My Eating Experience in Asia
I traveled to 4 different countries in Asia for 10 days and I was grateful to experience the Asian diet.
I was nervous at first because I knew that countries in Asia rely on dairy, meat, and fish, and thought I wouldn’t be able to eat a lot, but I got to learn that there is definitely a way around a vegan and pescatarian diet in Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and China.
On August 9th, I spent a few hours at Taipei, Taiwan from 6 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon during a layover. I was afraid that I wouldn’t get to eat breakfast because many stores were closed at that time, but instead, I had glass-noodles with a small portion of seasoned vegetables in a bag. This was tasty and also vegan.
I had researched plant-based restaurants in the area beforehand and came across a vegan lunch/dinner spot called “Plants” in Taipei. Even though it was 30 minutes further from the airport, I was eager to try it out. I had a nice plate of falafel, hummus, and a small salad and it was so delicious! Let’s just say if I could catch one more flight to eat this just once more, I would... and I would also try the other meals too!
I arrived in Japan in the evening time and started off with a nice vegan tomato soup. Throughout the 5 days, I was exposed to many different kinds of foods such as Japanese curry, fried fish (fresh with the bones and even the head!), and udon noodles. I mainly consumed foods that were complementary to the pescatarian diet, however, even still I had to alter my diet for my stay. At times, I fell into the temptation to eat Green Tea Ice Cream because green tea is my favorite ice cream flavor. Japanese people eat sushi, raw fish coated atop of white rice and many fried foods which are opposed to the Alkaline diet.
The Alkaline diet includes mainly plant-based foods and particular types of flours and oils and avoids alcohol and caffeine. For this vacation, I was only able to follow a pescatarian diet, but by choice. In my other blogs, you may know that I am currently a pescatarian transitioning to an alkaline statehood.
When I arrived in South Korea for 5 days, I was told by my friend, Sojin who is from South Korea that it may be difficult to follow through my diet since the food is served with meat most of the time. However, I was able to eat some noodles with fish and my friends and I even found a vegan restaurant just a few minutes away from Bukchon Village. This made me extremely happy! I enjoyed the food ten times more because I was confident to eat my full plate without having to make sure there was a piece of egg or pork in there.
Food was very important to me on this trip because I learned that Asians consume meat, fish, and egg in their main dishes. This has taught me more about their culture and how it is geographically convenient for them to eat these types of foods.
In my opinion, following an Alkaline diet or vegan diet in Japan or Korea is definitely possible, but not recommended. Going to Asia was a life experience for me and hope you guys get to go someday.
