When I decided to take the road of plantbased diet, it was the most difficult thing to do because my family members and boyfriend do not welcome this idea. I had to always exert super, duper extra efforts whenever I am sharing a meal with them to put as much as many greens, fruits and more just to be able to eat as less meat as I can. Good thing, there are Facebook groups in the Philippines that advocate this kind of eating lifestyle like Manila Vegans, Vegan Philippines and Plant-Based Pilipinas Community sharing plantbased meal recipes. Of course, vegan restaurants in Manila and those selling plantbased frozen food also count. I am sure it was from Manila Vegans Facebook group I learned about Omnipork. It is the plantbased version of pork specifically the grounded type. I quickly messaged the woman who posted. One kilogram costs Php 550 plus shipping fee of Php 150 - I paid a total of Php 700.
Introduction of Omnipork
Omnipork like most of plantbased frozen food in Manila is a foreign commodity. Omnipork is actually an Asian product developed by Omnifoods, a company under Green Monday. Green Monday is an 8-year old company developing plantbased food as an answer to combat global warming and in one way or another - food shortage.
Right now, Omnipork is not available in malls and groceries in Manila. There are private individuals and small online shops that sell Omnipork that you should know if you want to buyOmnipork.
Ingredients of Omnipork
Omnipork's list of ingredients according to what is on the plastic packaging: water, protein blend (soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, fermented shiitake, pea & rice protein), palm oil, thickener (methylcellulose, maltodextrin), yeast extract, potato starch, cane sugar, salt, dextrose, natural flavour (certified sustainable ccanola oil & sunflower oil), dextrose, natural colors blend (caramel III, beet red, anthonycanins, paprika), anticaking (gum ariabic, silicon dioxide), vitamin B12.
I checked its official website, it shows different list of ingredients for Omnipork: Water, Protein Blend (Soy Protein Concentrate, Soy Protein Isolate, Shiitake Fermented Pea & Rice Protein), Thickeners (Methylcellulose, Maltodextrin), Yeast Extract, Potato Starch, Cane Sugar, Salt, Natural Flavour (Contains Canola and Sunflower Oil), Barley Malt Extract, Colour (Beet Red), Dextrose. Contains Soybeans & Cereals Containing Gluten.
What's the taste of Omnipork
My first impression of Omnipork is that it has resemblance to the looks, taste and even smell of the real pork meat. Omnipork's color is pale pink. The texture is soft like the ground pork. The smell has similarity to ground pork - promise! Actually, Omnipork has better smell because of course it did not came from a cadaver of a dead pig.
What dishes can I cook using Omnipork?
I am staying in my boyfriend's house for the whole duration of quarantine/lockdown so it is only the two of us that consume food. That is why I was able to stretc out the one kilo worth of Omnipork to 4 kinds of dishes. My boyfriend hates plantbased food so while I do this, I also cooked the original meat version and in the end I mix them well together.
1. Omnipork sisig
Sisig is the first thing that came to my mind when I decided to cook for the first time using Omnipork. Most of the ingredients are within my reach and cooking is very easy. Sisig is a Filipino food made of minced pork, chicken liver, butter, onions, eggs, mayonnaise and calamansi. It is usually served hot paired with a cup of warm rice. For me, Omnipork is the exact replacement for cooking plantbased sisig. Why? Because Omnipork is already in minced state. No need to do lots of chopping. No need for gross sight of blood from the pig and chicken's liver.
I cooked another one that has finely chopped chicken for my boyfriend's sisig. When it was time for lunch, I secretly mixed the two. Boyfriend did not noticed at all because I was too anxious I put way too much small pieces of chicken. The photo above is sisig made of Omnipork plus brown rice topped with malunggay leaves.
2. Omnipork spaghetti
Another excellent choice I have made for using Omnipork is for spaghetti. Once Omnipork is mixed with your choice of spaghetti sauce, 99% you won't know the difference. Just make sure you also add grounded pepper, small pieces of garlic and cheese. I topped mine with malunggay leaves plus dried oregano leaves.
This time, I did not cooked a separate sauce with real ground pork. The boyfriend did not noticed the difference - at all!
3. Omnipork Picadillo
Another Filipino dish that can be perfectly cooked using Omnipork is giniling or picadillo. Its basic ingredients are carrots, potato, ground meat and tomato. Of course, green peas and raisins contribute to achieve the traditional taste of picadillo or giniling.
This time the boyfriend bought some ground meat so I have no choice but use these. However, 75% was made of Omnipork and 25% came from ground pork meat. Boyfriend did not noticed any difference in taste!
4. Omnipork Fried Rice
One of the cons of having an American boyfriend is less chances of having breakfast made of silog varieties. We either have smoothie, pastries, donuts, waffles or pancakes usually so one night I decided to speak up. There were enough brown rice as leftover from the most recent lunch we've had so I suggested we make fried rice. He agreed.
Omnipork once again is a great fit for making fried rice as substitute for ground meat. I added leftover red bell pepper, sprouted mung beans, chopped beans, onions and garlic. I put butter if you're wondering why it is colored yellow. I added egg as per request by the boyfriend. He did not noticed any change of taste at all.
5. Omnipork Sweet n Sour
With the help of premixed sweet and sour sauce, cooking this kind of dish was faster. All I added in my end is spinach, onion and garlic. The only one that took time actually is cooking the plantbased meatballs using Omnipork. I used breading mix, eggs, and Omnipork then once blended together and formed as balls, the next thing to do is deep fry.
I made 3 balls made purely from ground meat and mixed with the rest of Omnipork. Boyfriend did not notice he is eating two different kinds of meatballs in his sweet and sour dish!
Cooking instructions for Omnipork
This is the official instructions as per Omnipork's website:
Thawing method: Put in refrigerator for 8 hours or immerse sealed package in cold water until thawed. Cook within 48 hours and store refrigerated.
Cooking Instructions: 1. Add vegetable oil & fry patty or sautee crumble until brown (4-5 mins). 2. Cover & steam (6-8 mins). Cook until internal temperature reaches a minimum of 74 °C.
If you wanna see how Omnipork looks like few minutes while thawed. See below photo:
Nutrient content of Omnipork
Per 100 grams of Omnipork it as 12.5 grams of protein, 4.6 grams of dietary fiber and 2.2 grams of carbohydrates. Unlike other pork meat, Omnipork has NO added hormones and antibiotics. The ingredients used are all non-GMO. OF COURSE, Omnipork has no cholesterol at all!
Omnipork has 86% less saturated fat, 260% more calcium and 127% more iron compared to pork meat. For those who are vegans because of religion, Omnipork is also for you because it has NO garlic or onion.
Will I buy Omnipork again?
Definitely, yes :) For me whose mind and palate are already open to platbased eating, Omnipork will be a great addition however for someone who is a heavy eater of parts of a dead animal - there's always a chance you'll say this tastes a bit different to the one we used to have.
Omnipork should be kept inside a freezer so for those wo do not have refrigerator - you may not be able to enjoy Omnipork unless you buy the smaller pack. The next one I am looking forward is the plantbased luncheon meat of OmniFoods.
Where to buy Omnipork in Manila?
I bought mine via Sustainable Grocer. Here's the link https://sustainable-grocer.com/.
If you want more options for plantbased food, you can order Omnipork and more via this link https://www.instagram.com/primepacificfoods/.
Omnipork website: https://omnipork.co/
Omnipork Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/OmniPork/
Omnipork Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omnipork/
No comments