from Hacker News

Scientists just invented a soybean that taste like pork

by ritabratamaiti on 7/11/23, 10:16 AM with 25 comments

• by aradox66 on 7/11/23, 3:31 PM

  The synthetic plant based meat foods are missing the point - the flavor comes from the fat, not the protein! Plant based whey, or heme, or pork protein isn't gonna do it. We want the fat!!

• by JoeAltmaier on 7/11/23, 11:36 AM

  I wish folks would quit harping on this. Make soybeans more delicious - wonderful! Whether they are 'like pork' is irrelevant. Pork is different from chicken and beef and gator and rabbit... let these new foods taste like themselves. We can come up with good recipes for them too.

• by ThinkBeat on 7/12/23, 10:02 AM

  I dont think something vegetable will taste and feel the same as real meat. It is a blidn alley.

  Instead focus on making food with plants that taste good.

  You tell someone, this hamburger made with "plant based derivative" will taste just the same as the real working. The guy bites into it and is immediately disappointed.

  If instead you can say here is a burger that is plant based. I think it tastes pretty good. The guy bites into it and evaluates the taste on its own. perhaps it takes ok.

  Focus on making great plant based food that takes good on its own. Not telling your thing is just like steak, because it is not.

  We have rich and old cultures in the world that are mostly based on plant-based foods with natural ingrediens.

• by LatteLazy on 7/11/23, 11:22 AM

  I think actually competing with meat will be exceptionally difficult. I don't understand why startups don't start smaller: how about a soy bean with a full, balanced profile of amino acids for humans and very little else? Taste can be manufactured after.

  I also note they carefully avoid referring to these are what they are GMOs or any references to concerns around soy intake (though I think those are mostly unfounded?)