This week, a company called Crafty Counter released (what they claim to be) the world’s first vegan hard-boiled egg. Seems almost unbelievable. An eggless egg? That tastes and looks like an egg? But I swear I’m not just pulling your legg on this one—and if you don’t believe me, then the yolks on you! Because these eggless eggs are set to arrive at Whole Foods stores everywhere in August.
It can’t taste like an actual egg, can it? And if so, what does it taste like? A rubber chicken? The only information I have so far is from a testimonial on the WunderEggs website (so, definitely not biased at all) in which the reviewer claims the eggs “taste just like hard-boiled eggs” and have a “mind-blowing” texture and mouthfeel. That’s pretty high praise even if she was paid to say that! I choose to believe reviewer Angela M. is not, in fact, egging us on. But is she vegan egging us on? That remains to be seen. For now, I’m taking her review with a generous grain of salt (just like I take my hard-boiled eggs, incidentally).
Turns out, this is not actually the world’s first eggless egg. There has been a faux hard-boiled egg in Swiss grocery stores for almost a year now. It’s called “The Boiled” and is made of soy protein. There is also a Singaporean company called OsomeFood making vegan hard-boiled “eggs” out of fungal protein, carrot juice, almond milk, potato starch, and other flavorings. Yummy.
But this WunderEgg will be the world’s first “whole food, plant-based hard-boiled egg that is made with nuts” according to Crafty Counter (via Mashed). If that sounds super vague to you, here’s some more info: WunderEggs contain cashews, almonds, coconut milk, and agar (a seaweed-based gelatin substitute) and are colored and flavored with turmeric and nutritional yeast. Now there’s a hint to the flavor. Nutritional yeast (or nooch, if you’re hip to the vegan lifestyle) tends to give things a cheesy flavor. Cheesy and eggy? Sign me up. I’d definitely be down to try this product …
… that is if they didn’t cost $45 for a half dozen! Looks like I’ll be waiting for these to become more mainstream before I take a crack at them. I’m just not ready to shell out almost fifty bucks for six fake eggs.
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