{"id":1658,"date":"2023-05-02T03:11:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T03:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2023-05-02T03:11:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T03:11:54","slug":"from-past-to-present-the-history-of-plant-based-meats-and-their-current-trends-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/2023\/05\/02\/from-past-to-present-the-history-of-plant-based-meats-and-their-current-trends-in-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00ad\u00adFrom Past to Present: The History of Plant-based Meats and their Current Trends in Asia<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plant-based meat is actually centuries old!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Plant-based meat alternatives have been a hot topic for the last few years and are still associated with novelty. But did you know that the first record of a plant-based meat alternative was over 2000 years ago? Plant-based meat has a long and rich history in Asia and has been ingrained in various Eastern cultures since it was first consumed in ancient China. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons plant-based meat alternatives were widely consumed in China was due to Buddhism<\/a>. Buddhism prohibits the killing of any person or animal, leading Buddhists to adopt vegetarian diets. As part of their tradition, Buddhists incorporated \u201cFirst-generation<\/a>\u201d plant-based meat alternatives \u2013 tofu, tempeh, and seitan \u2013 into their vegetarian diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1: A brief history of traditional plant-based meat products in Asia. Graphic belongs to Sensory & Ingestive Behaviour Team, Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation, A*STAR Singapore. Photos of the plant-based meat alternatives from (in order of map timeline) Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, Wikimedia Commons<\/a>, Sensory Ingestive Behaviour Team (A*STAR), City Foodsters<\/a>, Wikimedia Commons<\/a> & Yuuji<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tofu – the first reported plant-based product<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While it is difficult to pinpoint when the first plant-based product was made, tofu (coagulated soy milk) was the first reported product and was created in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)<\/a> over 20 centuries ago. Tofu was extensively consumed throughout various ancient Chinese Dynasties (Tang, Song etc.). Tempeh (fermented soybean), a traditional Indonesian staple, has been consumed in Southeast Asia for the past four to five centuries<\/a> or longer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergence of \u201cSecond-Generation\u201d Plant-based Meat Products<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the 1300s<\/a>, innovation in plant-based meat alternatives that were not merely traditional tofu or tempeh began to appear. Products like mock eel meat and mock sausage were developed in China. These are coined \u201cSecond-generation<\/a>\u201d plant-based meat alternatives. By the 1800s, such products were widespread in various Asian countries like Japan, Indonesia, and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 2: \u201c2nd-generation\u201d traditional plant-based meat alternatives commonly eaten in Asian (From Top to Bottom, Left to Right: Mock Char Siew, Mock Bakkwa, Mock Duck, Mock Tempura Prawn, Mock Fish Slices and Mock Mutton). Pictures belong to Sensory & Ingestive Behaviour Team, Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation, A*STAR Singapore.<\/em>

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In the early 20th<\/sup> century, food technology and food processing methods continuously improved. Fried textured vegetable protein<\/a> (TVP) (a mixture of soy protein and wheat gluten) further enhanced the taste and texture of plant-based meat products. More westernised food products were also being developed in Asia, such as Ganmodoki<\/em>, a deep-fried tofu patty burger originating from Japan. Although \u201cSecond-generation\u201d plant-based meat alternatives originated from Buddhist temples, they were not eaten on a day-to-day basis as they were considered too extravagant<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musings From the Temple: Quotes by Monks on Plant-based Meat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 3: Buddhism values simplicity in their meals. Graphic belongs to Sensory & Ingestive Behaviour Team, Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation, A*STAR Singapore. Quotes are from Plant-Based Meat Has Existed for Centuries in Asia\u2014and It’s Still Going Strong (foodandwine.com)<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fast Forward to 2023: What’s Trending in Asia Now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Plant-based meat alternatives have come a long way since their creation thousands of years ago. In Asia, constant innovation, and advancement of technology in the plant-based industry has birthed a new era of plant-based meat products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spoilt for Choice: The Rise of Asian Plant-based Meat Manufacturers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Figure 4  Showcase of some established Asian plant-based meat brands and their notable Asian-inspired products (Brands featured (from top to bottom):<\/em> OmniMeat<\/em><\/a> (Hong Kong), <\/em>First Pride<\/em><\/a> (Malaysia), <\/em>Next Meats<\/em><\/a> (Japan), <\/em>Unlimeat<\/em><\/a> (Korea), <\/em>Let\u2019s Plant Meat<\/em><\/a> (Thailand)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A rising number of plant-based meat manufacturers and start-ups have been established in Asia. The Asian plant-based food market<\/a> has been estimated to be worth 17,473 million USD and is expected to grow by about 10% in the next few years. Several brands do not only make the usual plant-based burger patties and nuggets but have products that specifically cater to the Asian palate. For example, OmniMeat<\/a> offers various Asian-inspired plant-based products such as luncheon meat, gyoza and shrimp dumplings. On the other hand, Unlimeat<\/a> has released plant-based mandu (Korean meat dumpling), and vegetarian Korean-marinated barbeque meat alternatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Looking Into the Future: Importance of the Asian Plant-based Market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although Asians consume the most amount of meat worldwide<\/a>, traditional plant-based meat alternatives have been an integral part of Asian\u2019s diets for many centuries<\/a>, so it should be relatively easy for Asian consumers to welcome and include novel plant-based meat products into their diets compared to western society.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps we need to look at what drives the continual consumption of traditional plant-based meat products; what has kept them a constant component in the Eastern diet for so many centuries? These findings could be helpful to aid plant-based meat alternative manufacturers to develop novel plant-based meat products that have the desirable taste and texture of their traditional counterparts, so that consumers can discover some familiarity in these novel products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xanthe Lin and Amanda Lim, 2 May 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plant-based meat is actually centuries old! Plant-based meat alternatives have been a hot topic for the last few years and are still associated with novelty. But did you know that the first record of a plant-based meat alternative was over 2000 years ago? Plant-based meat has a long and rich history in Asia and has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1658"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions\/1667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/futurefoodscatalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}