Vegan Dining Out: Asian Love

Today’s Day 3 of Vegan MOFO. My roller coaster of food aversions continues. I found out I was pregnant 10 weeks ago and in that time I’ve not been able to make a single meal at home (unless we’re calling toast and cereal a meal – which it has been for me almost every day). Eating out as a vegan occasionally is usually no problemo. But average twice a day every day for 10 weeks and factor in food aversions and you’ve got a mess. Both my hubby and I are so sick and tired of eating out. But until the smell of cooked, well anything, doesn’t throw me over the edge, I guess this trend will continue.

Under normal circumstances I love eating asian flavored dishes. It’s easy to find veggie options in Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, etc. You do have to watch out for hidden fish sauce, but if you ask the right questions and know what to order it usually isn’t a problem. And I’ve found I can almost always get a stir-fry of veggies or tofu in any of the above without fish sauce. One note: even when things are labeled vegetarian, it is worth confirming that the stock is vegetarian. Some places label their soups as vegetarian because there isn’t fish or meat flesh even though the stock is made from fish or meat. Many places will make the veggie based stock to order if you just ask and confirm what you are looking for.

While driving home tonight I pondered what we would eat. I just can’t bring myself to eat another Panera sandwich or Jason’s Deli salad which has been the dynamic duo for the past few weeks. At the last minute I thought sushi! Now, of course I wasn’t eating sushi. But I knew I could get the udon noodle soup at Seito Sushi– a filling slightly spicy broth with thick comforting noodles and tempura veggies on the side (it’s served with shrimp but I ask for extra veg instead). I’ve ordered this many times and have confirmed with the chef that the soup does not contain fish stock and the tempura doesn’t have any egg or dairy binder. While I only took a few bites of the veg – cooked veggies just still aren’t working for me – the soup was warming and delicious and sure did hit the spot.

Alongside a fresh green salad with ginger dressing (perfect for nausea!) it was an ideal vegan pregnancy dinner.

And if you are in Orlando, here’s a list of some of my other favorite go-to asian restaurants that I know offer vegan options:

• Thai House of Orlando – this is our staple. The vegetable noodle soup is fantastic. Other favorites are cashew stir-fry and thai basil noodles. They’ll make anything without fish sauce.
• Pho 88 – great big bowls of vegetarian soup full of tofu and veg or just veg. Also one of the best values in town in my opinion.
• Lac Viet – request a special order stir-fry or vegetarian soup (note their vegetarian options on the menu include fish sauce so you need to make the special request which they are very accommodating to).
• Hawkers – this is a vegan’s paradise! Too many vegan items on the menu to even list here.
• Yum-mi – vegetable spring rolls, tofu bahn mi, and don’t leave without a bubble tea – they usually have both soy and almond milk.
• Pei Wei – they label vegetarian options. Just be sure to get rice noodles instead of egg. You can do tofu and veg or double veg.
• Chai Thai – the best ginger dressing in town!

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Check out some amazing Vegan MOFO finds on my Vegan Month of Food Pinterest board!