Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So these mystical, magical soy curls, what's the deal with them? I'm assuming you'd find them at a health food store, but in what sort of aisle?

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY.
How do you eat them? Are they like chips or something? Are they amazing?
Are they something that people love or hate? (I'm thinking like nooch or something...)

Cure me of my ignorance, PPK!

I really want to get on the soy curl bandwagon too. But they're not sold in Chicago, and I feel squiggly about buying food on the interwebs. I need to get over it.

They're made by Butler Foods, and seem to be some sort of dehydrated soy thing. People use them like tofu or seitan or something equally magical and awesome. You can buy them on their website.

They're soy protein-y chunks/strips that you rehydrate: http://www.butlerfoods.com. They're quick and easy and take on other flavors really well. I've only ever found them at the vegan grocery store, but I think some Whole Foods (and I'm assuming other grocery stores) carry them.

When you find them, whatever you do with them, you have to remember to BAKE IN THE FLAVOR.

Chatter beat me to it, but hellz, yeah!

Where in whole foods would they sell them? My whole foods kind of sucks, so they probably don't have them anyway.

The only time I've ever seen them in Boston was at VegFest, so I'm betting you won't find them in most stores on the East Coast.

They are worth finding. They are really, really good!

Brian needs to find this thread, he knows a thing or two about a thing or two.

Nope. I order mine from Food Fight or Vegan Essentials.

Truth.

They are pretty good. Here in MD, Pangea sells them. I've also heard that those Christian Stores sell them. We have one but I haven't tried going into them to see if they have them.

I have never had a soy curl myself. I'm a little bit afraid of them.

I asked about them in my Whole Foods (in Raleigh, NC) and they had no idea what I was talking about.

You might have better luck looking at co-ops if you have any near you. Fortunately for me they sell them at my local vegan bakery (along with Dandies). They look like large, curly strips of TVP and I assume you eat/make them similarly.

Check out this video of Julie Hasson making BBQ soy curls. Looks delish!

If you go to the Butler Foods website, it has a list of stores in each state that sell them.

Also, I recommend storing them in the fridge or freezer. I had some in the pantry that I hadn't used in 6+ months and they went rancid. The new packaging actually mentions storing in fridge.

Soy curls are totally easy. First you soak them. Then you squeeze them. Then you sauce it up and bake in the flavor. Now you can screw this up real bad if you brown them first then try to sauce it up because then the flavor just slides right off then you're chewing on flavorless insides.

We're in for a treat when MBM finds this thread.

Nowhere in Chicago, kara kara? That sucks. I don't want to order them on the internet in case I don't like them. When I buy on the internet, I go all out in bulk, baby. If they're going to charge me ridiculous amounts for shipping, I'm going to make it worth it.

I just had my first Soy Curl experience last night! AZ vegans, you can find them at Green (the restaurant, you know).

Anyways, I soaked them in veggie broth and brown sugar and then sauteed them in a pan with onions and then BBQ sauced it up and served it on a toasted roll. It was pretty good! They don't double in size when you soak them like TVP, but they have a very meaty texture. I think next I do fajitas.

I'm in the minority here, but I just can't with the soy curls. Even after they are soaked and squeezed and cooked, the insides still feel like a weird mush in my mouth. Don't like. Maybe I just haven't made them properly, baking in the flavor and stuff.

That's what I'm talkin' about!

I've not had good luck with soy curls. (I've only had soy curls I've cooked. I haven't seen them in restaurants in my area.) I'd generally describe my results as slimy. Without describing everything I'd tried, I'm wondering if I am generally under or over-cooking them? Or possibly I am using too much liquid? When I look at pictures of cooked soy curls on-line, they look so much better than what I see in my kitchen. I can't tell if the issue is with my efforts, or if soy curls tend to have a very soft texture? I had imagined them to be similar to a giant TVP.

I LOVE soy curls! They are great in Stir-Fry, Fajitas and anything that calls for Veggie Chick'n. Really versatile and pretty cheap - like TVP.

In the NW they are pretty available...I have found the at several health food stores.

Azure carries them online: www.azurestandard.com/shop/search?q=soy+curls&submit=

Good luck

I don't find them slimy at all, or even all that soft usually. When I'm done rehydrating them, I squeeze the liquid out really thoroughly so that they can soak up stuff like soy sauce [insert joke about BAKING IN THE FLAVOR]. I mainly use them in stir fries, fajitas and the like so they get at least a little browned. I put them in jambalaya once and I didn't like how soft they came out that way, but maybe if I'd browned them a little first, or even just added them later it would have worked better. If you're game to try them again, dump the rehydrated curls in a colandar and use the back of a big spoon to press a lot of liquid out of them.

I might have to check out Pangea, I'm staying at my parents for the holidays, so I'm a bit closer to Rockville than normal. I'm ready for some epic grocery shopping!

I'm going to have to order some online. All this talk is really making me want soy curls.