Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I ask because we're seeing two different varieties at the big Asian market: vegetarian and regular. But there's nothing about the regular (on the label or online) that suggests it's not vegan.

Any bright ideas?

Vegetarian and regular? That's odd. It should just be fermented rice and other grains (there's no specific recipe, so it varies). I suppose if it has additives and coloring you can't be sure. The label on mine says water, glutinous rice, wheat bran, sugar, salt.

the one i have in front of me (longYanJing brand) says water, corn, wheat, peas, salt, sugar.

i have noticed that there are some things in the market that say "vegetarian" but which should already be vegetarian. [like mustard green pickles, which threw me for a loop to wonder what the hell they might have in them. i suppose like pyewacket says, color/flavor could account for some other additions.]

I hope that's supposed to say "peas" (the little round green veggie things) and it's not filtered.

Well, Wegman's labels their bagged lettuce, mustard, and roasted red peppers as vegan. Maybe you are over thinking this?

Come to think of it, I recently saw a bag of frozen lima beans with "vegetarian" on it. Well, derp derp derp.

But! But! They have one called vegetarian, and one not called vegetarian. Surely that implies—while, admittedly, not stating explicitly—that there's something unvegetarian about the unspecified one?

I'm going to go with what everyone is saying, though: weird labeling, shouldn't be anything unvegan in it.

I have had the same problem with both hoisin sauce (two bottles, one labelled vegetarian, one not, but both clearly were) and baked beans (c'mon Heinz, what are you playing at?)

Are they the same brand? 'Cause that would bug me. But if they're different brands I'd just assume that one is stating the obvious on their label and the other isn't.

Same brand. They're just messing with us at this point.

The only logical conclusion.

Well, maybe they are trying to play their marketing both ways. Label some of them vegetarian to get the attention of the veg people, but leave some unlabeled as such to appeal to the weirdoes who will be all "Yuck, it's vegetarian! Gross! I'm not buying that!"

I've seen companies do this with their refried beans. This makes sense because I won't buy them if they are marked veg and my dad won't buy them if they are (though he happily eats them if served unawares).

I came across a 'hotpot seasoning' in a Vietnamese grocer yesterday that contained, according to its list of ingredients, both 'diamonds' and 'tasty agents'.
And it was only about 2 bucks, even with all those diamonds.

That's the shiitake that makes asian markets extra awesome. Pun intended.

well, refried beans and baked beans make sense because of lard and bacon respectively.

I guess I should have clarified - it was in the UK, where I don't think I've ever seen baked beans with bacon in (I mean, I'm sure it exists, but it certainly isn't the standard).

Can you read it in the cinema? If you can't read the ingredients once the movie has started, it's totally vegan.

im gonna go with marketing scam. i bet the vegetarian labeled one was more expensive

Old packaging standards vs. new packaging standards?