chinese food help

[hullabaloo]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if someone could give me some advice regarding chinese food from restaurants. In the vegetarian dishes, what animal products do they generally use? Also what dishes tend to be vegan? It's just that my local chinese don't understand the term 'vegan', even when explained. They just keep repeating 'no vegetarian' at me. I think it's generally because they do not understand as they didn't talk about why these dishes weren't vegan. So I was thinking if I knew what was generally used I could be more specific when asking.

[harpy]

They don't tend to use dairy products much. I think the main hazards are usually eggs and oyster sauce, so if you pick something that looks vegetarian and then tell them you don't want those you are likely to end up with something vegan. BTW oyster sauce does exist in a vegan version but the default kind is non-vegan.

"Monk's vegetables" is something that appears on a lot of Chinese restaurant menus and is generally vegan AFAIK. Plain boiled rice is safer than fried rice as they generally put egg in that.

[yum]

i go for something that is labelled veggie and swop the noodles for vermechelli ones (rice noodles). fingers crossed that is vegan!

[pat sommer]

...hate to break it to you but Chinese restaurants use chicken stock in EVERYTHING. Ask them. Sometimes a bit of lamb oil or chicken fat or small amounts of ground pork or shrimp powder or or or. Yes, in the tofu dishes too, especially, as it absorbs the flavor.

I have been shown lotsa 'vegetarian' dishes on menus or buffets but when I ask specifically about above no-nos .....guess the answer?

[Animosity]

...hate to break it to you but Chinese restaurants use chicken stock in EVERYTHING. Ask them. Sometimes a bit of lamb oil or chicken fat or small amounts of ground pork or shrimp powder or or or. Yes, in the tofu dishes too, especially, as it absorbs the flavor.

I have been shown lotsa 'vegetarian' dishes on menus or buffets but when I ask specifically about above no-nos .....guess the answer?

That's why I never go to most chinese places. Only one perticular one that has a vegetarian menu that has been gone over by our local veg-society, Plus the owners were really nice about confirming what veg dishes were truely vegan.

It's the luck of the draw with chinese resturaunts I suppose.

[Mr Flibble]

fingers crossed that is vegan!

[yum]

That's disgusting!
B*********ks

...hate to break it to you but Chinese restaurants use chicken stock in EVERYTHING. Ask them. Sometimes a bit of lamb oil or chicken fat or small amounts of ground pork or shrimp powder or or or. Yes, in the tofu dishes too, especially, as it absorbs the flavor.

I have been shown lotsa 'vegetarian' dishes on menus or buffets but when I ask specifically about above no-nos .....guess the answer?

[nicola j]

oh no I'm gutted, I thought choosing veggie dishes with no noodles or oyster sauce would be vegan but they use chicken stock in everything? I'm just going to give up eating out!
I've recently got some brochures from the Vegan Society which you can send to restaurants and other general eating out places to enlighten them on how easy it actually is to veganise and make vegan dishes. I urge everyone to get some and send them to places you know, with a nice accompanying letter. I sent a few out praising their service and the one or two dishes that they did have that were vegan but then I went on to highlight how veganism is on the increase and there are lots of people who are allergic to dairy or choose not to eat it for health reasons.
Let me know if any of you do send some out. They're so good at the Vegan Society. They post them out free of charge too so there's no cost incurred to you, unless you want to donate of course.
Eating out for Vegan's is a nightmare, but by spreading the word hopefully this will change, given time.
Thanks for reading!!
Hope you all have a good weekend.
Nicola x

[Risker]

I'd be a bit wary of cross contamination issues aswell, most chinese restaraunts do huge menus and I seriously doubt they wash up all the equipment between all the dishes.

I've found a bit of beef in a plain chow mein before.

[nicola j]

Yuk Yuk Yuk. I'm eating at home from now on!!!!!

[yum]

Good idea Nicola.

yuk yuk yuk

[hullabaloo]

That is digusting! When I asked I was told the chow mein was vegan as it was made with rice noodles not egg ones. I'll be specifically asking whether chicken stock is used. Would they not be liable then? As they clearly have a marked vegetarian menu.

[Tin-Tin]

rice noodles are amazing
i could personally just eat a plate of rice noodles with some flavouring on top
haha
easy to please
but seriously does nobody else think they are just generally nicer noodles in the first place?
i may ask my local to do just rice noodles tofu and with some seasoning

[Mahk]

If one wants to be super paranoid one couldn't even order steamed vegetables, no sauce, on plain rice. They may spray the rice cooker with a releasing agent that happens to have butter flavoring and steam the veggies in chicken broth. Likely, perhaps not, but with people who consider animal products edible, you never really know. Eating outside your own house is always risky but it is a chance we should take, IMHO.

Rice noodles are my favorite. Hmmm, wonder if they boil them in only plain water?

[fondducoeur]

I have been assured that the vegetable lo mein near me is vegan. I am leary of Chinese food places in general, and only go there if I am with a group. However, I do actually believe them about the lo mein, but its all I eat.

[Mahk]

Lo mein noodles are almost always egg noodles around here. I'd assume the yolk is what makes them yellow.

You are lucky. I miss lo mein.

[pat sommer]

There really could be many vegan dishes available in Chinese places if we make the effort to educate them. Most want to please us; the good places will.

The cheaper fast food take-away places rely alot on prepared sauces and chicken bouillon granules complete with MSG. They may not have much beyond chopped garlic/ginger soy sauce for us. Instead of grilling them about individual ingredients sometimes I ask which products they order (take empty pkgs) then I can look it up on manufacturers' sites.

[Roxy]

These days, I hardly eat at any Chinese restaurants at all. The last time was about 6 months ago, at a Chinese place that had a specific vegetarian section on their menu, suitable for vegans. Lots of fake meats and stuff like that.

The only other Chinese food I ever get is from the foodcourt of a Chinese supermarket around here. I always get a sticky rice roll, stuffed with 3 different kinds of beancurd and a piece of Chinese donut. All vegan!

[yum]

That's great Roxy- sounds delicious!

Speaking of bean curd, i'm going to go fry some now

[Tigerlily]

I only try to eat Chinese food at vegetarian places, which isn't hard in Toronto and even in little old PEI where we have a yummy vegetarian Taiwanese place. *drools*

[x-SaRaH-x]

Ohh,
after reading this may not go to another chinese restaurant/take away again.

I'm another person who doesn't like to make a fuss and so I really hate asking if there's milk or egg in it to just be looked at funnily.

I usually just go for what's vegetarian and looks like it's vegan. Silly me

[sugarmouse]

That is digusting! When I asked I was told the chow mein was vegan as it was made with rice noodles not egg ones. I'll be specifically asking whether chicken stock is used. Would they not be liable then? As they clearly have a marked vegetarian menu.

I want to know this too!
I dont like chinese food much, but I did get some mushrooms in soy sauce once not so long ago when the housemate was ordering ameal and needed to up the cost by £1 to get it delivered!The person onthe phone assured me they were ok but now I am worried

[pat sommer]

At a Chinese restaurant with my partner's work colleagues, I brought along veg-chicken stock powder and veg-oyster sauce and also a soup base so that all the vegetables at the banquet were vegan; the dead animal dishes they did as normal.

Again, the Chinese really do wish to please. We just need to give some guidance....
It's the FRENCH I don't trust..... "but it had to have jambon for flavor..."

[Rakey]

I found a shard of glass in my rice noodles i got in earlier....

[RubyDuby]

At a Chinese restaurant with my partner's work colleagues, I brought along veg-chicken stock powder and veg-oyster sauce and also a soup base so that all the vegetables at the banquet were vegan; the dead animal dishes they did as normal.

Again, the Chinese really do wish to please. We just need to give some guidance....
It's the FRENCH I don't trust..... "but it had to have jambon for flavor..."

you should have seen the [chinese] girls face at the chinese restaurant when i asked f they used chicken stock or fish sauce in their tofu dishes... I may as well have asked if they could fry me up a bar of soap.

absolutely no desire to please on her face. more like a look of, "you're nuts. why are u bothering me w these stupid questions???"

stupid small towns.

[shiny2008]

At a Chinese restaurant with my partner's work colleagues, I brought along veg-chicken stock powder and veg-oyster sauce and also a soup base so that all the vegetables at the banquet were vegan; the dead animal dishes they did as normal.

Again, the Chinese really do wish to please. We just need to give some guidance....
It's the FRENCH I don't trust..... "but it had to have jambon for flavor..."

Pat sommer,

Don't you see there are still too many meat eaters in the world but not just in China? loads of dead animal dishes on the tables but not only in Chinese restaurants?...and, don't you see there are monks in China?

IMO, as a vegan, we may not supposed to change the world but hope we are really doing something benignly...

[Sarah_]

I always assumed that most asian food places were easy to order vegan from but I learned that this is not so. Most of the time I just grab plain steamed rice and some plain veggies, and I douse it in soy sauce and Sriracha.
I love to eat at this vegetarian thai food place and I'd been eating the most delicious mock garlic chicken for the longest time. I came in with the BF and ordered it and he told me that all along it'd had whey in it. I was super depressed. I went in specifically for that dish.

[vercimus]

I've had quite a bit of luck finding vegan options at chinese places here in Denton, although they aren't take-out, and they aren't purely "authentic." Mr Chopsticks here has a whole section on the menu for vegetarian options, and they serve quite a few vegetarians. I ordered a tofu dish at a Korean/Japanese/Chinese "hot stone bowl" place, and the waiter recommended several good vegan options.

[Mahk]

I always assumed that most asian food places were easy to order vegan from but I learned that this is not so. Most of the time I just grab plain steamed rice and some plain veggies, and I douse it in soy sauce and Sriracha.
I love to eat at this vegetarian thai food place and I'd been eating the most delicious mock garlic chicken for the longest time. I came in with the BF and ordered it and he told me that all along it'd had whey in it. I was super depressed. I went in specifically for that dish.

No whey! That's odd considering how common lactose intolerance is in many Asain cultures, I'd never think they'd even think to use any dairy ingredients but I guess once they get "westernized" they start to use almost any and all ingredients... How is it your BF knows it contains whey, anywheys?

Vegan safe Sriracha has a bird on the label, assuming you don't scrutinize "sugar" filtration as I don't:


Un-vegan Sriracha we need to avoid (fish extract):

http://www.asianwok.com/store/pc/vie...&idproduct=161

Just a FYI for all.

Isn't that just wacked that we can't even safely eat hot sauces?
---

I may as well have asked if they could fry me up a bar of soap.

absolutely no desire to please on her face. more like a look of, "you're nuts. why are u bothering me w these stupid questions???"

Soap! ROTFLOL!

[Sarah_]

No, lol. I meant that the man serving us said it'd had whey in it. The BF had no clue. And I've actually never seen the second bottle, I always use the top one. Cock sauce in my neck of the woods.