How do I get texture and that umami hit without meat?

Smoky peppers, spices, soy and oil all help with that fatty, salty, deeply savoury flavour, breadcrumbs and mushrooms add texture

I’ve recently given up eating pork, but I’m struggling to compensate for its umami. How can I recreate the taste and texture in, say, carbonara or my beloved chorizo dishes?
James, by email
For Joe Woodhouse, author of Weeknight Vegetarian, there’s just something about white beans: “Whether cooked from dried, then dropping chopped onion, garlic, sage and thyme into the broth, or just dumping a jar or tin into a pan with fried garlic and sage, the smell that fills the kitchen is like that of sausagemeat,” he says. “It tastes a bit like it, too – or at least the memory of it, bearing in mind I haven’t eaten the stuff for 30 years.”

The quest for that umami savouriness could start with soy sauce, Woodhouse says (“or Slow Sauce’s oat shoyu”), while chef Mike Davies’ first port of call would be Totole’s Chinese mushroom seasoning powder: “It’s super-effective in replacing the richness and fattiness that comes from cooking with any meat, and especially pork,” says the chef-director of the Camberwell Arms, south London. “Honestly, it’s such a cheat-code ingredient.” Continue reading…
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