I am a super picky vegetarian and I'm moving to China-would appreciate some advice on food...?

Question

I am really picky about food, food health codes, etc (my friends call me a freak and sadly, I agree). Anyway, here in the States, I can make do, but I'm going to lose about 80% of my food options in China. What are good sources of calcium besides milk, yogart, and cheese? (I'm borderline Vegan) and other sources of protein (other than meat, nuts, and beans). I've been researching on the internet and the options I'm usually given-I don't eat.

Answer 1

i have been to china twice and their is all kinds of different foods their you will not have any problem finding the foods you need i cant stand vegetables and it seemed like that's all that they had so i had to deal with it believe me you really wont have a problem hope that helps

Answer 2

Not that I know this personally because I've never been there however, my boss lived in shanghai (he is an american) and there are many clean, safe restaurants to eat in you will know as soon as you go in..i know that he's never eaten in the street markets and will never!  If he wanted a really nice meal he'd go to the hotel restaurant. He loved sushi and found it to be the best!  How about Noodle Soups?  Good luck!

Answer 3

actually you have more choices there than here in my opinion. We are raised as meat eaters. In other countries the bulk is rice, veggies, etc. Most dishes are not mainly meat. a chicken chow yuck is 90% veggies for example. They rarely use meats and cheeses.

Answer 4

In China i think they eat alot of meat even dogs, cat etc...not very appetizing huh?

Anyways tofu's a good choice for protein/calcium and they probably have alot of diff types of tofu, like fried, seasoned

etc.

For drinks try soya milk which is made with soy beans. I've tried it and it's really good!

Answer 5

As a vegetarian I think that you might fair better in China. They include many more vegetables in their foods and eat an abundance of seafood.

Answer 6

China seems to be a fairly veg-friendly country. Hello tofu!

Answer 7

They have more food choices than you can ask for in China (Italian, American, Indian, etc.). You will be fine as a super picky vegan. Just stay away from the street food if you are worried about health codes. Other than that, the food there is organic and much better than the US. Even the McDonalds there tastes good (and I avoid fast food here in the states).

Answer 8

You can get your protien from green vegetables such as spinach, and soy has lots of protein

Answer 9

tofu

Answer 10

It is hard to get real veg food (unless you are at a vegetarian specific restaurant, like at a temple) because many cooks still sprinkle veggie dishes with bits of meat. Try finding a fluent Mandarin speaker to really stress that no meat should be added and be prepared for bad attitudes from most cooks.

One of my vegetarian friends had a bad episode of intestinal blockage in her first weeks in China due to overloading on rice--her system wasn't used to dealing with that much rice without the benefit of other roughage. She had a very horrible experience in having to go to a Chinese emergency room in the middle of the night to get "unblocked" (very unpleasant process!!!) So, be sure to balance your rice intake by eating veggies or digestive crackers, etc.

Depending on the city you are in, you can find a few sources for cheese and the like. How about tofu? That is easy to find and there are tons of varieties.

The good news is that buying veggies to cook yourself is cheap and very available. The bad news is that China is dirty in general and you'll probably need to adjust your standards of eating in order to survive.

Answer 11

i bet you they will have food there for you(vegetarian)cuz foods in diff countries arent as.....like idk how to say it? genetically altered? lol so i dun think youll have any probs really

Answer 12

Sources of well-absorbed calcium for vegans include calcium-fortified soy milk and juice, calcium-set tofu, soybeans and soynuts, bok choy, broccoli, collards, Chinese cabbage, kale, mustard greens, and okra.

Answer 13

I am Chinese, but I've lived in the U.S. my whole life. Part of my family is vegetarian, so I have Chinese vegetarian food every once in a while. It usually consists of tofu, rice, rice noodles, vegetables, and "vegetarian sub. meat(not sure)." For desserts we usually have some kind of jello, for example almond jelly or grass jelly. There's also alot of tea, if you like tea. I'm not sure if they're big on cheese products in China because in my family, we're not. You can try soy milk, too. Take care in China!

Answer 14

If it looks good, eat it.

Answer 15

im a vegatarian too and i eat chiniese food alot. some foods you could eat:

tofu

rice

vegatable lo mein

spring roll

they probably have salad lol

bean sprouts

vegtable fried rice

theres wayy more i just cant name all right now. :]

Answer 16

China has the broadest, most varied cuisine of any place in the world. And the Chinese eat just about everything. So you are going to have a pretty narrow time of it.

Practically speaking, there are traditional Buddhist restaurants that are vegetarian. Whether they are vegan enough for your taste or not, I have no idea.

Dairy products are not a big thing in China and may be hard to find, outside of Western-style restaurants in the big cities.