Eat your vegetables!

What a delicious, joyous & lively Enak! lunch @Veggielicious!

Terima Kasih & Khob Khun Kha to our wonderful first-time hosts Julie Goh and Eileen Lim. They found us this gem of a restaurant and were capably assisted by Pat Chia and our Enak! Co-Convenor Corinne Sibert. About 30 Enakers filled up three large round tables.

The lunch consisted of authentic vegetarian Thai Cuisine. We started with ‘Meang Kam’ consisting of a fresh 'kaduk' leaf which could be filled with fresh condiments and topped with a sweet and tangy in-house special sauce. This is a traditional Southeast Asian snack from Thailand and Laos. The name Meang Kham translates to 'one bite wrap'.

The main course consisted of fragrant brown rice and a lot of delicious side dishes: a green curry lion head mushroom, fish fillet with Thai tangy sauce, grilled lemongrass chicken with panaeng dressing, grilled eggplant, stir-fried mixed vegetables and Tom Yum (a mushroom soup). Although the names of the dishes mention meat, all dishes were vegetarian, made from vegetarian ingredients like soy or mushrooms.

We ended the meal with banana in taro, a lovely dessert with the right amount of sweetness.

Dato Pat Chia explained to us that a plant-based diet is not only a healthy way to heal a slew of diseases but also to adhere to the tenet of ahimsa or kindness and non- violence to living things. In Veggielicious Restaurant, we tasted some very strict vegetarian dishes that do not contain garlic or onions.

Nowadays more and more people choose to eat more plant-based foods. Even people who are not vegetarian are getting more and more aware that vegetarian food can be very tasty. Even celebrities and athletes are supporting the movement to eat more plant-based foods. In the restaurant, on the wall behind us, there was a nice gallery of pictures from celebrities that choose to eat vegetarian. Plant-based eating may not be entirely mainstream but it's becoming more accepted every day.

Veggielicious chef Jimmy Chang cooks garlic- and onion-free meals that are also vegan. What’s unique is that he dishes are inspired by flavours of Thailand, making Veggielicious possibly the only vegan Thai restaurant in Malaysia!
The restaurant in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, was founded seven years ago under the name Kon Rak Pak, but rebranded as Veggielicious a few years ago following a change in management. The chef and the food, however, remain the same. The restaurant attracts both diners of plant-based cuisine as well as meat eaters.

Quote by the chef: “We don’t take shortcuts! We use spices and sauces sourced from Thailand, even though they are more expensive than the local substitutes, and all our meals are crafted to suit local tastes.” 
 

Did you know plant-based meat has been part of Chinese cuisine for over a thousand years? Watch this video for more insights:
“Not Impossible: China's Vegan Meat Culture Goes Back 1,000 Years” 

Write up contributors:

Dato Pat Chia, Corinne Sibert, Rosemary Chin & Lisette Davis