Things to watch out for when dining out

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Things to watch out for when dining out.

(great resource for newbie veggies and it's a great reminder for

seasoned veggies

Who have to dine out in non veggie restaurants)

 

Even though the menu is listed as vegetarian beware of the following:

 

CHINESE restaurants

 

Uses chicken broth in the entrée and the soup as flavoring

Ask if there's oyster sauce is in the " Vegetarian Buddha's Delight "

cause some folks think, if it doesn't have blood, it's vegetarian. I

heard since oyster sauce is expensive, less and less restaurants are

using it. (but always be on guard)

You might have to ask more than once to clarify that everything is

vegetarian. When I asked the 2nd time is there meat in the vegetable

noodle soup, that I was able to verify, yes indeed it was made with

meat.

Sometimes they might say, a little meat won't hurt.

Chinese buns/rolls are made with pork lard so it will be fluffy.

Pastry crusts like custard tarts, apple pie are made with pork lard.

String beans are deep fried in the same oil as the meat.

Most wheat noodles are made with eggs. Rice noodles are not.

To save money, many restaurants reuse their old oil. That's why

some people will get a stomach ache after eating Chinese food. This

practice should not be done in a high class restaurant. Just insist

on fresh oil (and don't put too much) used for cooking your food.

Restaurant business is tough, they are doing whatever they can to cut

corners.

MSG is not meat, but it's a common bad ingredient used in Chinese

restaurants

Deli Take-outs, you can see at the Window displays a big greasy duck

is dripping all over the food that's underneath it.

 

Thai Restaurants

 

Almost all the " vegetarian " curries are made with premade curries

pastes that have

shrimp sauce in it.

Unless more and more veggie folks ask about their curries,

Restaurants have no clue if it's vegan. 90% of the time it's not

veg. (good news, it's getting easier to find out since, 4.6 million

of us (veg) are asking about it)

It's a small miracle, if they make their vegan curry paste by scratch

 

JAPANESE Restaurants

 

Veggie tempura was probably fried in the same oil as the pork and

other fried meats.

Sushi is made on a table that was not fully washed. It was just

wiped by a damp towel.

Miso soup might be made with bonito (fish)

Bonito shavings are used as toppings. It's expensive, so it's being

used less and less.

 

==

 

I've seem open kitchen restaurants that boil their vegetables in the

same water as their meats. Check out Citrus and Yamo in SF. That

means many restaurants are doing it, so support your veggie

restaurant.

 

KOREAN

 

Most Kim Chee (the cabbage version) are made with anchovies or

octopus.

There are a lot of other picked vegetables that are totally vegan.

 

MEXICAN Restaurants

 

Lard in refried beans are still commonly used in Central America.

They like their lard so much, that they will lie to you their food

has lard even though it's vegan. (lard is expensive)

 

Lard is used in only a few Mexican restaurants in America.

Rice is made with chicken stock.

 

 

 

 

 

Draft copy made by Sunny_outdoors, feel free to email me

additional advice to this document. Even better yet, please take

over this list.

 

winnie