#43 Happy Family (vegetarian)
Posted on October 29, 2007
Filed Under Chinese, Good for you | 1 Comment
Are you like me, a lover of Chinese food?
Are you unlike me, a vegetarian?
I got the perfect place for you! Happy Family in Monterey Park is a Chinese Vegetarian restaurant, but instead of just coming right out and saying “We only have veggies,” they keep a full omnivorous Chinese menu, and cleverly substitute mushrooms, bean curd, even fried taro for chicken, fish, and beef! Plus the great deal they’ve put together is that for $12 you can order from a large menu of 64 items and they’ll make any quantity of anything you’d like. (Yes, this is gonna be a big entry.) It’s not something I’d totally go crazy for all the time, but it’s good once in a while and kind of a cool experience.
Sweet & Sour Ribs. (Fried Taro) This wasn’t bad at all, but Taro is hardly a substitute for ribs, the texture is nice, though.
Minced squab in lettuce. (Squab is young pigeon, this is substituted by stir-fried bean curd and fried wonton skin.) This was on the dry side and crunchy!
Kung Pao Chicken. (Fried mushrooms) The texture here is quite good, the mushrooms have the firmness and consistency of chicken.
Sizzling squid, tofu and pork. (Tofu skin, bean curd, and more tofu) This looked hard core and the flavor is up to par with its carnivorous counterpart.
Fish in hot bean paste. (Bean curd) Best dish of the night, the sauce is definitely up to par and the only weakness is that the bean curd doesn’t quite have the flakiness of fish.
Fried Tofu (exactly what it is.)
“Aunts walking up a tree” (Vermicelli noodles in hot bean paste) I’m a big fan of the original version with some diced pork, this isn’t as spicy as I’d like it to be, it lacks the punch that I was hoping for.
Rice cakes stir-fried with vegetables. Good flavor, great bouncy and chewy consistency of the rice cakes along with crunchy stir-fried vegetables, nicely done.
Edamame with tofu skin. Subtle but pleasing flavors here.
Stir Fried bean sprouts and celery. Very light, crunchy, and airy — refreshing and healthy.
Obviously, as good as all these vegetarian variations are, they still can’t beat the unhealthy, fat + grease + protein + meat-laden original versions. It’s certainly interesting to see how clever the chef is, though, using all kinds of vegetables / tofu to emulate various kinds of meat. The all-you-can-eat option is really great, and our waitress was fun and sassy. She sauntered to our table, picked up the order slip and said “Okay, everyone order two dishes to start.” As you can see, we had a lot to show for it.
Happy Family
111 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA, 91754
(626) 282-8986
Special thanks to Mel, Jess and Christine.