2011-05-16 Quick Visit @ Reshine Vegetarian Foods 瑞香素食

#2140 - 4871 Shell Road, Richmond, BC

604-278-7655

Buddha Boy and I have drove by this place many times but never made an effort to go in...why?  Because it's a vegetarian shop!!!  LOL!!!  Anyhow, since I was looking for something for Buddha Boy to bring to work the next day (which was the 15th of the lunar month, our veggie day), I decided to pay it a visit, and boy, I'm glad that I did.

Never go grocery shopping when you're hungry!!!  Instead of "checking" the place out, I ended up "buying" the place out...hahahaha!  Just kidding!  But honestly, there were a lot of stuff I wanted to try!  And most of the stuff in the store were (and are) imports from Taiwan...I was happy!

On the left was Fu-Chew Veggie Balls (福州丸), a veggie version of Fuzhou fish balls.  One the right was Konnyaku Product Slice (花枝片), or veggie squid slices.  We have not yet try these.

One the left was Veggie in Kidney Style (素腰花), or in simpler term, sliced veggie pork kidneys.  One the right was Veggie Squid Balls (素花枝丸).  We have not yet tried the veggie kidney.  We have previously purchased the veggie squid balls from City Fresh Market (盛達超級市場) and we quite enjoyed it.  Because the main ingredient was konjac (蒟蒻), the "balls" had an earthy taste and a crunchy texture.  Buddha Boy likes these!  Sometimes, he would ask me to cook some up even on non-veggie days!  LOL!

The spicy Bamboo Shoots (老董香脆筍) were chunky and crunchy, not like the cheap quality thin-strings found in places like T&T.  Guo Hua (國華) on No.3 Road has something similar, but it's not as fragrant as this.  The Vege BBQ Pork (素叉燒) was firm and not overly sweet, but was not as good and tasty as the one we had at Purity Vegetarian Restaurant (but we did not write much about this restaurant).  The Vege Chicken Nuggets (三杯雞丁), or veggie three-cup chicken, was horrible.  The texture of the "chicken" was okay, firm yet soft, however, the extreme taste of ginger practically ruined our palates.

Scouting through one of their many freezers, I was attracted to this block of sliced veggie ham, or as what the package labeled, Vegetarian Jambomchay (土司火腿)...also labeled as "soybean protein"...hahahahaha!

 
On top of the three-cup chicken and BBQ pork, I also made Buddha Boy a sandwich for work, using veggie ham, cheese, and egg.  Of course, I made one for myself to try.  Other than a light "soybean" taste, the ham had a good texture.  This was a good meat substitute...hahahahaha!

 The next day, on our actual veggie day, I pan-fried some Vegetarian Pot-Stickers (素食熟鍋貼).  These were previously cooked so it was quite fast and easy.  Honestly, I bought these with no expectations...but these were actually quite good.

Buddha Boy and I were surprised about the skin...it's thin and Q!!!  The filling had veggie ham, Taiwanese cabbage, shitake mushrooms, carrots, green bean threads and Chinese Mahogany (香椿).  The filling tasted okay...a bit bland but we used soy sauce for dipping anyways.  My meat-lover husband enjoyed these dumplings and has asked me to ignore other places/brands from now on and only buy this brand of veggie pot-stickers...hahahahaha!