«
»

Vegetarian Meal in Xian

CIMG2769 (Small).JPG   CIMG2771 (Small) (2).JPG

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.

CIMG2774 (Small).JPG   CIMG2775 (Small)1.JPG

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?

CIMG2770 (Small).JPG   CIMG2777 (Small).JPG

“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.

CIMG2776 (Small).JPG

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am and is filed under Eating out in Asia, Weird and wacky. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Vegetarian Meal in Xian”

  1. Julienne Low Says:
    February 16th, 2007 at 10:09 pm

    How does this vegetarian food compare to Bodhi Yum Cha in Cook & Philip Park?? I never knew what they used to make faux meat! Yum!

  2. Foodie Says:
    February 16th, 2007 at 10:42 pm

    Well all I can say is, this place is FINE DINING vego style!!   I’ve never been to Bodhi Yum Cha, I must give it a go! Yep, it’s tofu, gluten, beancurd sheets all the way! I must admit though – they have to get the flavour in SOMEhow so don’t expect Jenny Craig to approve! There’s another interesting vegetarian place on Victoria Road, Ryde, which goes to the trouble of making “roast pork” complete with skin layer, fat layer, and “meat” layer! Also worth a try is Govindha’s vegetarian restaurant in Darlinghurst, Sydney. They don’t aim to emulate meat, just good old veges and pulses. The price of the buffet meal also includes a ticket to the movie showing next door where you can recline on cushions wishing you hadn’t stuffed yourself silly. But at least you needn’t feel tooo bad about it!

  3. springpoppy Says:
    June 7th, 2007 at 5:19 am

    Thank you, FoodieChat, your “eating out in China” was such an interesting aritcle to read — detailed with both humour and nicely taken photos. It’s so tasty to read!

  4. Foodie Says:
    June 7th, 2007 at 10:14 pm

    Why thank you springpoppy!! :) There’s some amazing stuff out there that people eat – some yummy some just weird :) But I really appreciate people who put so much effort and innovation into what they prepare :)

Leave a Reply