You may call me antisocial when I say I don't particularly like the Chinese Vegetarian (kin jay) Festival now in progress. But for some reason, I'm frustrated because most regular restaurants either take time off during the festival or serve only meat-free meals. I'm forced to eat synthetic meats if I don't cook myself. Even if I cook, the prices of vegetables are no longer affordable, having doubled or tripled thanks to the rise in demand.
More importantly, I simply don't understand the goal or what the practitioners of this annual food fare are trying to achieve.
If the festival is a period where one is supposed to make merit by not killing animals for food and purify their spirits, simplify their lives and become healthier by not eating meat, what's the point of the festival in these modern times?
On the first day of the festival this year, I was forced to eat vegetarian food. While I went for plain stir-fried vegetables with tofu and some vegetable soup, others were seen ordering synthetic meat dishes and omelettes.
We've known there exist all kinds of artificial meats ranging from synthetic duck and chicken to salted fish, to name just a few. And this year we see synthetic omelettes, pancake-like deep-fried strip tofu.
I'm not talking about the spiritual purification or merit making during the festival period. My point is how could one get healthier by eating synthetic meats made of mee kung or protein kaset. The former is made of sticky rice and wheat flour while the latter is textured vegetable protein made of soya bean flour.
Of course both are processed, with colours and artificial flavours added. It is a two-step process: first from grains that are dehydrated and turned into flour, and then from that into the product. Tofu can be a better option because it is processed straight from fresh soya beans, without being dehydrated.
You don't need to be a nutritionist to tell that processed food can never be healthier than fresh produce. And what one usually gets in one "jay" meal is only the carbohydrate from steamed rice or maybe noodles, and mee kung and protein kaset.
Many would say it's a bit boring eating vegetables every day during the festival. But c'mon guys, it's only nine or 10 days. If you wish to purify your soul, a period of a little over a week won't hurt to stay simple and gain better health. Or some would say vegetables usually turn pulpy when stewed in pa-lo (Chinese-style stew dish); you may try less-processed tofu.
Adding to the chemical food, the cooking process makes it worse. These processed foods are usually either deep fried or cooked with a lot of oil. I don't need to tell you what's wrong with the cooking with a lot of oil, even though not all vegetable oils are unhealthy.
But again, being a practising vegetarian isn't easy.
It's a big dilemma when you have to decide between processed food or the fresh produce available in the market which carry chemical residue from the farming process, according to a recent report by Smart Buyer magazine. Even those packages on high-end supermarket shelves with the Q logo from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives can be contaminated.
I'm not antisocial. I'm not a big fan of any kind of meat. My everyday meals rarely contain meat. But I simply hate being forced to eat oily processed food and buy overpriced vegetables (already contaminated with chemicals).
So I think I should book a table at some all-you-can-eat barbecue tonight.
Sirinya is a feature writer for Life.