‘I Tried the Viral TikTok Vegan Mozzarella’

From plantbasednews.org/lifestyle

You can easily make this viral mozzarella cheese at home 

Merle O’Neal, a well-known vegan content creator, recently shared her experience making a viral vegan mozzarella recipe from Vegan Scratch Kitchen. In her YouTube video titled Let’s Try This Viral TikTok VEGAN Mozzarella, she tested the plant-based cheese alternative that has gained significant attention on social media.

O’Neal, who has built a following for her plant-based recipes and food reviews, explained that she has made and tested many vegan mozzarella recipes in the past. This time, however, she was trying a recipe that its creator claims helped launch their social media career.

Merle O'Neal shared a viral vegan mozzarella recipe with an unusual secret ingredient - Media Credit: Merle O'Neal

The recipe, developed by Vegan Scratch Kitchen, is notable for its use of tahini, an ingredient not commonly associated with cheese-making. “It’s made with tahini – yeah, like the sesame seed paste,” O’Neal explained. “I’m very curious about what that’s going to do to my taste buds, but only time will tell.” The other base ingredients include boiled cashews, coconut cream, and nutritional yeast, combined with spices such as garlic powder, onion powder, mustard seed, and fennel seed.

How to make the viral vegan mozzarella

O’Neal walked viewers through the preparation process, boiling cashews and reserving the water to use as a base liquid. She then blended the softened cashews with coconut cream, tahini, vegan butter, and the spice mixture, creating a smooth, creamy mixture. To achieve the signature mozzarella texture, the mixture was heated and thickened with pectin and tapioca starch. “Pectin is normally used for jellies to get that sort of gelatinous texture, but it’s derived from plants, specifically fruit,” she explained while whisking the thickening agent into the mixture.

                      The mozzarella works well when cooked on pizza        Merle O'Neal

To shape the mozzarella, O’Neal followed a viral hack from the original recipe, using a glass to create a cylindrical form. She then let it sit in the fridge, advising viewers to keep it there for at least four to six hours.

The following day, O’Neal retrieved the cheese. After trying it raw, she found it to be creamy but a slightly different from traditional mozzarella. “Mozzarella is the most difficult one to replicate, in my opinion,” she said. “The texture is so unique – it’s globular and blobby and bouncy and chewy and soft, but it’s also melty and stretchy. It’s got so much going on.” She noted a faint coconut flavour and a subtle aftertaste, possibly from the fennel. “The thing about mozzarella is it’s got this milky flavour that is so hard to replicate without milk,” she added.

She then tested the cheese baked on a pizza, which significantly improved the texture and flavour. “Damn, that looks good. Are you kidding? Look at that,” she said, showing the melted result. After taking a bite, she confirmed, “When you cook it, you melt it, you brown it up, it tastes better and it tastes more like cheese.” She suggested that increasing the salt content might further enhance the flavor.

To get an outside perspective, O’Neal had her friends taste the cheese. Their reactions were mixed but generally positive. “I’ll say the texture is weird – it’s giving creamier than I would want, but I’m not mad at the flavour,” one friend commented. Another added: “It’s not fooling me at all, but it’s fine… The vegans have not gone too far.”

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/viral-tiktok-vegan-mozzarella/