Chinese food
Posted by jennabelle on Jun 14, 2011 · Member since Jul 2007 · 6 posts
So...I've been googling for about an hour without any definitive answers to be found. I don't know why I didn't think to come here first! Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what foods are vegan friendly at Chinese restaurants. Specifically ones in North America. I love lo mein but I have no idea if there's beef or chicken broth or oyster sauce in it or something. What about that spicy garlic sauce? I don't want to assume that because it's on the "Vegetable" section of the menu that it's completely animal free. I know I can probably ask the individual restaurant, but does anyone know if there are standard things (besides white rice) that I should feel safe ordering? Thanks!!!
Mixed Vegetables, Buddhas Delight, tofu plates, broccoli with garlic sauce, veggie chop suey, veggie lo mein, veggie fried rice, etc. Usually if it is an all veggie dish, it's vegan. If you're still feeling iffy about it, don't be afraid to ask!
A lot of Asian food places are aware of vegetarians and vegans and have become even more veg friendly.
I would ask about each thing individually! A lot of the dishes like lo mein and fried rice, etc.will have egg, and a lot of Chinese dishes will have fish sauces (oyster, fish, etc.).
I'd definitely ask about any vegetable dishes too. Some places make an effort to have the vegetable stuff be vegetarian, but not most in my experience (and it seems like " in oyster sauce" is a common dish). I think the most common non-vegan thing will be oyster sauce, and perhaps animal broth.
The only thing I'd really assume was safe is stuff in sweet sauces. Like if there's sweet-and-sour or orange sauce with vegetables & tofu. Some places also have rice noodle dishes, which seem to not be flavored with animal stuff. But if you want to know, ask!
Always ask about animal broths and oyster/fish sauce. Other than that, you're usually safe unless it contains egg (like fried rice, etc)
my fave thai restaurant has a special symbol for dishes that are or can be made vegetarian... maybe you can find one like this too... i would also see if you can check out menus online beforehand...
chowmein i would pretty much assume it has egg in the noodles, curries i would think probably fish sauce, fried rice would prob be fine just ask for no egg... i wouldn't even touch soups (maybe miso) cause they always seem to have animal broth in them
my fave thai restaurant has a special symbol for dishes that are or can be made vegetarian... maybe you can find one like this too... i would also see if you can check out menus online beforehand...
chowmein i would pretty much assume it has egg in the noodles, curries i would think probably fish sauce, fried rice would prob be fine just ask for no egg... i wouldn't even touch soups (maybe miso) cause they always seem to have animal broth in them
Some places put Fish stock in miso soup, so always ask about that too. It's not very common, but I've been to one place that did.
Definitely best to ask about each thing individually even though it's a pain especially because if you're like me you're never certain they understand you even when you spell it out... I found out a while ago that the sweet sauce atop the sweet potato sushi i used to get was "oyster sauce".
On a somewhat unrelated note, I also recently found out that some restaurants use butter in their marinara/tomato sauce! That was news to me.
I think lo mein (wheat) noodles are often made with egg, but rice noodles (like chow fun) are normally just rice.
Hm, actually, I was told at 2 different Chinese restraunts that the lo mein is mostly made with beef broth and if it's Pei Wei's lo mein, it's made with chicken broth. The triple delight with veggies also has chicken broth in it in most restraunts but you must ask. I was eating it and I mentioned to the waitress that I was vegan and she stopped me from eating it and told me it had chicken broth in it. She kindly brought me something else that had no animal products in it.
Wow, thanks everybody! Sometimes it's hard to ask because of the language barrier, sometimes they don't understand what I'm asking, or I don't understand their answer. I have found that the local place doesn't have any animal products in their spring rolls, but the place by my mom's house puts shrimp in theirs, so like most of you said, it's definitely best to just ask, even if it is occasionally a little akward ::)