do u ever order chinese food? what do you order?
Posted by longer_look on Mar 24, 2010 · Member since Feb 2010 · 369 posts
only been a vegan for about 6 weeks or so... i still run into problems all the time.
we ordered chinese food. i went to the vegetable section. ordered some kind of noodle bowl. it had freegin' eggs in it.
any advice? or good stuff to get when we order out?
My advice is to not order food from a normal Chinese place. Unless you are completely sure of what is in the food. I got tofu from a place once and they cooked it with meat and chicken broth. Stupid.
But stir fry and things are super easy and cheap to make yourself!
If you want something quick though, morning star makes vegan sweet and sour chicken. It reminds me of takeout.
I would not order from a regular Chinese place either. I have only had bad experiences with the supposedly vegetarian food. I'm fairly certain most Chinese food places think animal stock & fish are vegetarian. Even when you ask specifically, either they just don't understand, don't care, or are blatantly lying. I am very fortunate to have a vegan Chinese buffet within 45 minutes of my house, if I really get a hankering.
I guess you could always order the white rice, that might be vegan ::)
I would not order from a regular Chinese place either. I have only had bad experiences with the supposedly vegetarian food. I'm fairly certain most Chinese food places think animal stock & fish are vegetarian. Even when you ask specifically, either they just don't understand, don't care, or are blatantly lying. I am very fortunate to have a vegan Chinese buffet within 45 minutes of my house, if I really get a hankering.
Or they do the "don't speak your language" thing...even though you heard them joking with another customer moments before. Even the salads have ham in them!!
the place I order from know me well. I get steamed veggies and tofu with hot sauce on the side and lots of soy sauce
I usually order steamed vegetables, tofu, steamed vegetable dumplings, vegetable soup, mu shu vegetables or rice. I ask a lot of questions about the ingredients, emphasizing no meat, egg or fish sauce in these dishes.
i do visit chinese/ethnic restaurants. when i do, i kinda resign myself to know what i'm getting into. i think any restaurant - ethnic or otherwise, unless is specifically veggie/vegan or at least, veggie friendly - there's always the risk of getting cross contamination to some degree.
i remember this one time in Nashville, i went to an asian buffet place and asked them to show me all of the dishes that did not contain any meat/dairy, etc. So one of the dishes they showed me was fried rice, umm w/egg :^
also, i just recently found out that thai food places will routinely use fish sauce and...*consider that to be vegetarian* - i had never thought about that before - ugh! So now i know to ask!
Anyhow, a few weeks ago, Shelley/I visited a Japanese type teriyaki place. I took a picture of the menu (not sure if it'll come out properly here or not) - see if you can find anything askew w/their menu :D
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn296/happytheclown37/IMAG0085.jpg
i do visit chinese/ethnic restaurants. when i do, i kinda resign myself to know what i'm getting into. i think any restaurant - ethnic or otherwise, unless is specifically veggie/vegan or at least, veggie friendly - there's always the risk of getting cross contamination to some degree.
i remember this one time in Nashville, i went to an asian buffet place and asked them to show me all of the dishes that did not contain any meat/dairy, etc. So one of the dishes they showed me was fried rice, umm w/egg :^
also, i just recently found out that thai food places will routinely use fish sauce and...*consider that to be vegetarian* - i had never thought about that before - ugh! So now i know to ask!
Anyhow, a few weeks ago, Shelley/I visited a Japanese type teriyaki place. I took a picture of the menu (not sure if it'll come out properly here or not) - see if you can find anything askew w/their menu :D
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn296/happytheclown37/IMAG0085.jpg
That "Vegetarian & Chicken" entree is enough to turn me away from trying that restaurant. It's always a good idea to ask about fish sauce or base in Thai, Chinese and Japanese(even miso soup) foods. For some reason, folks seem to think fish falls into the vegetable category.
The place I occasionally go is somewhere I basically trust. Although it's not super healthy, I do trust that it's vegan. The owners, although Chinese, speak very good English so I know they understand me when I ask questions. There's another place I trust too, in my college town in Michigan, that has lots of good entrees.
Here are the questions I would ask:
1. Do they use chicken or other meat broths/stocks in the food/sauce?
2. Do they use eggs in it? (Always get steamed rice vs. fried to avoid eggs)
3. MSG? (not vegan-related, but important!)
4. Do they use ANY meat? (I once found out that many Asian restaurants think of a little meat as still being vegetarian)
Here are some dishes I get when I go:
1. Steamed veg dumplings
2. Tofu/veggies over steamed rice
3. Kung Pao (or General Tsao) Tofu with veggies & steamed rice
4. Sczechwan (sp?) Eggplant (SOOO good!)
:) Good luck! Just find some places you can trust, or better yet cook up the real deal at home!
I completely agree w/you Saskia. Although Shelley did get something (she's not vegetarian) I decided to wait for greener pastures.
I'm blessed that here in Seattle - there's a plethora of very veggie places - that when they say "vegetarian chicken" they mean just that, not chicken that's raised on vegetarian food or some other stupid thing akin, heheheh.
I used to order General Tso's Tofu with steamed rice. Scallion pancakes for appetizer (some places they are vegan some they are not, although they are traditionally made with out eggs). And some places use rice noodles in their Lo Mein, although most use egg noodles. Just ASK ASK ASK! And when you find a place you trust stick with it and STILL ask occasionally!
I am of course super lucky that I am IN China and can have Chinese food whenever I want. Providing I can find a Buddhist restaurant of course! ;)b "Regular" restaurants here are slim pickings and usually require lots of explaining and double checking (and then waiting and seeing what your stomach decides to later as a final test!).
There were some Thai places where I used to live (west L.A.) that had a section of their menu for just vegetarian things ("no eggs, no animal broth, no fish sauce"), I'm guessing because they had veg customers often enough. I used to always go to the same cheap Chinese place, but I knew the people who worked there well so I could get vegan things. You could order a box of pre-made stuff or get a dish they didn't have made from scratch, so they could make a number of things vegan.
Now I live kinda close by a vegetarian Chinese place, so getting vegan food is a matter of avoiding random mayonnaise and the "fish" that contains whey protein. Now that I have the option, I don't care to try for a "regular" Chinese place anymore, since the one I go to now has sooooo many things, is healthier, and way more authentic. I think it's worth even finding a non-vegetarian authentic place if possible, only because it will probably be easier to adjust something to your needs. Vegetarianism isn't that uncommon.
Most sauces contain chicken broth. Almost nothing is vegetarian when it comes to most Chinese places. If you live near a major city or a veg-conscious area, you may be in luck but for the most part you're fucked. I don't ever order Chinese food because I can cook it better than anything I've had out.
Chinese resturants in denmark sell hamburgers and chips, also some fried rice and sweet and sour things.. so crap! I only eat at a few places here, once i heard chinese resturants sell hamburgers.. i have never thought about them
There is a place 30 minutes away in sweden that is nearly fully vegan, though pretty low quality compared to what i used to eat in australia it fill the hole :)
thanks everyone.... this helps a lot!
I think it depends where you live. We have no problem w/ Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, etc. But maybe because there are a lot of veg/vegans here? Where are you?