Impossible Foods now makes fake pork and it's damn good

Impossible Foods now makes fake pork and it's damn good

Impossible Foods is ambitious. The company hopes to replace all meat with plant-based alternatives and end animal-based agriculture within the next 15 years. The company plans to accomplish this mission by creating the very best meat alternatives, so that people can feel satisfied without eating beef, and now pork.

The Impossible Burger tastes just like the real thing, and now the company has a new "meat" to challenge the food industry. Impossible Pork debuted today (January 6) ahead of CES, giving customers the opportunity to sample the gluten-free, kosher and halal alternative to ground pork.

Impossible Pork is not a bacon or pork chop alternative. It is designed to be a substitute for ground pork in a variety of dishes, like the Impossible Burger. I tried the Banh Mi, Char Siew Buns, Tantan Noodles, Katsu, Pork Shumai (my personal favorite), and the sweet and sour Numb Pork Meatballs.

Each dish had the texture of ground pork, and the flavor of the meat was enhanced (and in some cases defeated) by the accompanying sauces. Our least favorite was the bahn mi, which had the least coverage by the sauce and the least pork-like flavor.

If you were expecting Impossible Pork to be a healthier alternative to the real thing, it appears not so. Impossible Pork is cholesterol-free, free of animal hormones and antibiotics, but it is still a sodium bomb.

However, the pork has 40% fewer calories than the same size of real pork, useful for those watching their weight. Like Impossible Beef, Impossible's pork-like products are remarkably close to the real thing, especially when dressed up with other ingredients. San Francisco-based chef Traci de Jardin said that cooking Impossible Pork is similar to cooking with the real thing, as is the fatty mouthfeel one gets when eating pork.

Along with Impossible Pork, Impossible Sausage will also be available. The Impossible Sausage will roll out as a new menu item, the Impossible Croissant Wich, at 139 Burger King locations later this month.

Impossible says it will not release a bacon product until the most hardcore bacon worshipers think it tastes like the real thing. However, the company is testing alternatives to bacon.

"When we release the kosher bacon cheeseburger, it will be an epic moment," says Pat Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods.

For the latest news and hands-on impressions from Las Vegas, be sure to check out our CES 2020 hub.

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