Vegetarian Food at Madras Lane (Nine Emperor Gods Festival)

The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is a much-celebrated festival in this part of the northern region; specifically in Penang.
All the vegetarian stalls are kind of endorsed to be 'legal' and consumable by the vegetarians observing the practice of the vegetarian diet during this period. The restaurants and the stalls will be hanging a yellow cloth to assure the vegans that they are safe to eat.

I love vegetarian food; be it only the greens and plain vegetables or even with the mock meat, I just love them.
Mummy said that the true vegetarian food will not include those mock meat they have today, which was a result of vegetarian evolution and innovation. The basic vegetarian meal is not even supposed to taste really good and it is, meant for a period of abstinence and reflection.

The little Penang island is overwhelmed by the number of vegans during this period that there is practically vegetarian food almost everywhere during this month. One of the most celebrated and popular place would be Burma Road where the Temple of the Nine Emperor Gods is located.
Right opposite the Temple is the line of vegetarian stalls located in Madras Lane.

I was there on Sunday, eager to experience for myself the fun of celebrating the festival ( I do that every year, as long as I am in Penang during that time)
It was pretty hot at that time and I was thankful for the shaded areas of the stalls which had canopies sheltering the hawkers and their patrons.

They were selling snack food and interesting pastries:
Curry Puffs


This was made of snow skin (the types you get in mooncakes) and they contain lotus paste filling and also red bean paste.

They looked really adorable in the tart wrappers and the sprinkled coconut on the top.

These are flour-made layered type of cakes


After a long stroll along the stalls and under the scorching sun, we found a place to sit down beneath those shady canopies, and start with our lunch

Noodles with a few vegetarian dishes


A portion of stir-fried spinach, cauliflowers and broccolis, some mock vegetarian spare ribs and also mock vegetarian braised pork in soy sauce.

It was pretty pricey, at RM5 for this plate (I wonder the purpose of being a vegan supporter when they seem to be extorting the consumers in their prices)

Whatever, I was told that they only get this profit like, once a year. Well, I still think that it's wrong, especially when you are right in front of the temple, it is just a cheap and mean way of abusing the true meaning of the festival.

That being said, the food is not too bad in taste, although I felt the vegetarian food I had on normal days (not during this period) tastes slightly better.


The Vegetarian Satay was good, seriously, and each stick costs RM1.20 (what did I tell you about the prices again?)

Despite the price, we found the texture of the vegetarian flour and gluten was pretty chewy and I liked how they fried these, not too crispy and yet, it had that fragrant aroma and also the crunchy outer part before you bite into the soft and chewy texture of the inside.



Satay is always complimented by the peanut sauce and this was rather spicy, but nevertheless, it provided a really great combination paired with the satay.


Dip your satay into the sauce!



Or it's so good you can even eat it on its own! (That's what I did, coz I can't stand peanuts!)


I even managed to snap a photo of the lady frying the satay

NICE!~

Today's the last day of the festival, and almost everyone I know is observing the vegetarian diet today.
Who knows, I have a part 2 coming up with more vegetarian food!

Don't think vegetarian food is boring, it's pretty interesting these days you know:)