My Family Recipe for Vegan Chinese Shaobing (Stuffed Flatbread), Featured on The Almost Indian Wife

Featured on The Almost Indian WifeThe Almost Indian Wife just featured me on Family Fridays, where I shared my own family recipe for vegan Chinese shaobing (stuffed flatbread), a snack food I’ve learned to prepare from my mother-in-law. Here’s an excerpt:

One of the coolest things about my mother-in-law is that she’s totally accepting of my vegan lifestyle. I never expected that a woman who grew up in Hangzhou’s mountainous countryside – where people tend to be pretty traditional when it comes to food – would embrace my dietary needs. But she does. Maybe it’s because the two of us have really bonded over food. I love asking her about her secrets for, say, crispy tofu or spicy pickled daikon radish. But when I discovered that one of the local snack foods was shaobing, a fried flatbread stuffed with savory salted veggies and then pan-fried until crispy, I knew I had to learn how to make it myself!

Most shaobing include bacon-like bits of fatty pork, making the food typically off-limits to vegans like me. But thanks to my mother-in-law, I’ve learned an amazing recipe for vegan shaobing. It’s even a little reminiscent of pizza back from home, so much so that I often jokingly call it “Chinese pizza”.

FYI, here’s what the shaobing look like when they’re done:

IMG_1944

Head on over to The Almost Indian Wife for the full post and recipe. And if you love it, share it!

14 Replies to “My Family Recipe for Vegan Chinese Shaobing (Stuffed Flatbread), Featured on The Almost Indian Wife”

  1. It would be so much easier to be vegan in India! I am amazed at anyone who can be vegetarian or vegan in China. Way to go Jocelyn!!

    I think if I was vegetarian, my in-laws would be supportive, but it would be hard, especially living in a small Chinese city where people don’t really understand different types of diets.

    1. Thanks R Zhao!

      I don’t know what it is about this place, but people here seem to have an understanding, even in the small village where my in-laws live. I think it is because more and more seniors are going vegetarian and vegan for health reasons (doctors specifically tell them they cannot consume meat or fish or even eggs). So when I bring this up, those who initially think it strange start to get it.

      Still, it can make the holidays tough sometimes. But I’m OK with that because the family always makes sure I have something to eat. 🙂

  2. Your recipe sounds great, thanks for sharing!
    I am not vegetarian, but only eat meat once in a while. In HK, I leave out meat completely as there are so many vegan Buddhist restaurants for me to go to. When we went to Fijuan, I always had to fight with restaurant staff not to add any seafood or fish stock to my dishes, as they didn’t recognize it as meat.

    I am so glad that Chinese mom started to make more vegetable dishes for me, because sometimes I was amazed how many different dead animals can end up on a dining table at once. Uh!

  3. Hi Jocelyn!

    I had forgotten that your were vegan! I went vegan two years ago and have been loving it. Thank you for this recipe and how wonderful that your MIL is supportive!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.