Taste test: 5 mock meat dishes at the Bangkok Vegetarian Festival

Most full-time vegans and vegetarians generally aren’t interested in enjoying the taste/sensation of eating all those meats they've given up as part of their lifestyle choice.

But for the thousands of Thais of Chinese descent taking part in the annual nationwide 10-day Vegetarian Festival, “vegetarian meats” take the place of the pork, fish and chicken found in the regular Thai dishes they enjoy all year.

The substitutes are usually made of wheat glutton, konjac, tofu and vegetable protein, but flavored and cooked to resemble everything from chicken on a stick to fish balls. 

On a stroll down Yaowarat Road in Bangkok’s Chinatown neighborhood this week, where the Bangkok Vegetarian Festival is in action until October 6, we taste-tested five random dishes made with mock meat. 

1. Stir-fried 'pork' with basil

If the idea of eating that fake pork in the front vat displeases, this Chinatown vendor has plenty of straight veggie dishes as well.

Taste-wise, the khao pad krapao "moo" (pork) served at this Yaowarat street vendor was the most pleasing of the five dishes sampled. Which is surprising, given the mock dish can’t be made with many of the main ingredients: pork, fish sauce, oyster sauce (though purists leave this out anyways) or garlic.

Price: 30 baht/plate

Verdict: Heavy on chili peppers. The mock pork is chewy yet oily and won't fool anyone, but as a meal it really does hit the spot.  

2. 'Seafood' cakes

The fried mock fish cakes on the left weren't all that bad, though the delicious vegetarian spring rolls on the right were far more satisfying.

Normally made with prawns, fish or crab, the fried glutton substitute at this street vendor adds in plenty of veggies to give it some added weight.

Price: 20 baht

Verdict: Given seafood cakes are already somewhat rubbery, this dish isn't a huge stretch though nobody could be deceived into thinking they're eating the real thing. 

The cakes are quite tasty with a chewy texture, though very oily. Not much seafood flavor, but the delicious sweet chili dipping sauce saves the day. 

3. ‘Duck’ on rice

This dodgy duck isn't fooling anyone. The sauce, on the other hand, is delicious.

The imitation version of Chinatown's classic Chinese-influenced duck on rice with a sweet but tangy red sauce tastes similar to its authentic bird-based counterpart, though of all five meals this was the least convincing.

Price: 40 baht

Verdict: The texture of the mock duck, almost mushroom like, wasn’t at all comparable to the real thing. Though the flavor was shockingly duck-like. The sauce was the saving grace, making the dish edible. 

4. Steamed buns filled with red ‘pork’  

Because the meat in authentic steamed buns is minced and covered in red gravy, it’s easier to pull of these fake pork versions.

Chinese sarabao sai moo daeng –-- red pork filled steamed buns buns –- are a popular snack throughout much of Thailand. The mock version features some sort of shredded protein-based mock meat that has a similar texture to the real thing.

Price: 50 baht for six buns

Verdict: This fake pork version is so heavy on the sauce that you could be fooled into thinking you’re eating an actual pork-filled bun, though the bun itself was a bit of a let down as it was too dry.  

5. 'Fish' balls

Fish balls, fish balls. Eat them up, yum.

Made with seaweed to give them a more realistic taste, these fake fish balls have a very similar texture to the real thing. In fact, of all the dishes on this list, this is the one that could very well fool a fish ball amateur.

Price: 30 baht for a bag of eight

Verdict:  The seaweed does give the ball a fishy taste, but the vendor adds so much chili sauce it tends to overpower the flavor of the ball. Which is probably a good thing.

For more mock meats, including some convincing "chicken satay," check out this post on blog Migrationology.com. The Bangkok Post, meanwhile, has a piece on just how healthy those mock meats really are.

Though fake meat is in abundance, there are plenty of straight veggie dishes in Chinatown served as part of the festival that aren't trying to fool anyone into thinking they're something they're not.

The Bangkok Vegetarian Festival runs until October 6, so there's still time to go check it out. 

More on CNNGo: Bangkok Vegetarian Festival now under way