Soya bean has taken the place of meat in the diet of Chinese, Japanese and other Asiatics. Its notable characteristics are its large proportion of assimilable protein and fat and its lack of starch and small content of sugar. Soya nuggets/chunks or "Bari" is commonly referred to as vegetarian meat. It is prepared from defatted (DOC) soya flour by the process of extrusion cooking. During the process, the protein in the flour undergoes structural changes and forms a fiber like network. When soaked in water, the texturized nuggets absorb the water and develop meat like and chewy characteristics (hence the reference to "vegetarian meat").
