Feature: RTM "Vegetarian Chicken" is NOT Vegetarian

One standard of vegetarian life in Taiwan is "vegetarian chicken" (素雞; su ji), which is made from tofu skin (豆皮 or 腐皮), tied into bundles and dried. Apparently, someone thought it looks like chicken breast.

Not an NOMM favorite, at least it offers a protein-rich vegetarian option. Not at RT Mart (大潤發), however, where it is served in a non-vegetarian sauce (see photo below).

While the sign is quite clear, and so the hypermarket is doing nothing wrong, perhaps not all foreigners will know that 葷 (hun) means "meat dish". This is especially true since the character contains the semantic element 艹, which normally indicates a botanical meaning.




                                                                                

                                                                     Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011