FoodieChat

Look closely – what is it? Sweet and sour pork? Stir fried pork strips with preserved salty vegetables? NOPE! What you see here is some amazing handiwork of dedicated vegetarian master chefs – creating amazing dishes that trick your mind and taste buds! The “pork” is instead fresh battered bamboo shoots; and the pork strips – gluten!  This amazing restaurant was such a treat in Xian, the city known for the Terracotta Warriors. Why go to all this trouble? Well, vegetarian banquets were reserved for only the highest ranking monks. You can eat vegetarian meals at many buddhist temples around Asia, but nothing like this place.

We then feasted (our eyes!) on “meatballs” in soup flavoured with star anise, dried fungus and other chinese herbs; and a “whole fish” – shaped of gluten, topped with a sauce of capsicum, coriander.  Slightly oily, but hey something has to give it some taste right?

“Chicken” and mushroom stir fry was served on a hot plate, and was again gluten. Boy does it look real! And dessert was a kind of chinese flat donut cake – deep fried (too oily for my liking) and covered in sesame, with a spongy middle and red bean paste.  Also popular were the black sticky rice dumplings served in foil cases with sprinkles to top it off.