Szechuan broad beans

Melt in your mouth broad beans (aka lima beans?) in scallion sauce from Grand Sichuan in New York.

turnip cakes

From Happy Buddha restaurant in Flushing, New York.

xi'an tofu and noodles

Chang-an Spicy Tofu: Soft tofu served with house sauce, hot oil sauce, and cilantro.


Liang Pi Cold Skin Noodles: Bouncy and chewy hand-pulled wheat noodles with cilantro, wheat gluten, bean sprouts, cucumber, and an amazingly flavorful chili sauce.
Both from Xi'an Famous Foods in Flushing, New York.

szechuan potato sticks

Back from vacation, with some catching up to do!
Szechuan potato sticks with lots of chili, scallion, and garlic vinegar sauce, from Chinese Traditional Buns in Toronto.

char siu potato & greens hash

Fried potatoes and Chinese greens with char siu sauce (Chinese barbecue sauce), and tempeh bacon on the side.

jellied bean curd & hand-pulled noodles

Jellied bean curd (foreground) and cold noodles special (background) from Chinese Traditional Buns in Toronto. Both were some of the most fabulous and unique tastes I've had in a while.
Jellied bean curd: silken tofu in veggie broth with chili oil, scallions, minced garlic, cilantro, and seaweed (I think).
Noodles: chewy hand-pulled rice noodles with tofu skin, marinated cucumber, and smoky sauce (no idea what the flavors were).
Fresh soy milk on the side.

Taiwanese Argentine buffet

A sampling from one of the many vegetarian Taiwanese buffets in Rosario, Argentina (this one on Rioja by San Martin). From left, stewed lentils, sweet and sour TVP, herbed TVP, and roasted veggies.

veggie seafood tofu casserole

Full of mock shrimp, crab, and other "seafood" oddities. From Happy Buddha vegetarian restaurant (in Flushing chinatown in New York).

dim sum

Appetizer platter from Happy Buddha vegetarian restaurant (in Flushing chinatown in New York). From top: spring rolls, veggie roast pork, seaweed tofu roll fried with sesame, and mock duck.

stewed daikon & beet greens

Stewed daikon with scallions, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and cilantro, from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian bookbook.
Improvised beet greens (free from the farmers market) with sweet hoisin sauce.

Asparagus on a noodle nest

From Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons

Chinese rice & nut dumpling

Vegetarian Zongzi (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed) from a sidewalk vendor in Manhattan's Chinatown. This one was filled with some combination of chickpeas, cooked peanuts, chestnuts, and/or some other kind of legume. I always assumed that these dumplings were all meaty, but thanks to Jaimie for asking (in Chinese) and finding out that there were veggie options! (there were sweet ones too, with red bean paste) For those of you who don't speak Chinese, it's probably worth asking in English for vegetarian options next time you see these for sale - they do exist...

eggplant with chinese peanut dressing

steamed white eggplants with spicy chinese peanut dressing (peanut butter, vinegar, rice wine, sesame oil, sugar, salt, chili paste, ginger, cilantro) and cilantro stems
from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian

green beans, eggplant, and broccoli in spicy garlic sauce

from some Chinese restaurant in Hoboken

lotus roots with sesame

fried lotus root slices with soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, sesame oil, and toasted sesame seeds, over jasmine rice

stir-fried vegetables with hoisin sesame sauce

stir-fried broccoli, bok choy, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and onion over jasmine rice with hoisin sesame sauce and toasted sesame seeds