Transglutaminase is an enzyme that is popular among modernist chefs for two main purposes – to glue different meats together for special effects (like a modern turducken), and to create consistently shaped and sized portions for even cooking.
My question is whether there are any known vegetarian applications for this enzyme? Has it been used with (say) tofu, eggs, or cheese? Is there a way to combine it with another protein to get it to glue lower protein things together like most vegetables?
Best Answer
As a matter of fact, here is a link to a PDF of a technical article that talks all about using microbial transglutaminase on vegetable proteins. This article is not for the scientifically faint-of-heart, and it does not contain recipes, but it does review ways industry has found to use transglutaminase in making vegetable-based food products, using things such as soy, wheat, rice, pea, sunflower, and sesame.
I have never tried using it to mix vegetable proteins with animal proteins, but chemically speaking it should work. Unfortunately, I have no source of recipes; you might just have to experiment.