# Venturing into vegan/vegetarian food **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 9, 2025, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775 "2025-01-09T22:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/41 "2025-01-11T22:54:47Z")
Thai curry has very little in common with Indian curry. I’m not even entirely sure why they share the same name in English. Indian curries generally center around turmeric, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic, onion, chili pepper (usually dried and powdered)maybe tomato. Thai is lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shrimp paste, makrut lime leaves, cilantro root, fresh Thai chiles. The whole base is different. And something being “curried” is not really an expression. You don’t curry something (except maybe favors.) ETA: wait, I just realized I have heard of dishes as “curried something.” To me that just means putting generic “curry” spices on it. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/42 "2025-01-11T23:01:30Z")
Huh. I’ve avoided Thai curry based on my reaction to Indian, but maybe it would be safe to try it, if it doesn’t have the same suite of spices. Since I don’t know which particular spice is the likely culprit I’ve been super cautious about anything “curry”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/43 "2025-01-11T23:02:58Z")
I might avoid Masaman curry, and Panang. Those do incorporate Indian/South Asian type flavors. But your typical “stoplight” curries should be fine. Unless turmeric is what your reactions to. There’s turmeric in yellow curry, but green is my favorite, anyway, as is red. Do you have reactions to Middle Eastern food? That could rule out some things as cumin and coriander are pretty common there as spices. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/44 "2025-01-11T23:05:39Z")
Maybe, maybe not. If you’ve ever had as violent a reaction (short of anaphylaxis) to a food as i suffered, you’d be leery of taking a chance. ETA: I’ve had no problem with Middle Eastern food. Makes me wonder if it’s the turmeric, but I don’t feel like experimenting upon myself. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/45 "2025-01-13T20:28:58Z")
7 posts were merged into an existing topic: [Bbbb Posts in the Cornfield (Was Manwich)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbbb-posts-in-the-cornfield-was-manwich/1012928/4) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/48 "2025-01-11T23:24:33Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1012928/4): > > Your local viet or thai places will know if you ask them about it. Heh. I live in a mostly white-bread suburb north of Boston. No restaurants like that anywhere near me. There’s Chinese and Thai places in my town, and a Japanese restaurant about a half-hour drive away. That’s it for Asian around here. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/50 "2025-01-11T23:34:04Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1012928/6): > > Nah pretty much just red curry despite it soundi Malay Sorry – yeah, that’s the one with peanut. I had originally written “and maybe Panang.” But it sometimes/often? does have cumin and coriander, a combination I think of as coming more from India or the Middle East. Cumin is common in American cuisine, so I doubt it’s that. Coriander seed is common enough if you eat Middle Eastern food (and the leaf is everywhere in Mexican cuisine.) Turmeric is in American yellow mustards, so probably not turmeric. I’m betting, if it’s not just some weird coincidence that they got sick after eating South Asian food, that it’s something more like, I dunno, cardamom, which you don’t get too much of here in American food. Something more exotic. Oh, and fenugreek can apparently be cross-reactive with people who have peanut allergies, so another possibility if that’s so. But, yeah, not something you really want to experiment with to figure out, given the reaction. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/52 "2025-01-11T23:38:41Z")
Can’t be cardamom. A local bakery makes carrdamom pastries to die for. I get one whenever they have them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/53 "2025-01-11T23:40:47Z")
Yes. My extensive Thai cookbook “Thai Food” by David Thompson (at a whopping 673 pages) does not include those ingredients. But the Mae Ploy panang curry paste, which is made in Thailand and available here, has both cumin and coriander seed in it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2025, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/56 "2025-01-11T23:50:24Z")
Then here’s a food author who grew up in Hat Yai, Thailand recipe. This is just from a quick Google. > **[Panang Curry Paste](https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/panang-curry-paste/)** > > Panang Curry Paste is an incredibly popular curry. Watch it here to learn how to make curry paste from scratch! Or this Thai language recipe that includes both? > **[พริกแกงพะแนง ตำรับโบราณ พร้อมสูตรพะแนง ที่ควรมีติดก้นครัวไว้! - Cheewajit](https://cheewajit.com/healthy-food/recipe/154598.html)** > > พริกแกงพะแนง สูตรดั้งเดิมแต่โบราณ มีส่วนผสมที่แตกต่างจาก พริกแกงเผ็ด หรือ พริกแกงแดง พร้อมกับสูตรอาหาร เมนูพะแนงหมู และคุณประโยชน์ของ พริกแกง I mean, Thailand has a lot of culinary variation. Anyway, I believe we’re side-tracking here. For Chinese, I’ve always like Sichuan-style green beans for something vegetarian. I wonder if you can get ma po tofu without the pork. It should be doable, I’d think. I’m pretty sure I’ve made a vegan version long ago. ETA: Oh, it looks like my favorite place does do it vegetarian, so it’s out there. Tons of vegetarian options there, and clearly marked with a green symbol. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/57 "2025-01-12T00:33:47Z")
Yes, I can get tofu dishes at the Thai place, I think one of the two Chinese places likely offers it. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/58 "2025-01-12T00:33:50Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > No way I’m going wholly vegan, though, or any other variety of vegetarian. I may not eat much critter-based protein, but I’m not giving it up, just varying my intake of that food group. If any of you have suggestions for a better vegan protein, let me know. Oh, and I rarely cook, so making stuff from scratch is right out; I’d be looking for packaged food I can zap in the microwave. Yes, I know. Don’t judge! It’s the latter half of the equation that’s more of a problem TBH. There’s lots of awesome (many shared in thread) options to cook for more vegetarian/vegan, but buying premade is tougher. My normal go to would be my wife’s favorite, the “Tasty Bites” but they’re Indian, and I’ve read enough of the thread to know that’s a risk. You mention a definite “NO” on curries, but are their other options, like Saag Paneer that you’ve tried and liked? We might find the troublesome ingredient by cross comparison of tolerable/not tolerable dishes. I’ll add to the resounding “don’t bother” for meat emulators - some of them are enjoyable in their own right, but the dissonance between expectations and results often makes them worse by the inevitable comparison. For my wife (the vegetarian in our house) sometimes she misses the textures of things, but not the taste of meat. Her favorite is tofu, dredged or lightly battered, then pan friend. Not “nuke it until it’s done” but easier than a lot of options. (NOTE for tofu - purchase extra firm, then freeze. Once thawed, you can drain it a lot more effectively which makes it easier to absorb liquid flavors/sauces.) In terms of heat-and-go food, various Tex-Mex dishes are a fine choice. Green chile and cheese tamales, chile rellenos and bakes are also nice. For super easy, there’s a nice variety of vegetarian and vegan eggrolls out there as well, which is one of my wife’s go-tos. Toss them in an air fryer for a few minutes, and they’re crispy and delicious. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/59 "2025-01-12T01:59:55Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > ETA: I’ve had no problem with Middle Eastern food. What Middle Eastern foods have you had? Some of of the common ones like gyros don’t have much in the way of “exotic” spices that you could encounter in Thai or Vietnamese restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775/60 "2025-01-12T03:48:34Z")
I was finishing mainly for cumin and coriander, but shawarma spices will also often have cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc. Not all that far off something like garam masala. I have some stuff here from the Arabic market that also has cardamom, cloves, and ginger in it. See: Arabic seven spice blends. Gyros is Greek. Though obviously part of the shawarma/döner continuum, totally different spicing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venturing-into-vegan-vegetarian-food/1012775.md?page=2)