Catering to vegans and vegetarians these days is popular and
profitable. However, the purity of vegan and current concocted
substitute offerings seem to be at odds. Reminds me of the
purist greenies who decided bottled water is better than natural
water and are now running away from the consequences of millions
of pounds of trash plastic bottles their cause created.
Like with plant based
burgers, new vegan does not mean cheap. In fact, Just brand
vegan eggs suggested price for 12 oz (about 7-8 eggs) is $7.99
vs. $1 to 1.20 for a dozen real eggs. So, 10 cents per egg vs.
about $1 per mung bean egg equivalent.
JUST egg's is a plant
based egg substitute. According to its website, Just eggs are
made from: "Water, Mung Bean Protein Isolate, Expeller-Pressed
Canola Oil, Dehydrated Onion, Gellan Gum, Natural Carrot
Extractives, Natural Flavors (sic), Natural Turmeric
Extractives, Potassium Citrate, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Sugar,
Tapioca Syrup, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate, Transglutaminase,
Nisin, and contains soy."
According to Food
Navigator, JUST's process for extracting the protein is: "the
raw mung beans are de-hulled and milled to produce flour, which
is mixed with water and a food-grade defoaming agent to form a
slurry, the pH of which is adjusted with a food-grade sodium
hydroxide solution for solubization of the target protein into
the aqueous solution.”
A serving of JUST Egg
contains 5 grams of protein and zero carbs, similar to a real
egg. It works for scrambled eggs, omelets, stir-fries, French
toast, and crepes. It does not mimic the properties of an egg in
baking nor will it emulsify when it is raw, meaning it is no
good for something like a carbonara or a salad dressing.
Mung beans originated
in India and are typically found in many Far East and Middle
Eastern diets. When bean sprouts are called for in recipes, it
generally refers to germinated mung bean or soybean sprouts.
About 7 ounces (202 grams) of boiled mung beans contains 212
calories. Generally speaking, mung beans, but not necessarily
Just Eggs are healthy for us.
Mmmm, going to gas up with some mung bean eggs for breakfast.