Veggie Burger

Hey folks, I have a veggie burger on the menu at my restaurant in Chicago and am trying to transition it into being fully vegan. The current contents are as follows:

black bean

maitake

farro

mirepoix

miso

umami powder (dried shitake, kombu, tomato powder, garlic powder, onion powder, other stuff)

leeks

fennel

garlic

fine herbs

corn

beets

ketchup

dijon

cotija cheese

bread crumb

does anyone have suggestions on how to bind this thing with these ingredients and without egg and bread crumb? i'll give your a free one if you are ever in the city.

Also, are vegan buns a thing?

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fisher23

This would be my suggestion. Add some sodium casinate, albeit with the cotija cheese you may not need much, this is for additional protein, Then use a protein binder (AKA:meat glue), Activa RM. ChefSteps has a Hi-Tech Veggie Burger recipe too.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Since he's transitioning to a vegan recipe, I'm betting he wants to omit the cheese and that the casinate is a no-go.

fisher23

@Brandon_Byrd_40557 you have much more knowledge of a vegan diet than I do. I remember others stating that about the caseinate as it is dairy derived, albeit an ingredient in supposed dairy free creamer. How about a TVP or other veggie derived protein for the Activa to bind with? I'm sure you have a better idea than I do, this was my best suggestion off the top of my head.

brian_martin2001

Obviously, you're going to want to lose the cojita cheese. There are a variety of vegan cheese substitutes that you can choose from, so that's going to be a matter of finding one that suites the taste you're looking for. Honestly, though, the only thing that separates your current recipe from being vegan is the cheese. Omit that, and you have a vegan burger. Most bread products are already vegan, you will need to look at ingredients (if purchasing) to make sure, but it's not going to be that difficult to find. Granted, not too many use that as an advertising ploy, they will often not put that right on the packaging, however, if you look on the information panel (recipe ingredients list if making your own) you'll find most do not have dairy or egg in them. I would recommend against Activa RM: this is NOT a vegan product. Activa RM has soluble milk proteins in the blend. Activa TI would be a better choice as the only ingredient it has, besides the transglutaminase, is maltodextrin. You might try bolstering the protein content to give the Activa TI something to work with by adding something like quinoa or beans or what have you. Out of curiosity, why are you trying to omit the bread crumbs? Hope this helps. Let us know what you end up doing, and how you make out. Good luck!

fisher23

Thanks brian, I can see I need to study up on my vegan acceptable ingredients. As it still had the cotija cheese I wasn't even thinking about dairy.

brian_martin2001

Vegan prohibits anything that comes from an animal: directly or indirectly. Some take it one step further And eliminate anything that is processed, some even if it was harvested (i.e. it needs to fall off the tree/plant of it's own accord). I admire their commitment, but it certainly isn't for me.

fisher23

Or me..I enjoy being a carnivore too much, lol.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Kenji has a good article on vegan patties at Serious Eats. Here's the final recipe. For the main binding component, he uses chickpeas that he purees with a bit of flour (to act as a binder) and some baking powder (to keep things light). You could try that trick with your black beans... puree half of them with some added flour and baking powder and then coarsely chop the remainder.

If that doesn't work, you could try adding a vegan egg replacer product meant for baking -- or maybe even some vital wheat gluten -- to help keep things bound together.

Brandon_Byrd_40557

And as @brian_100903 notes below, many (if not most) bread products are vegan so you shouldn't have to look too hard to find vegan bread crumbs or burger buns. Just stay away from brioche! (And read the ingredients...)

coryhansen78

The hi-tech mushroom burger comments contain a bit from @Ben_Johnson_34605 mentioning using soy protein and Activa TI for a vegan version. I bet it would work.

egan_quinn_152835

Free veggie burgers for all! Thanks guys, much appreciated.

fisher23

You're probably in luck with me, I don't get to Chicago very often. But Brandon is there, I think, Lol!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Yep! Although I won't be for very long... moving back to NC with my wife to be closer to family. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop by Small Fry before I leave the city, but I wish @egan_quinn_152835 the best of luck with his opening. The poutine on the menu looks delicious. How can you go wrong with triple cooked chips?