One of the things I love about a lot of Asian food is the way we categorise it. The fair advertised that vegetarian and non-vegetarian food would be available. 'Non-vegetarian' is not a term you see so much in Western restaurants, but you see it a fair bit especially in Indian restaurants. I love it because 'vegetarian and non-vegetarian' usually indicates there's some thought that's gone into the vegetarian food, and I have made this choice to not eat animal products but it's nice to have some choice in my food, too, which often people don't understand. I was at a workshop yesterday and seeing if there was anything I could eat (yes, I had told them in advance) and there was one thing on the menu that was probably vegan. I commented "at least there's one thing" and the guy I was with said, well, that's your choice. Which fills me with rage, like because I make this choice I should have to not eat delicious food?
Anyway, there was lots of vegetarian and vegan food at the food fair. The line for the dosai was sadly very long, so although I could smell it as we wandered past we walked on by, I will make it up to myself by going for dosai sometime soon. D and I shared a fairly average miscellaneous Indian curries and rice (it was a bit cold), and some mee goreng when the Buddhists ran out of char kuay teow.
When I have been away too long, I forget things, and the look the guy gave me when I asked if there were eggs in it and he said, no, it's strict vegetarian was a moment of oh, of course, how embarrassing for me.
We took home some mock chicken rice, which D and I fought over for breakfast (we both ate it), and some bacheng, which we have yet to eat but which will hopefully be delicious. The chicken rice was a great way to start the day, and also had some char siu which was a surprise delight, and I wish I could buy it more regularly.
The great thing about Chinese cakes is that they are often vegan by default, made only of flours and nuts and things, but I wasn't in the mood and D doesn't like them, so sadly we passed those by.
2 comments:
Oh my, I can't believe I missed all that delicious food, bummer! :0)
I never knew that dosai is in fact vegan - thanks for telling me that!:0)
Just a thing about Indian food though, those food that are labelled as 'vegetarian' - do you have to personally asked them to not use ghee, to make them vegan friendly?? Thanks for your response, I greatly appreciate it! :0)
Hi Cecilia,
Yeah, Dosai is usually just made of various flours and water.
With a lot of food that is curry based, so not just Indian but also Malaysian and Chinese, you can't really ask for the dishes to be made without things because they're made in advance. re: ghee, I tend to ask a restaurant the first time I go what they use ghee in. If they're not sure I'll ask every time I go/try a new dish, if they can tell me then I'll take their word and not ask the next time I go.
Garlic naan is usually glazed in ghee, but you can ask for it without. And of course some vegetarian dishes contain cream and cheese, but they're usually fairly obvious.
Post a Comment