Vegan in China

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On 8/23/2017 at 5:56 AM, trevorld said:

Most Chinese restaurants will have fresh veggies, cooking oil, tofu, and spices on hand and could whip something up vegan if you manage to ask nicely in the off chance nothing on their menu is vegan. 

 

The restaurants I most often use here in Kunming when I decide to eat out are set up along informal "family style" lines. Part of what this means is that there is minimal or no reliance on a menu for ordering. A few popular items may be written on the wall, but that's all. You walk to a refrigerated case in the rear of the dining room, close to the door to the kitchen, and look over what ingredients are available today, real time, right now.

 

You talk over possibilities with one of the senior waitresses or sometimes even with the cook. "Can you stir-fry some of this squash with potatoes for me?" "Can you make me a soup with these leafy greens and some tofu?" And so on.

 

He or she will guide and advise you: "This other vegetable is better for a stir-fry; we usually make that one stewed because it's tough otherwise." This person will ask if you want it spicy or not, might ask if you want to add garlic or not, etc. You remind him that you don't eat meat and don't want the cook to use bone stock.

 

The beauty of this system is that even if your oral Chinese is very limited, you can still get a pretty good start in these places just by pointing and pantomime. You also have a chance to see for yourself what looks fresh and interesting right then and there. You can avoid ingredients that are wilted and faded.

 

I would suggest that if you are living in China this is the kind of small restaurant to seek out. Find one or two near where you live and make friends with the boss or the owner. Learn his or her name. Go there once or twice a week. Comment on dishes you liked; maybe ask questions. I sometimes photograph my favorites, and give them a copy of the picture next time I return.

 

These small, family-style places are much easier for people with dietary restrictions than larger and fancier restaurants where you may have to decide what to order from a large printed menu while sitting at a table in the dining room. Furthermore, you won't have to try and figure out what "Buddha's Delight" or "Emperor's Feast" or "Great Wall Supreme" mean in terms of actual ingredients.

 

I can give you some of the required Chinese in a subsequent post if there is interest. (I'm not vegetarian, but I do like vegetables and I eat them a lot, especially when they are fresh and in season.)

[Monika]

Also word "乳“ is sometimes used instead of "奶”, it means milk as well. And characters for honey are: 蜂蜜. Also cochineal can be found in some products, I don't remember how it's called in Chinese but it contains a character “虫” (insect) so it's quite easy to spot it

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On 1/18/2018 at 7:34 PM, Monika said:

Also cochineal can be found in some products, I don't remember how it's called in Chinese but it contains a character “虫” (insect) so it's quite easy to spot it

 

胭脂虫

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-cochineal-insects-color-your-food-and-drinks-2012-3 

 

Quote

Also word "乳“ is sometimes used instead of "奶”, it means milk as well.

 

As in Yunnan "rubing" 乳饼 cheese. 

[imron]

And 炼乳