Chinese cuisine is well known for its vegetarian fare, indeed whole Chinese restaurants can be found devoted to vegetarian foods only! And if you visit a Chinese monastery you will often find the unexpected delight of enjoying a fine vegetarian meal during your visit. (Chinese people always take very good care of their tummies, wherever they are.) Do be forewarned, however, that just because it's vegetarian fare, don't expect the Chinese to give up their daily meat intake!
Whaaaaaat the hey, you say?!
What I mean is that Chinese vegetarian dishes are mainly based around 'mock' meats:
mock duck,
mock chicken, mock pork, you name it, they've got it. And these fake meats are mostly cleverly made from tofu and wheat gluten.
Determined to make my own vegetarian dish, I first made my homemade wheat gluten kao fu (
see our kao fu recipe here) and then cooked up the classic Shanghainese Red Braised Wheat Gluten Kao Fu 紅燒烤麩, a simple yet yummilicious vegetarian dish of soy sauce braised kao fu wheat gluten, mushrooms, bamboo and wood ears. Tis so satisfying to your tastebuds and filling to your tummy!
