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I made some vegan Swedish meatballs (lentils and mushroom) recently and they were not holding well under pan frying. I used flax egg and Panko bread crumbs as a binder. Any suggestions on what to use next time to keep them together?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on January 17, 2023

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Eric is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Tokie Williams

I made some vegan Swedish meatballs (lentils and mushroom) recently and they were not holding well under pan frying. I used flax egg and Panko bread crumbs as a binder. Any suggestions on what to use next time to keep them together?

Answer

Um, you know without knowing all the details a couple things come to mind one is, you know, avoid adding any fat any oil because you know fat is a lubricant and it will make it difficult for the binders to bind. Okay. So in this case you're you know, your binder is coming from the flax seed. You know as well as you know, the bread product that's going to be wet and then it's going to act as as a binder to hold that together. Okay, now otherwise, you know, try increasing the amount of flaxseed to get a little bit more strength, you know from that that sticky quality and then all so to minimize the liquid the water liquid as in water right from the lentils or possibly mushrooms because water also adds as a acts as a lubricant and counter X the binder. The next thing is to cut mushrooms and other ingredients smaller or small enough that the whole thing binds easily. Okay, because large pieces also act against the function of a binder making it making it more difficult to hold together. All right, so give those things a try. It's gonna take some experimentation on your part, but your answer is going to lie in there somewhere. All right.

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

Eric Wynkoop previously served as a founding faculty member at The International Culinary School, instructor in anthropology at Portland State University, and Senior Instructor at the Le Cordon Bleu program at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. He holds Master’s Degrees in postsecondary education and cultural anthropology, as well as credentials in Ayurveda wellness and cooking. Eric has spent more than twenty years in the food and beverage industry. His experiences include banquet management, catering, personal chef, winery cellar hand, educator, textbook contributor, consultant, and ethnographer. He also brings food and cultural insight from nearly a decade of residence in Japan, studies in Mexico, and research in India as a Fulbright Scholar. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a dual degree in Japanese and Asian Studies, he went on to receive his formal culinary training at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. Eric’s role with Rouxbe is central to enhancing the student experience through quality course content and new course development at Rouxbe. Eric is also the lead instructor in Rouxbe courses, a role which he has enjoyed since 2016.