, yet fibrous texture. The middle layer is made with vegetable oils and other ingredients to capture the thick texture of the fat between the eel meat and skin*3, and the skin layer is made with bamboo charcoal powder to recreate the unique dark color… The kabayaki‘s unique appearance is achieved by stuffing the three layers of batter into a special mold, steaming it, coating it with sauce, and then searing it to achieve a grilled look.”
So, are you ready for fake eel meat? I cannot say for sure since I was never a fan of Kabayaki.
In any case, Nissin Food did say when the plant-based eel will be available and if it will be less costly than natural unagi.
Images: Nissin Foods.
