Veggie satay: Singapore lab cooks up Asian favorites, minus the meat

Veggie satay: Singapore lab cooks up Asian favorites, minus the meat

From faux-chicken satay to imitation beef rendang, a high-tech Singapore laboratory is replicating popular Asian dishes with plant-based meat alternatives to feed the region’s growing appetite for sustainable food. Flavor specialists and food scientists in white coats work with plant extracts at the newly opened facility to create vegetarian versions of traditionally meaty dishes that taste like the real thing.

Demand for sustainable foods in Asia, while small compared to the West, is rising in tandem with greater awareness about healthy eating and concerns about the environmental impact of meat consumption. Plant-based burgers and chicken nuggets have already found their way to the region, but US food processing giant ADM is focusing its efforts on dishes with more local appeal.

“We work with local chefs, work with local customers to really develop and tailor the taste to what’s needed here in Asia,” said Dirk Oyen, the company’s Southeast Asia vice president and general manager for human nutrition. “That’s really the key – so we can create the local taste.”

The ADM lab has cooked veggie versions of satay (grilled meat skewers served with a peanut sauce) and rendang (a beef curry slow-cooked in coconut milk and spices). It hopes to perfect the base