Granted that many Hongkongers do not claim to be vegetarian, there is a growing trend of those eagerly making the transition to a plant-based diet.

Alok Jain is a local resident who has made the switch from the beginning. By day, he is an expert in Public Transport Marketing and Planning. On the side, he runs Khana Khazana, an Indian vegetarian restaurant in Wan Chai. As he comes from a family of vegetarians who are followers of Jainism, he describes himself as a "lifelong vegetarian" - "one of the strictest forms of vegetarianism combined with extremely tough practices of fasting".

Prior to the opening of his restaurant, Jain noticed a lack of vegetarian restaurants in the Hong Kong.

Growing health and environmental awareness linked to vegetarianism has helped build the business, said Jain. Nevertheless, having to design "a menu that could satisfy the palette of customers who are not vegetarian" has been the biggest challenge to him. In addition, it is important to make the dishes as filling as possible as people often complain about feeling hungry soon after eating meatless dishes.

According to Jain, 40 percent of the Indian population in the territory is vegetarian; hence his restaurant offers a wide variety of both North and South-Indian dishes.

A vegetarian hospital

Another example of religion-based vegetarianism, Wong Chi-Wing is a registered dietitian and the department head of Food & Dietetic at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital located on Stubbs Road, Midlevels.

Wong said his hospital serves both Chinese and Western vegetarian food to everyone regardless of religion.

The hospital has a non-traditional menu which contains over 130 vegetarian choices. They include Chinese style egg white with asparagus and flax seeds on top which Wong recommends for cancer patients for the fiber intake, and Western-style coucous salad and pasta items for those who do not favor vegetarian dumplings and dim sum.

What makes a vegetarian a vegetarian?

Although some people in Hong Kong turn to vegetarianism because of their religions, Wong and other sources agree that the top reason for Hongkongers to adopt vegetarianism is health concerns.

Other reasons include concern for the environment and animal rights.

John Wedderburn, a vegan of 20 years, emphasized that "most vegetarians in Hong Kong are doing it for their health, not for ethical, environmental or animal cruelty reasons. Indeed it is quite common for Hong Kong people to be vegetarian for one or two days a week just to be healthier".

What constitutes a "healthier" vegetarian diet? Wong said the cooking method is important. For example, deep fried potatoes are not as healthy as baked potatoes. Unfortunately, many Chinese vegetarian restaurants deep fry their food and use heavy sauce toppings, he added.

Different types of vegetarians

"Mainstream" vegetarians are lacto-ovo vegetarians who do not eat meat, including fish, but are willing to consume eggs and dairy products.

Vegans eat entirely plant-based products, some of whom abstain all animal products from their lives including honey and wearing leather shoes.

Fruitarians are those only ingest fruits that drop naturally and raw food-vegans eat only uncooked plant-based products.

How to become a vegetarian?

General consensus from those surveyed for this article suggests doing it gradually.

Jain explained: "A simple way to turn vegetarian is by making simple changes in one's lifestyle in a gradual manner without getting overly psyched about it."

"One of the misconceptions is that vegetarians have to eat more to 'survive' but I can easily claim that my diet is much less than Hong Kong's average. I am a healthy build and weigh 85 kg," he claimed.

Wedderburn agreed: "Don't push yourself - few people can make the change overnight." If one in fact decides to become vegetarian, he suggested taking several months, even years, to slowly eliminate certain animal products and then progressing until all animal products are gone from your intake. "Use meat substitutes at first if you really miss meat," he advised.

A trend or a fact of modern life?

Alok Jain presenting a dosa. Tiffany Wong

It is a bit of both. "People like to pay lip service to the issues of the day," said Wedderburn. "Health and environmentalism are fashionable, but unfortunately, few people are willing to make genuine lifestyle changes."

As a trend, he said: "Some become vegetarian for fashion such as eating Japanese tonight, vegetarian tomorrow, Sichuan the day after tomorrow."

"Few become vegetarian for ethical reasons, but there is an increasing awareness of the urgent planetary need for eliminating animals from our diet."

This can include environmental sustainability issues in which the amount of grain and land necessary to raise a herd of cattle can be used to feed more people.

Wong hesitantly agreed that Hong Kong is vegetarian citing that is becoming a more common phenomenon whereby patients report that they "feel good" after making the switch.

He wants to see more vegetarian restaurants open in Hong Kong that offer healthy options, such as Jain's restaurant. "It's something to look forward to," conceded Wong.

(HK Edition 09/02/2008 page4)