This TikTok Magician Turned Bread Into Bacon
Turning bread into bacon is not quite biblical, not quite metaphorical, and not quite literal, which is fitting, considering that the concept came from the enigmatic, blurry, fantastical place known as TikTok. User @rjthemagician decided it wasn't enough to bless the Internet with gifts of relationship advice, perfect smile tutorials, and actual magic (he TikToker is a professional magician, writer, and Houdini expert in New York City, according to his website). Nay, this chap went one better and gave the world bacon made out of bread. Bracon, if you will. (Or bread-con because its appearance is deceiving.)
"This bacon is fake and I made it in 15 minutes," declares @rjthemagician at the top of the TikTok video, as he holds up a wavy brown strip of something that looks uncannily like America's favorite breakfast staple. The video, which features quick cuts of @rjthemagician dousing a flattened piece of bread with various sauces before grilling it in a hot pan, currently has over 718,000 views on TikTok, as what are presumably hungry breakfast-lovers clamor for a way to enjoy bacon without the side of animal/cholesterol/insert-your-own-bacon-hangup-here guilt. Perhaps the best part of @rjthemagician's vegan bacon alternative is his attention to detail – the magician strives for the perfect color and crispiness in his fake bacon, and even uses three forks to create an authentic-looking wave, creating the ultimate sleight-of-hand.
Taking vegan bacon to a new level
As Slash Gear points out, the TikTok hack from @rjthemagician inspired other Internet chefs to turn a few tricks of their own. Sauce Stache, a YouTube channel dedicated to vegan recipes, was quick to put together an homage video, crediting @rjthemagician and adding a new element: a thinned-out starch mixture for dipping strips in. "The idea here is that [the] starch slurry might give it a little bit more chewiness, like a fat side, and then the crispy side of the bread is going to be like the crispy side of the bacon." Like @rjthemagician, Sauce Stache uses a litany of flavors to fake the bacon, including soy sauce, mushroom seasoning, onion powder, and lots of liquid smoke.
Good Housekeeping points out that there are lots of plant-based bacon alternatives in today's health-conscious climate, and that plenty of substitutes use pea or soy protein to great aplomb. That's all well and good, but when you've got a hankering for some bacon and can't or won't cruise the freezer section of your local grocery store in search of a vegan rasher, @rjthemagician's trick sure comes in handy. Chances are you have a loaf of bread and quite a few of the ingredients he uses, and frying the bread bacon slow and low in a skillet with olive oil and a little vegan butter is going to fill your kitchen with those bacony smells you crave without ever leaving your house. Thank you, @rjthemagician, for the TikTok magic we all needed today.