AFTER years of being a niche cuisine, vegetarian restaurants have become mainstream in the city, as a new generation of diners opt for food with delicate flavors and a healthy reputation. Zhang Qian meets veggie veterans and recent converts.In place of heavy red-cooked pork, fried shrimps and baked beef, delicate potions of cool tofu, smooth mushrooms and colorful fresh fruit and vegetables are now becoming increasingly popular among many people in Shanghai.

Though rich animal protein was a symbol of wealth and nutrition for a long time in Chinese culture, a call for a healthier and simpler diet has gradually become a trend, almost without anyone noticing. To meet this demand, various vegetarian restaurants have popped up in Shanghai.

"The word 'vegetarian' always reminds me of my grandma who touches no meat on the 1st and 15th day of each month," says 24-year-old Leon Luo, a bank worker whose 79-year-old grandmother is a devout Buddhist.

Religious beliefs and principles were the origin of vegetarian customs and cuisines in China, as in other parts of the world, but vegetarian dishes are not restricted to believers nowadays, says Pim Li, catering development manager of Sun Island Resorts, in Shanghai, that also provides vegetarian menus.

In addition to people who are vegetarians out of religious beliefs, more and more young people, either out of health concerns or environmental protection concern, are becoming vegetarian and flocking to vegetarian restaurants. And an increasing number of non-vegetarians are also choosing to dine in these establishments.

Linda Xu, a 27-year-old white collar, was first taken to a vegetarian restaurant by a vegetarian friend and fell in love with the cuisine. She now dines in vegetarian restaurants once or twice a month and recommends them to her friends.

"I didn't expect to taste anything delicious in vegetarian restaurants, as vegetarian foods were just various bean products, in my view," says Xu. "But I was wrong. They can actually be very delicate and delicious at the same time. And more importantly, vegetables contain fewer calories than meat."

Vegetarian cuisine has a long history, just like the other famous Chinese cuisines. There are three basic types of vegetarian cuisine schools in China - temple vegetarian cuisine, royal vegetarian cuisine and folk vegetarian cuisine.

Temple vegetarian cuisine is extremely strict regarding its ingredients, banning the five pungent flavors used in cooking - onion, chives, cloves, parsley and coriander. Temple vegetarian cuisine can only be found in temples or in restaurants near temples. Royal vegetarian places more emphasis on unique raw materials and demanding cooking methods. Precious mushrooms and petals are often found in the recipes.

In contrast, folk vegetarian cuisine is more flexible in the raw materials used, placing its emphasis on low cost and good taste. This allows more creative ideas, and most of the vegetarian restaurants today follow this school of cooking.

While restaurants offering folk vegetarian cuisine have sprung up in great numbers in Shanghai recently, YB Sung, a Taiwan businessman who founded "Zao Zi Shu" (Jujube Tree) restaurant 10 years ago, was one of the pioneers. The restaurant name is a play on words as it sounds similar to "being a vegetarian early" in Chinese. It targets on not only vegetarians but also non-vegetarian open-minded to a new dining option.

When Sung opened "Zao Zi Shu" there were few other vegetarian dining options, with old-brand restaurants, such as "Song Yue Lou" and "Gong De Lin," among the establishments.

Soybean products cooked like meat dominated vegetarian cuisine, and many vegetarians still went to temples for simple vegetarian noodles.

"I wasn't sure whether I could succeed, but I was determined to promote a vegetarian lifestyle in my way," says Sung.

Now, diners have no shortage of choice. Typing "vegetarian" in a search in popular restaurant review website Dianping.com will return around 110 restaurants in Shanghai. These cover traditional Chinese cuisine, Western cuisine and fusion cuisine. Instead of simple soybean products, more restaurants give more stage to fresh vegetables and mushrooms.

They include branches of "Zao Zi Shu" and Sung's newest restaurant, "Da Shu Wu Jie" - which means vegetarian with no boundaries - promoting vegetarian foods and ideas.

"Most earlier Chinese vegetarian cuisine focused on cooking soybean products so they resembled meat dishes," says Li of Sun Island Resorts. "This involved deep-frying and heavy seasoning, both of which are considered far from healthy today."

Out of health concerns, more customers today opt for light vegetable dishes, cooked delicately with little oil and heat in the aim of retaining the original taste of the fresh, raw materials. Yams, mushrooms and various green vegetables are among the most popular ingredients.

"If I want to eat meat, I can just go to an ordinary restaurant. But in a vegetarian restaurant, I just need the taste of vegetables," says Xu.

But these customer demands make it essential for restaurants to provide good quality raw materials and skillful chefs.

"Though a healthy diet has become a major concern for people in choosing a restaurant, delicious food will always get their vote," says Sung. "Nobody is going to come to a restaurant selling good food that tastes bad."

Despite the growing popularity of vegetarian food, few vegetarian options are found in most non-vegetarian Chinese restaurants, often to the frustration of vegetarian expats yet to track down the city's veggie outlets.

Swedish student Maria, aged 24, had a hard time when she first came to the city about a year ago, as many Chinese waiting staff had trouble understanding the concept of vegetarianism. Some thought they were doing her a favor adding a little meat to her "vegetarian" dishes.

"When you say, 'I don't eat meat,' they think, 'she just doesn't eat beef or she just doesn't eat pork.' They assure you that the food doesn't come with meat and then bring the plate out and it will have something like chicken legs on it," says Maria. Gong De Lin (Godly)

This century-old vegetarian restaurant is famous for vegetarian "meat" cuisine. Best sellers include tofu with crab roe, fried eel shreds, fried fish slices with wine and fried spare ribs with sweet and sour sauce.

Address: 445 Nanjing Rd W.

Tel: 6327-0218 6327-2181



Kechara Tea House

This restaurant provides simple Western-style vegetarian cuisine. The menu includes eggplant lasagne, jasmine cheesecake, cream baked rice with mushrooms and soy milk.

Address: Room G113 No 570 Huaihai Rd W.

Tel: 5237-1716

New Age Veggie

It offers a wide variety of vegetarian "meat" dishes, including Chinese, Western and other popular cuisine styles. Steak with pepper sauce, traditional red cooked pork, curry seafood pot and fresh wild vegetables are all popular orders.

Address: Floor 5,

988 Huaihai Rd M.

Tel: 5403-3980



Da Shu Wu Jie (vegetarian with no boundary)

It is a relatively expensive vegetarian restaurant that provides creative cuisine with organic ingredients. The menu includes lotus leaf rice and new mapo tofu.

Address: 392 Tianping Rd

Tel: 3469-2857 400-690-5577

Ji Xiang Cao (lucky grass)

This restaurant offers delicate creative vegetarian cuisine. Yam with plum sauce, sour and spicy vermicelli made from bean starch, braised "pork" and BBQ "pork" pastry are hot orders.

Address: Floor 2, 428 Madang Rd

Tel: 6373-0288