Vegetarianism is a tricky subject to talk about without people conjuring up words like ‘pedestal’ or ‘high horse’. I’m sure whenever I’ve spoken about it in the office dozens of eyes start rolling and colleagues quickly return to facebook and zone out of my conversation. But I’m not defending veggies, I love cooking and eating meat, life would not be the same if I could not eat slow-cooked beef brisket on a Sunday or a platter of jamon Iberico when visiting Spain. All I’m saying is that vegetarian food can be absolutely delicious and I often find the absence of meat encourages creativity in a meal. Travelling around the world has really made me see past the Quorn and tofu and I recently found another gem of a restaurant which only contributed to my growing affection for vegetarian food.
In Melacca, South Malaysia there stands a small restaurant in Jalan PM 3, Plaza Mahkota called Man Yuan Fang. It is a Chinese vegetarian restaurant run by a wonderfully cheerful woman called Jean. It is a small venue that doesn’t create false quality by employing the trendy decor and ambient music of so many other city joints, it merely serves brilliant food and is packed to the rafters with adoring fans everyday. In our many visits there we were served stir-fried vegetables containing beautiful lilac aubergines , crunchy green peas still in their pods, melting woody mushrooms and green lemony leaves reminiscent of chard. All the veg was organic and grown in Jean’s garden at home, it was a stark contrast to some of the greasy plates of fried gelatinous noodles and sloppy cabbage we had eaten. In addition, Jean made her own ‘Spare Ribs’ using soya which I was initially very skeptical about but in the end I adored. They were sticky, sweet and covered in sesame seeds and complimented the steamed rice and veg perfectly. Okay, they were not going to substitute a real rib and equally, not all vegetarians are searching for a meat substitute, but these little soya treats were a delight in their own right and I would heartly recommend ordering them if you are ever in town! I’d also recommend ordering a pot of organic tea; the contents of the pot looked like potpourri but the delicate floral flavours were very refreshing and natural.
Credit to Jean who was evidently the founder of such creativity. She piled heaps of originality and effort into the menu and, quite frankly, delivered soya that out-shone the majority of meat-based Chinese meals around. We had, on more than one occasion, the misfortune of encountering horrible reformed meat balls and pork bits in our meals and so everything at Man Yuan Fang was a delightful change. In a world where people demand meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, where we endlessly mass produce chicken, beef and pork unsustainably and unethically, places like Jean’s restaurant emphasise that meat in such large quantities is unnecessary especially when you can deliver vegetables like that!
Thank you Jean xx
THE FAT OF THE LAND 