Quick hijack- I once read a rabbinic anecdote which reverses that. Someone says “Oh Lord, we believe in You but we aren’t doing so well at keeping the Commandments”, to which He replies “Oh, that My people would forget Me, yet remember the Commandments.”
The point being that it’s easier to believe in an above&beyond God, than to actually apply His Words to one’s daily life.
As for the “white steak” I’d heard it from a Palestinian friend as “white beef.” It seems to be very, very plentiful given the percentage of Jews and Moslems in those parts.
[disclaimer]Israeli and culturally Jewish, but a firm, hard atheist[/disclaimer]
“Readily” is kind of a relative term. You couldn’t find pork (nor shellfish, nor any non kosher-certified food) in any major supermarket until very, very recently. This is changing now – there is a new chain of supermarkets that is not “Koshered” (Tiv-Ta’am)
Still, most Israelis, “kosher” and “non-kosher” alike, eat large quantities of turkey in lieu of pork as the “inexpensive meat” (pork is relatively expensive here). Personally, I actually prefer turkey to pork, both taste- and health-wise; but sometimes pork is nice, too.
'Scuse me? I’m not forcing them to eat anything! They can have what they want, and they better damn well let me have what I want!
No shrimp, either, in these places. But everything else – beef, chicken, duck, vegetarian dishes… Chinese cuisine actually suffers a lot less from Kashrut restrictions than most European cuisines
Dani
DIY standards aside - as with kashruth, there are several standards for determining whether or not a particular foodstuff is halal. Some foods are *haram * - explicitly and inarguably forbidden. Pork and alcohol are haram. Some foodstuffs that aren’t explicitly forbidden are nevertheless avoided by many Muslims because their status is questionable. Shrimp is one of these - some authorities say shrimp is a fish, and therefore halal, but others say it’s not a fish (more like a lobster) and therefore haram. Some authorities say that while shrimp are not technically haram, it is nevertheless distasteful to eat shrimp because of its questionable status.
Especially once you consider that it hardly uses dairy at all. Chinese cooking is easy - take out the pork and shellfish and you’ve got it. It’s got to be one of the friendliest cuisines around for Kosher cooking. Plus, China’s Buddhist population means there’s a history and tradition at least in certain places of vegetarianism (though the majority of Chinese Buddhists are not vegetarian). Vegetarian food is much easier to make Kosher. In fact, it’s almost trivial as far as I’m aware. (Though I am neither Chinese nor Jewish. Smack me, someone, if I’m wrong here.)
Quick aside: are all (or most) kosher Jews as strict about it as, for instance, is required by certifying organizations? Do some Jews eat a kosher diet but not inspect quite as hard for possible traces of treyf ingredients? Do some Jews, for instance, eat kosher foods at restaurants that don’t keep kosher kitchens - and thus eat foods that are officially not kosher?
However, your phrase “kosher Jews” is highley problematic. After all, if they are not observing the actual rules of kohsrut, then their behavior isn’t exactly kosher.
In Singapore, there are Halal Muslim restaurants which offer Chinese food. Chinese Cusine is not about pork anyway. There’s fish, chicken, beef, frog legs, turtle meat, monkey’s brain…
(All right, you won’t find monkey’s brain in Singapore. It’s illegal)
Re Chinese Food
Last time I was in Chinatown, I pointed out a kosher certification in a restaurant window. [Homer Simpson] Peking duck, sesame beef, fish tempura, sweet and sour chicken, General Tso’ chicken, red bean paste, those crispy noodles they always give you ahhhhllllll[/Homer Simpson]
Re White Steak
Why should it be insulting? While a Jew may be upset that another Jew isn’t keeping kosher, gentiles aren’t required to keep kosher.
So how about it, DocCathode. Do all Jews who keep kosher do so to the extent of trying to avoid the barest possibility of “contamination” with treyf foodstuffs? Can a Jew who keeps kosher eat at a non-kosher restaurant - or rather, is it common for Jews who keep kosher to do so, even if most Rabbinical authorities would say that such food is automatically treyf?
No. That would mean- not eating at restaurants which are not certified glatt kosher, never eating any food (regardless of ingredients) prepared in a kitchen which was not glatt kosher
Whether a Jew eats at a nonkosher reaturant is up to them. Many Jews who keep kosher do.
Keep in mind that there is a large spectrum of practice among religious Jews who keep Kosher.
Some particularly observant Jews will only eat in certain Kosher restaurants depending on what rabbi or rabbinic organization has certified the establishment.
For instance, some Jews in New York believe that the kosher certification of the Orthodox Union (their symbol is the letter U in a circle or letter O) is insufficiently rigorous, so refuse to buy their products or eat at restaurants certified by them.
One issue is whether the restaurant closes on the sabbath and applicable holidays. Some certifiers will certify those that remain open, and some will not.