The vegetarian lifestyle has been popular in the United Kingdom for hundreds of years, with the country’s Vegetarian Society being formed in 1847. The UK is currently home to over four million vegetarians and approximately 5000 residents who are converting to a non-meat diet. Over the centuries, UK residents from all walks of life have pursued vegetarianism, including famous politicians, writers, musicians and artists such as George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells and the Beatles. Also, more than a hundred vegetarian hotels and guest houses and over 500 vegetarian restaurants and cafes currently exist in the country, and even local supermarkets have embraced this healthy way of living by selling vegetarian burgers, sausages, pies, tarts, cakes and “egg free” mayonnaise, all of which were only available in specialty shops in the past. Moreover, in recent years vegetarian food manufacturers have greatly improved the labelling of their products by providing clear, detailed information about ingredients and nutrition. So it has never been so easy to be vegetarian and enjoy a wide variety of veggie foods from various regions in the UK!
One noteworthy UK vegetarian restaurant, Peking Palace, was opened in 2001 by Aulacese fellow initiates David and Lin of the London Center. Their aim was to establish a high quality Asian eating place that would serve the public by spreading information on the Quan Yin Method and promoting the vegetarian lifestyle.
The restaurant boasts the largest vegetarian and vegan menu of any such restaurant in London, with dishes including barbecued veggie spare ribs, Thai Tom Yam soup, Mongolian veggie lamb, sizzling veggie king prawn in butter sauce and crispy shredded veggie beef, to name a few. Its customers include both omnivores and vegetarians, with many of the former being surprised to find that the menu is purely vegetarian. Moreover, some meat eaters have actually switched diets after eating at the restaurant while others say that they could easily do so. The Peking Palace’s vegetarian clients are also impressed by the originality and quality of the cuisine, thus making it a popular venue that attracts customers from a wide variety of lifestyles, cultures, nationalities and age groups.
Because of this diverse clientele the cooking staff at Peking Palace is always keen to introduce new exciting dishes and can often be found experimenting in the kitchen, just waiting for local initiates to come in and be their guinea pigs!
Recently, a new Peking Palace menu item,
“vegetarian fish and chips” (deep-fried vegetarian fish
in batter with deep-fried potatoes), was inspired by a Scottish
newspaper article about a famous UK fish and chips shop that was
so good Prince William, a member of the British Royal Family, was
known to have eaten there. To create the new dish the restaurants’
cooks had to find a good recipe for the batter and experiment with
the veggie fish. The result has been a resounding success, with
many clients commenting on its tastiness, which shows that through
the Quan Yin practice we can achieve any goal we seek, including
creating a delicious vegetarian alternative to a traditional English
menu item.
Below is the Peking Palace recipe
for the dish in case readers would like to try making it themselves.
Fish
Batter ingredients:
Mix above ingredients to form a batter and leave for 10 minutes before placing on the vegetarian fish.Other ingredients:
ChipsIngredients: 3 medium sized potatoes
Directions: Chop potatoes into thick slices while leaving skins intact and deep fry until golden brown (approx. 10-12 minutes).
Vegetarian Fish and Chips
Enjoy!
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