I used to think that vegetarian is mainly for Buddhist followers but recently I changed my mind when I experienced myself at vegetarian restaurants in Saigon and met different vegetarians. Actually, vegetarianism seems to be more popular for everyone nowadays. There are many reasons for eating vegetarian. People can fast for spiritual, for health, or simply a way to change the taste of food. There are also vegetarian because people towards the problem further, as fears of animal diseases, or because they want to protect the environment.
I went to Tin Nghia Restaurant, the oldest vegetarian restaurant in Saigon located at 9 Tran Hung Dao, District 1. I was surprised to know that it dated from 1930s until now. According to Mrs Nguyen Thi Nhung, the owner who is 80 years old, said that three generations in her family have cooked vegetarian food with strict standards: all ingredients for healthy vegetarian dishes are from vegetables, beans, fruit, tuber, mushroom, flowers and grain which were always selected and prepared carefully to guarantee hygiene and nutrition. The restaurant is quite no use monosodium glutamate and the broth of soup is cooked from turnip, mushroom and carrot. Customers of the restaurant are local people living surrounding areas, office staff and even foreign tourists. I met Mrs Thuy, a middle-aged woman who is a familiar customer here. “I like vegetarian food because it is good for health”, she said “when my age is more and more, I has changed my daily food, more vegetables, less food from animal. Now every week I eat vegetarian food for five days and only other food for two days. I really feel healthier”. Ms Hoa, a young client, said that she ate vegetarian to change the taste of food. “I want to pray something and wish it to be true, I can eat vegetarian during a month”, she shared.
At the office where I am working, a half of 30 female staff often have vegetarian only on the first day and full-moon day of lunar month as a religious reason. Some my friends and colleagues said that they often eat vegetarian during the fourth lunar month and the seventh lunar month (known as special months in Buddhist religion) to pray health and good life for their family.
At Hoa Dang Vegetarian Restaurant I met Mr Truong, a young man who is daily vegetarian. He said that he began eating vegetarian one year ago when he was diagnosed to have heart disease. Then the doctor advised to eat vegetarian every day. “At fist it’s difficult for me to eat vegetarian daily but for health, I practised and now I like it. It really is good for my health”, he said. Phuong and her friends had other reason for their eating vegetarian that they ate vegetarian some days in month as the good way to purify organs in their body. Mrs Trang Dai, the owner of Hoa Dang Vegetarian Restaurant said that all members in her family, from children to old people, are loyal vegetarians before her family opened the restaurant 10 years ago. They have only one reason for eating vegetarian. That is for health.
There is a reason for many people eating vegetarian that vegetarian food is cheap. According to Mr Tin, the owner of many vegetarian restaurants, he and his relatives often open vegetarian restaurants near Industrial Parks in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong Province and Dong Nai Province. His main customers are workers working at Industrial Parks. “We sell at VND8,000 and VND10,000 per rice plate served with vegetables, mushroom and soya curd and a bowl of soup which is reasonable with worker’s income”. In this case, the workers don’t think that eating vegetarian is good for their healthy but perhaps it can help them save their money.
Personally, I have ever thought that vegetarian dishes were very monotonous and not delicious. However, I’m wrong after I enjoyed vegetarian food in many restaurants in Saigon. Hoa Dang Restaurant offers a diverse menu of over 200 different dishes, including some its specialties such as fried Gardein (gardein is a product line of animal meat-free foods for vegan imported from US), local Vietnamese dishes and even dishes in Western style such as pizza, spaghetti and sushi. “At Hoa Dang, we only uses fresh ingredients and fresh organic vegetables, olive oil, no food in the egg, MSG, artificial colors, no preservatives or other products or material with animal ingredients, including dairy products such as butter, milk or cheese dish”, Mrs Dai said.
Meanwhile, Tin Nghia Restaurant offers a wide selection of over 60 vegetarian dishes with own recipes created by its owners through many generations who put their hearts into vegetarian dishes. You can try mam kho, soya soup served with vegetables, and mi can sa ot, a kind of soya cake fried with mushroom, lemongrass and chilli.
Photo source: collected
