Plant-based salmon fillet looks, cooks, and tastes like the real thing

This month saw yet another triumph for food scientists as Toronto-based New School Foods unveiled a plant-based salmon substitute that replicates the taste and feel of grilled fillets without requiring you to ingest any real salmon.

The three-year-old business is tapping into the booming space of vegan seafood — a market expected to grow to $1.6 billion in value over the next ten years. 

What is New School Foods' plant-based salmon?

The plant-based salmon from New School Foods looks strikingly similar to the real thing, both raw and cooked, and provides the same amount of protein and Omega-3 fatty acids, according to the company's website. 

Christopher Bryson, CEO of New School Foods, told TechCrunch that while looking for research to invest in, he discovered that there was not much technology addressing whole cuts of proteins and very little focus on seafood.

Bryson noticed that high-moisture extrusion was frequently employed in other plant-based meat alternatives. He discovered that the high heat was pre-cooking the food, which didn't produce the texture and muscle fiber he was searching for.

"So we decided to create a new technology that didn't rely on high-moisture extrusion and was better suited for whole cuts," he said.

New School Foods ended up developing a unique muscle fiber and scaffolding platform. This enables the manufacture of whole-cut meat substitutes with the same colors, aromas, lipids, textures, and mouthfeel of traditional fish. Naturally, the specifics of the technology were not revealed. 

The familiar look and feel of New School Foods' plant-based salmon boil down to its entirely cold-based process, making it stand out from many other plant-based meat providers.

The company highlighted that its technology is now at a stage where it can be demonstrated and a pilot facility constructed.

Do salmon and cheese go together?

Last month we reported that a company called Armored Fresh introduced its zero-dairy cheese called "Almond cheese" during CES 2023- the world's biggest electronics consumer event in the world. 

Armored Fresh's innovative technological approach enables its cheese to melt, which is one of the biggest challenges confronting the plant-based cheese tech sector.

From our experience of tasting Almond Cheese, it was similar to creamy snacking cheese (Think, The Laughing Cow). So we're not implying that this type of cheese and grilled salmon go well together (of course, each to their own).

However, the two do help highlight how scientists all over are diligently working to do one thing: make our meals from plants. Naturally, this begs the following question: how would you have your plant-based salmon? And with what sides?