Asia Market Vegan Haul

We’ve had a busy month in our house but stilwe did not neglect to celebrate our Nation of the Month, China. As part of our celebration we packed up the family… and the extended family, and flew off on an exotic getaway. “Where to?” I hear you say, well to Asia Market of course, where did you think we went?

Normally one paces oneself with the tofu and tempeh, but this was the exception.  We find the price of tofu a little steep at our local store. It is considered a luxury niche item, and priced as such. Where it is not considered either of these things is in Asian stores, so that is the best place to go if you want to stock up.  In the Asia Market you will find a variety of tofu products; silken tofu is often used for desserts and puddings, firm for meat substitutes, and medium firm for soups like Miso.  There is also an entire vegan freezer section dedicated to mock meats, including chicken and duck that are a little disturbingly – bird shaped.  If you’re not squeamish it might be worth a try but it was a bit of a turn off for us so we stuck to the “chicken nuggets” and block of “rashers”.

Tofu is not all you have to look forward to.  There’s a lot of interesting food to explore, be warned though, this includes meat items like chicken feet and balut (I’ll leave googling that up to you). I find it a great place to pick up cheap seaweed, which is the best iodine source for vegans, and it’s one of the few places I know of in Dublin that sells frozen edamame beans.  On a less healthy note, they also stock the delicious Nature’s Charm sauces, which may well be key to developing type 2 diabetes on a vegan diet.

With the kids in toe we didn’t stand much chance of skipping the treats and snacks section. Unexpected favourites included individually wrapped tofu snacks, and “99” energy bars…which are not at all as beany as the packaging suggests.

So if you haven’t been I suggest you check out Asian stores, if you’re just looking for cheap tofu and aren’t so interested in exploring the other exotic foods, then you can skip the trip and order online at www.AsiaMarket.ie