Plant-based consumption has become a rising interest and trend globally nowadays, due to environmental and health concerns. From pollotarian and pescatarian to lacto-vegetarian and strictly vegan, there is a broad spectrum of diets that one can adopt to phase out meat consumption and save the planet.
In conjunction with Green Council’s Clean N Green week, I, someone who has never intentionally adopted a plant-based diet before, tried out the vegetarian options our very own canteen offers! Although the dishes are not strictly vegan, they are all meat-free. Hopefully this will inspire you to take participate in 素 (vegetarian) Week, organised by Greenterest and Project Plantiful, and take small steps towards a plant-based diet by starting from your school meals!
Asian A La-Carte
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Asian Ala Carte sells mock meat! The entire second row on display is dedicated to plant-based options, so there is a great variety to choose from! I ordered white rice (the fried rice contains prawns) with nai bai vegetable, samosa, spring rolls and vegetarian char siew ($3.70).
Starting off with the vegetables, the nai bai was cooked just right and tasted just like home cooked food to me!
At 3 for $1 (you can opt to mix samosa and spring rolls), the samosa and spring rolls were a tad underwhelming to me as the skins of both were not crispy or especially flavourful. Still, the samosa was slightly more enjoyable as the mildly spicy curry potato filling provided a more varied texture.
The vegetarian char siew, which actually looked like the real deal, turned out to be the winner for me! Both sweet and salty, there was no overpowering taste of flour that one would expect from mock meat. Surprisingly the char siew also had a hint of “wok hei” smokiness, which is the essence of char siew. Although I would still prefer the tougher texture of char siew, this was a commendable replication of flavour.
Overall: 4.5/5. Highly recommended - though the meal was slightly pricey! This meal was slightly expensive, considering there was no meat.
Ban Mian
The Ban Mian stall does not offer purely plant-based options as their soups are all meat-based. However, you can still request for no meat when you order from their usual menu. I opted for Vegetable Ban Mian ($2.50), which is the usual Ban Mian but without the pork.
The soup was savoury and soothing as usual, but with only noodles, vegetables and egg, it was not a very satisfying meal. The auntie offered to add more noodles to make up for the absence of pork, but with the soup being pork-based, I found myself craving the minced pork.
Overall: 2/5. Although I wished that without meat, the price would be cheaper than original, this would be a good soup choice on a cold rainy day!
Japanese
Similar to the Ban Mian stall, you will have to request to customise your meal since there is no vegetarian option on their menu. The Japanese Curry with fried egg ($2.50) I ordered included potato, carrot and corn on top of rice. If you do not fancy Japanese curry, the vegetarian Oyako Don is an alternative at the same price.
The dish retained the essential flavour and adequately satisfied my craving for Japanese Don! However, the absence of meat was quite noticeable as the meal’s texture became slightly dull. The addition of a fried egg was unexpectedly fitting and delectable – it is a good source of protein for vegetarians too!
Overall: 3/5. This was the most flavourful meal out of the stalls that sell fixed dishes!
Western
Scrambled egg with pasta, recommended by Project Plantiful, looked like an extremely appetising meat-free option to me. Unfortunately, the Western stall ran out of egg on the day I wanted to try that dish. I ordered Pomodoro Pasta ($1.50), which came with a side of lettuce (quite literally).
The dish retained the essential flavour and adequately satisfied my craving for Japanese Don! However, the absence of meat was quite noticeable as the meal’s texture became slightly dull. The addition of a fried egg was unexpectedly fitting and delectable – it is a good source of protein for vegetarians too!
Overall: 3/5. This was the most flavourful meal out of the stalls that sell fixed dishes!
Mum’s Cooking
I went a little adventurous for this meal and asked the auntie to pick 3 vegetarian dishes for me. I ended up with steamed egg, broccoli, and stir-fried cabbage ($3.00) with a splash of curry sauce.
As someone who regularly eats home cooked food, I found that I prefered the vegetable dishes from Mum’s Cooking to meat dishes as the vegetables are generally less heavy and cooked to perfection. The vegetables I got this time round are safe options that can hardly go wrong even if you are picky with your greens – even the broccoli, which can usually go wrong in many ways, was fortunately neither over- nor undercooked.
Overall: 4/5. You will simply be spoiled for choice at the many plant-based choices provided by Mum’s Cooking. If you are lucky, the auntie might give you a hash brown or side dish for free!
Muslim
Despite being one of the less popular stalls, those who patronise the Muslim stall, especially vegans and vegetarians students and teachers, swear by it. I ordered rice with assorted vegetables, spicy kang kong and tempeh ($2.60).
The assorted vegetables, which consisted of nai bai, beansprouts, carrots and onions, were well-cooked and tasty, while the kang kong was a little too spicy for me. I decided to try tempeh (traditional Indonesian fermented soybeans) as it is quite a popular plant-based option at the Muslim stall. Even though I do eat tempeh cooked by my mother at home, I found it a little hard to get used to the gravy used here. Both the tempeh itself and the gravy used is an acquired taste – some of my friends really liked it, while others did not – so you can give it a try and give your own verdict.
Overall: 4/5. The food from this stall is not short of flavour! The price was the cheapest out of the 3 mixed rice stalls and the short queue is a huge plus. The sweet chilli tofu many students enjoy is next on my list of things to try!
Having never attempted a plant-based diet before, this was an eye-opening experience. Although it was only for one meal, I got to experience firsthand the struggles of sourcing for plant-based options. Thankfully, going vegetarian or vegan is not an entirely foreign concept for Hwachongians, so the stall owners were very accommodating - they gave me recommendations and cautioned me that some dishes were not strictly plant-based. There were also many resources available for Hwa Chong-specific vegetarian meals, like from Green Council, Project Plantiful, and Greenterest.
It was admittedly a little inconvenient to specially request for vegetarian options, especially at stalls with fixed dishes, but it was comforting to know that while I do not have to completely cut out meat from my diet, I can still play my part for the environment by making a slight change to my lifestyle.
The one-week experiment is quite limited for me to observe any long-term benefits of transitioning to a plant-based diet, like clearer skin and better digestion. However, I did feel more optimistic each day as I was proud of myself for making the conscious decision to eat green for the environment and my health.
Moreover, the environmental benefits, no matter how small, are beyond doubt. A report published in The Lancet in 2019 shared that a global shift to a plant-based diet could reduce mortality and greenhouse gases caused by food production by 10% and 70% respectively, by 2050. By reducing our meat consumption, we can actually significantly cut down on our carbon footprint.
While a 180-degree switch to a vegetarian or vegan diet seems daunting, you can start off your journey towards a plant-based diet by slowly incorporating it into your routine and gradually substitute meat in every meal. In our fight against environmental issues, no effort is too small. Afterall, as Mike Glenn once said, “Big visions are realised through small steps.” Collectively, we can save the planet, one plant-based meal at a time.
Written by: Caroline Ong (21A10)
Edited by: Tran Vu Phuong Uyen (21A15)
Photos by: Caroline Ong (21A10), Adelei Tock (21A10)
Special thanks to Green Council and Project Plantiful for the resources provided.
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