EAT WELL,
WORDS & IMAGES AMBER BREMNER
I’ve been very fortunate to travel overseas regularly, both with and without children. We are vegetarian and veer towards a fully plant-based diet most of the time. That’s an easy choice to make at home in New Zealand, but can be a challenge when travelling. Of course, countries with an ingrained vegetarian food tradition are an absolute joy to spend time in, with India, Thailand, Laos and Indonesia some of my personal favourites. Tender idli for breakfast in raucous Mumbai, incredible green curry with fresh peppercorns on the beach in Koh Tao, jaew mak keus eggplant dip in riverside Luang Prabang, and many and varied tempeh dishes and nasi campur from warungs throughout Bali and Lombok are forever in my food memory bank. On the flip side, finding a veg-friendly meal in China was more difficult than I imagined, with vegetable dishes usually including at least a little pork, or cooked in a meat-based broth. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when we discovered there were no vegetarian meal options at Shanghai Disney—even the popcorn came tossed with chunks of meat. But nothing is impossible. In downtown Shanghai we found vegan noodles and grilled lettuce at a small hand pulled noodle shop, and ate a lot of snacks from convenience stores. Thankfully, a welltimed food tour introduced us to the pleasures of jianbing, a sort of crepe filled with greens, egg, crunchy fritter, chilli and fermented bean paste, and cong you bing or fried spring onion pancakes. The challenge of seeking out local plant-based options in a new country can also spark some wonderful adventures. Vietnam
has been a real highlight for us, from cooking classes with Red Dao women in the mountains of Sapa to a memorable meal of mushroom spring rolls while sitting alongside Buddhist nuns at vegetarian restaurant Co'm Chay Nàng T m, in Hanoi. I’m grateful my children are fairly adventurous eaters who will give most things a go. However, we do make an effort to balance out the new and weird for them by bringing some familiar foods from home, seeking out markets for simple fresh fruit and vegetables (accommodation with a kitchen is a bonus), and being relaxed about French fries and pizza being a core food group, albeit temporarily. In some countries vegetarian or vegan food often goes hand in hand with religion. Changing how we look for restaurants has been helpful, and Googling local Buddhist restaurants has yielded great results. Targeted at local diners rather than tourists, they’re inexpensive and usually offer a buffet so you can take a good look at everything and decide what you’re game to try. I’ve sought out cooking classes or food tours in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Bali and China. They’re such an excellent way to connect with people and gain an introduction to local foods, that they are now a priority whenever we travel. Veg-friendly travel is not only possible, it’s easy—depending on where you go. Prioritise countries that understand and embrace meat free meals, and you will be well fed indeed.
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