Vegetarian Food Festival Delights

The Vegetarian Food Festival just got over last week. I felt quite good having vegan food for over 10 days and I really enjoyed the mushrooms and tofu. It is the only time of the year that vegetarian food is widely available in Bangkok. Even the street vendors sell veggie food, as you will find the stalls marked with typical triangular yellow flags, as seen in the picture below.



The Thai word for vegetarian is "Jay" (Thai: เจ), and "Kin Ahaan Jay" simply means to eat vegetarian food.

During October of every year, vegetarian food festival is held in Thailand for ten days. This religious festival is celebrated mostly by Thais of Chinese descent. During the 10-day event, devotees stick to a strict vegetarian diet which is believed to spiritually cleanse the soul.

The vegetarian food festival is celebrated with much gusto in Bangkok, Trang, and Phuket Town.





Fish sauce and other seafood sauces are very common in most Thai recipes. However, most recipes can also be prepared with vegetarian ingredients as alternatives. Here are a few simple substitutions:

Fish sauce: Soy sauce, vegetarian fish sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce
Shrimp paste: Soybean paste
Red meat or Beef: Tofu (regular or deep fried), Textured Soy Protein (TSP) or Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
Chicken or fish: Tofu
Shrimp: vegetarian shrimp
Dried shrimp: no substitute

Below is a packet of Smoked Stripe, and Veggie Chicken Sausages, which is similar in taste to a real chicken sausage. The bottom of the packet is clearly labelled "No Preservative No Borax and No MSG"



I followed a strict vegetarian diet for 10 days, and I'm not so sure if my soul got spiritually purified or not, but my body definitely got physically cleansed. Can't wait for next year's Jay festival!