Posted on February 26, 2016 by Kate Halsall
I was a little apprehensive about our Chinese adventure – the last time I went to Beijing, I lived on a diet of Pak Choi and Boiled Rice for 10 days. But it was a long time ago, and I’m not the same timid vegan. Armed with protein shakes for last resort options (very useful on overnight hard sleeper trains), and the Maderin for Hello, Happy New Year and Thank you, we set off on a 12 day tour of some of China’s most impressive cultural sites. Whilst I was there I kept a food blog which I’ve summarised below as I thought some people may find it interesting to see how a vegan coped in China with the food.
But actually what I found more interesting is how the Chinese deal with food. Honestly, regardless of whether you’re a vegetarian or vegan or a meat eater, we can learn a lot from how the Chinese dine:
Breakfast
- It’s just treated as a normal meal; nothing seems to differentiate it from lunch or the evening meal.
- Traditional breakfasts are predominantly vegetable based. Whilst we were there, I had stir fried pak choi with mushrooms, spicy cabbage, green beans, roasted peanuts, tofu, and rice noodles for breakfasts (not all at the same time obviously) – happy days. There are also eggs on offer, a Chinese style of porridge, shredded stir fried chicken or beef and steamed buns – but I’ve been told it’s only really in high end hotels where you’re presented with “traditional” breakfast produce like bread and cereal
Lunch & Evening Meals
- There are no individual portions. Multiple dishes are offered or ordered with the intention to share.
- You serve your food in “rice bowls” – this helps to slow down and control how much you actually eat.
Chinese food itself has a bad reputation – not just for the rumours surrounding eating cats and dogs, but also for serving Chicken’s Feet and Pig’s Ears, and for the food containing endless amounts of sugar, MSG and being fatty. But let me tell you, actual locally produced Chinese food is a different story. I’m not saying that they don’t serve cats and dog – some of our group actually saw some for sale in a market – but we found the food to be fresh, non gloopy and really tasty. Here’s my summarised blog with some top tips:
Eat local
- Dine on local specialities/styles of cooking – some of the best meals I had whilst in China were from Hutongs (local street markets), in local restaurants, and some locals houses that they open up for tourists. There’s always an abundance of choice for veggies and meat eaters alike! Traditional cooking styles also means no MSG, no bright red sweet and sour dishes, and actually not a lot of oil (except in Shanghai where the Szechuan style of cooking uses a lot of oil).
Vegetable Dishes are Everywhere
- Sweet Potato is in everything – from steamed dim sum dumplings to desserts. Be warned, it’s bright purple which slightly freaked me out!
- If you’re an Aubergine lover, this is the place for you. I had it braised in star anise, spiced with chilli and peppercorns, cooked in a hot pot with other vegetables and skewered – YUM!
- Embrace Green Vegetables! The greens are always cooked with massive amounts of garlic. We had pok choy, morning glory, broccoli, something like a cross between a leek and spring onion, cucumber marinated in sesame oil (yummy)…and so many more.
- Corn on the cob is served as snack food and it’s steamed!
Getting Protein is not a problem
- Tofu/Beancurd is virtually EVERYWHERE. It is traditionally mixed with meat or fish, but is also making a significant stand on its own. It’s sold in packets and jars in supermarkets – all the ingredients are in Chinese though so be careful! You can get it griddled off street venders (just make sure it’s not fish sauce), salads made out of Beancurd “skin”, and spiced in Ma Po Tofu dishes.
Good Carbs
- Steamed Rice and freshly made rice noodles are available for breakfast, lunch & evening meals.
There’s no denying the Western Influence in China. There is a Starbucks, McDonalds and KFC in every town and city. There’s also no denying that the Chinese people do eat this food! But the surprise was that we didn’t see ANY overweight Chinese people until we got to Hong Kong (and interestingly, we never saw any gyms in China either, but Hong Kong appears to have hundreds of them!). The fact is, it’s a different attitude to food – and it works – I lost 5lbs whilst on holiday.