Make Your Own (vegan) Chinese Food

Making your own recipes is a fun affordable way to use up leftover veggies, or what’s on sale at the farmers’ market. Base meals around cheap staples like pasta or rice (take your own container to the zero waste shop, but eat rice up quickly, as it’s a food poison hazard, if left too long). Eating plant-based recipes is good for animal welfare, the planet and your health. It’s also a good way to replace tasteless and expensive plastic-wrapped ready-meals from the supermarket.

Many foods are toxic to animal friends, so keep these recipes away from nosey paws. If making your own bread or pasta, keep fresh dough away from pets (it can expand in the stomach) and never use xylitol (a sweetener that can be lethal, if licked)

Everyone enjoys a takeaway now and then. But too often means lots of plastic packaging and also gets expensive and unhealthy. Here are some wonderful ways to make your own ‘takeaways’ at home, using healthy plant-based ingredients, and no plastic packaging to bother about.

Chinese takeaways are one of the most popular, but sometimes the ingredients could be dodgy. In fact, Chinese food done well is some of the most healthy and is based around rice or noodles, with lots of quick-cooking vegetables and protein-rich tofu with sauces. Like Italian food, Chinese food is very regional. Surprisingly, the most popular Chinese dessert is not lychees but custard! If you use them, choose bamboo chopsticks over wood ones, far more sustainable.

The largest country on earth is already embracing zero waste, with Shanghai striving to become the world’s first zero waste city. Obviously with such a huge population, things are happening fast over there. The fallout from COVID has not done China any favours politically, and so hopefully this can be a catalyst for a new era, where simple living, open politics and media (and better animal welfare) lead the way.

And lest you think that the Chinese population does not care about animals: know that most Chinese people campaign against shark fin soup (used for decoration, this is made by slicing off the fins of live sharks, then throwing them back in the water to die). Chinese basketball star Yao Ming (and film star Jackie Chan) are both instrumental in campaigning for animal welfare in the media. And Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet series (the most watched TV on earth) is so popular in China, that it temporarily caused the Internet to slow down!

The Vegan Chinese Kitchen is a unique book of 100 flavourful recipes, to offer plant-based versions of one of the world’s most popular cuisines. Get rid of the plastic-packed takeaways and make your own authentic Chinese food instead, far less greasy oil too. Using umami-rich ingredients that can be traced back over centuries to Buddhist temple kitchens, the recipes include:

1. Soft Tofu with Black Bean Sauce
2. Blanched Spinach with Sesame Sauce
3. Blistered Dry-Fried String Beans
4. Sweet & Sour Tofu
5. Flaky Scallion Pancakes
6. Corn Stir-fried with Peppers & Pine Nuts
7. Pea Shoots in Mushroom Broth
8. Sichuan Chili-Oil Wontons
9. Spicy Mushrooms in Dandan Noodles

Hannah Che is a cook, writer and photographer based in Portland, Oregon. Born and raised in Michigan, she lived in China for several years, and trained as a chef at Guangzhou Vegetarian Culinary School.

Vegan Asian: A Cookbook offers lovely recipes from China, Japan and Thailand. Why order takeout when you can whip up:

1. Char Siu Tofu
2. Spicy Dan Dan Noodles
3. Singaporean Chili Tofu
4. Chinese Lettuce Wraps
5. Yang Chow Fried Rice
6. Satay Tofu Sticks with Peanut Sauce
7. Vietnamese Mushroom Pho
8. Japanese Yakisoba
9. Satay Tofu Sticks with Peanut Sauce

Recipes From Just Over the Border

Taking us just over the border is The Korean Vegan Cookbook. Joanne Lee Molinaro goes beyond fish sauces and barbecued meet to offer foods from her childhood, alongside stunning photography. Enjoy:

1. Doenjang (fermented soybean paste)
2. Gochujang (chili sauce)
3. Dashima (seaweed)
4. Jjajangmyun (black bean noodles)
5. Gamja Guk (potato-leek soup)
6. Kale & Ramen Salad with noodle ‘croutons’
7. Ramen Broth
8. Chocolate sweet potato pie

Also read Plant-Based Himalaya, with recipes from a woman who is passionate about preserving the plastic-free lifestyle in her beautiful mountain home.

The Zero Waste Chinese Grocery

Vegan Lo Mein with Tofu (Short Girl, Tall Order)

1. Rice and noodles are the mainstay of Chinese cuisine. Choose egg-free noodles for best ethics. If you live near a zero waste shop, you can likely take your own container and at least buy your rice plastic-free. Rice is a food poison hazard, so only cook what you need, and don’t keep it longer than 24 hours, once cooked.
2. Tofu is another mainstay. Again it’s unlikely you’ll find plastic-free varieties in supermarkets, but Chinese groceries may sell it fresh, packed in water. Otherwise, you can buy it in most shops. Firm tofu is chopped into chunks for savoury dishes, and silken tofu (looks like custard) is good to replace eggs in puddings and mousse.
3. You won’t have any problem finding vegetables for Chinese dishes, as many grow elsewhere: baby corn, snow peas, bok choy and mushrooms. Most shops also sell bean sprouts and water chestnuts in tins. Most Chinese dishes are seasoned with easy-to-find fresh ginger, garlic and sesame oil. You can find vegan fish sauce in all shops these days.
4. Fresh fruits form the basis of most Chinese desserts. Enjoy with green tea from Purechimp (they give 5% of profits to a charity that rescues apes from zoos, circuses and vivisection labs).

This white chocolate flan with matcha (Full of Plants) is a great way to try the healthy green tea from Japan.  Matcha powder is high in antioxidants and is also a good natural green food dye. This vanilla pudding is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and set using agar (a seaweed-based alternative to gelatine). Once set, serve on a plate with some coconut cream, shaved chocolate and a pinch of matcha powder.

Purechimp is a good brand of matcha powder. 5% of profits go to a charity that helps to rescue apes from zoos, circuses and vivisection labs. The company also makes flavoured matcha teas (mint, lemongrass, turmeric and cinnamon).