Seven Castles

Vegetarian Food

                                      

September 17, 2006

 

Have you ever heard of this story? Centuries ago, a Chinese scholar asked his cook to make a dish of eel. As the scholar watched, the cook struggled with the eel that kept lifting its stomach out of the boiling water. Intrigued, the scholar decided to find out why. He discovered that the poor creature was trying to save the eggs she was carrying in her belly. Moved, the scholar swore never to eat meat again.

 

China has a tradition of vegetarianism that dates back thousands of years. The Taoist philosophy and Buddhism, introduced from India, both have sects which advocate eating a meat-free diet. Vegetarian food, that has commanded great importance of Chinese food culture, is generally divided into three types – of the monastery, the court and the folk.

 

The variety ingredients include soybean protein extract, taro powder, mushrooms, fresh vegetables and tofu (bean curd). Some of the famous dishes include vegetarian "chicken", braised vegetarian "meat" with bean sauce, vegetarian "pork tripe", vegetarian "ham", hot-and-sour bean-curd slices, vegetarian "shrimps" and "fish". The specialty of Chinese vegetarian food is the imitation of real meat, not only in appearance, but also in taste.

 

Though vegetarianism is not very popular in Shanghai, there are a dozen of great vegetarian restaurants here. Gongdelin (Godly), one of the best in the country, is an 80-year-old restaurant with an extensive fake meat menu, plus tasty cookies and desserts. Juelin, characterized by its delicious vegetarian dishes, get almost any kind of Chinese dish one can think of listed on its menu, but all vegetarian even if the description sounds carnivorous. Songyuelou, founded during the Qin Dynasty, follows an ancient vegetarian culture to serve up veggie favorites in Yuyuan. Jade Buddha Vegetarian is with good food and value in a nice setting. Peony (near Longhua Temple) offers specialties including vegetarian eight-treasures-duck, vegetarian-ham, moon-cakes, and more. Zaozishu is a modern all-vegetarian restaurant, offering inexpensive lunch specials, juices, and a large menu. This Taiwanese-run eatery was established with the aim of introducing vegetarianism and environmentalism to Shanghai. The food is very high quality, the spicy dishes are not so spicy, but everything is fresh, light and healthy. Their dumplings and soups are especially good. And Buddhist temples frequently have a vegetarian restaurant on premises. These Buddhist vegetarian restaurants have developed dishes that are widely enjoyed by non-vegetarians, too, like kaofu and mock goose.

 

I know some people who are strict vegetarians, putting their hopes on the "monastery-culture", keeping the denial of "earthly pleasures", and avoiding meat, eggs or diary. Just the thought of eating vegetables that have been cooked in meat stock makes them feel ill. At times it can be a major hassle, as others simply do not understand their food requirements. Some casual veggies eat mainly vegetable dishes or tofu dishes, but not really fuss when there were random bits of meat thrown in there or worry about the food being cooked in animal based oil. Anyway, if you are a vegetarian and choose to eat Chinese food, you have to make up your mind on whether you choose it based on moral-religious reason or just health reason. If you just dine on health reason, then go inside any restaurants and order from the vegetable column. Usually no meat is attached. But the broth they use as gravy may be distilled from ham and stewed chicken.

     

In Shanghai, vegetarian food has gained more popularity recently on the dinner tables due to concerns about health. They believe the vegetarian dinner, low in fat and rich in various vitamins, is beneficial to health, particularly for people with high cholesterol and blood pressure. Curiously, young women in Shanghai are turning to vegetarianism and their reasons are age-old - to stay slim and beautiful!

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年09月17日 星期日 08:28】【 加入博采】【打印】