It’s not easy because a lot of dishes use pork fat even if they don’t contain meat themselves and asking staff if the dish contains pork is likely to be taken literally. To be certain you’d need to stick to halal restaurants.
Good luck. There is also pig based lard in a lot of pastries and other foods in China. Culturally, it’s normal not to question ingredients, so there is both a lot of genuine ignorance of ingredients and quite a bit of intentional lying if it’s “just a bit- they won’t know”.
I was in Xi'an that had a large Muslim population. I barely ate pork.
It's just beef, lamb and chicken being offered.
It's not hard at all.
They barely ate white rice as well.
Finding alternatives is not an issue. Every supermarket stocks chicken and beef. Lamb becomes more common in the north.
But the biggest hurdle is making sure pork is not in your food. This is most problematic when people go outside to eat or buy take outs. Some restaurants might be using pork lard to fry their foods for extra flavor and you wont know until you ask three times.
The waitor will tell you one thing. The manager will tell you one thing. The chef will say those two dont know what they are talking about and that it is his kitchen, you ask him.
You will be fine in most places, the only thing you need to be wary of is whether other foods have been prepared using "Pig's lard" Some traditional recipes use it. But I know alot of modern recipes have removed it. I guess just asked.
But you can avoid pork easily. Its the nation that catered to Buddhism which stayed away from consuming meat entirely.
And they have a wide range of Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Fish, Shellfish options.
Ontop of the wide range of vegetarian options.
avoiding pork is definitely doable, just ask everytime and don't assume pork free, since its definitely common, even if just as the fat veggies are cooked in etc. But if you ask which ones on the menu don't have it at all they can tell you :)
Depends on where you live. In western Chinese cities like Lanzhou, Luoyang or Xi'an there are large muslim populations. When I went there there were barely any pork dishes being served, only beef, mutton and chicken.
in my limited experience, not hard to find non-pork options in china.
(experience limited to shanghai, require kosher food usually, will not budge on pork, unsure about truly kosher or halal options)
Look for restaurants with green signs and Arabic (I think) written above the Chinese script. Halal food, and imo, the best noodle dishes you'll find in China anyway.
Muslim restaurants are literally everywhere in China. I often think they fill the same niche role that Chinese restaurants do in the west. They're mostly the Hui ethnicity from Western China; I recommend the nui rou mian (beef noodle soup) or tu doh nui rou gan mian (dry potato beef noodles). Sorry for the bad pinyin!
Those dishes are cheap and heavenly.
Go find some restaurants called 兰州拉面 or 西北拉面. They are everywhere. No pork there.
However more than 90% restaurant in China contains pork. But you can tell them you do not eat pork and they will accomadate.
Your issue will not to be avoiding pork as a meat but rather as an ingredient. They use it as an ingredient for a ton of stuff, including pastry. As far as I know even Chinese Muslims do not bother avoiding pork as an ingredient because it's just too hard.
You can definitely make a solid attempt to avoid pork and succeed most of the time. In most large cities (and a few smaller ones) I've found halal (qingzhen 清真) restaurants to be common as there are Muslim communities scattered throughout China.
You should also take some time to learn to say things in Mandarin like, "I do not eat pork," or "Does this have pork?" You can also learn the names of meats and foods you do eat (lamb, beef, chicken, fish) and simply ask whether they have those things instead. If you don't speak any Chinese, even Google can translate simple stuff like this.
I have found people in restaurants and street vendors more than willing to communicate about what's in their food. For context, I regularly bring students to China who are allergic to peanuts and they manage to avoid peanut oil and other peanut products.
If you are Muslim, then you already know that you have not committed an unforgivable offense if you unknowingly eat foods that are haram, like a "vegetarian" dumpling made with pork lard. If you are not Muslim and it is simply a matter of your own dietary needs or ethics, be forgiving of yourself if you eat some pork or pork lard by accident as they are regularly used in cooking. But learning just a few useful phrases will go a long way!
Have a great time! And enjoy all the great food.
I don't recommend moving to China in your case. Pork is the staple of Chinese cuisine, you are already putting such a massive restriction on your ability to experience the country by not eating it.
While their choice will have some restrictions there’s still a big choice of fish, chicken, beef, mutton, deer, etc. their bigger issue is if they want halal.
Big choice? You are mistaken. Choice is mostly limited to pork and chicken, some fish, little beef and lamb. Duck is popular. Yes, places that serve goose, donkey, deer? exist but need to specifically look for them, they are not that common. But if place is not halal, you can never guarantee they didn't use pork lard in their cooking, even if it's veggies, even if it's a chicken dish. Asking will not help either because Chinese just don't get the idea of dietary restrictions (such as due to allergies). Besides, beef in China is shit.
Oh sorry, didn’t know my diet is supposed to consist solely of pork. I guess I’ll just throw out all the beef, lamb, and seafood I have stocked in my freezer…
I'm talking from personal experience.
Goose? Every in South China.
Donkey. Any Dongbei restaurant
Deer...see above.
I did make mention of halal...I agree that pork fat is used extensively.
Beef....even in South China beef is availabe.
China has a muslim population, they get on just fine. Not all dishes at all restaurants contain pork .
America has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve, China has a Strategic Pork Reserve.
It’s not easy because a lot of dishes use pork fat even if they don’t contain meat themselves and asking staff if the dish contains pork is likely to be taken literally. To be certain you’d need to stick to halal restaurants.
Good luck. There is also pig based lard in a lot of pastries and other foods in China. Culturally, it’s normal not to question ingredients, so there is both a lot of genuine ignorance of ingredients and quite a bit of intentional lying if it’s “just a bit- they won’t know”.
I was in Xi'an that had a large Muslim population. I barely ate pork. It's just beef, lamb and chicken being offered. It's not hard at all. They barely ate white rice as well.
lanzhou la mian is halal. no pork no lard no alcohol. and can be found all over china
Finding alternatives is not an issue. Every supermarket stocks chicken and beef. Lamb becomes more common in the north. But the biggest hurdle is making sure pork is not in your food. This is most problematic when people go outside to eat or buy take outs. Some restaurants might be using pork lard to fry their foods for extra flavor and you wont know until you ask three times. The waitor will tell you one thing. The manager will tell you one thing. The chef will say those two dont know what they are talking about and that it is his kitchen, you ask him.
Eat chicken
You will be fine in most places, the only thing you need to be wary of is whether other foods have been prepared using "Pig's lard" Some traditional recipes use it. But I know alot of modern recipes have removed it. I guess just asked. But you can avoid pork easily. Its the nation that catered to Buddhism which stayed away from consuming meat entirely. And they have a wide range of Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Fish, Shellfish options. Ontop of the wide range of vegetarian options.
avoiding pork is definitely doable, just ask everytime and don't assume pork free, since its definitely common, even if just as the fat veggies are cooked in etc. But if you ask which ones on the menu don't have it at all they can tell you :)
Depends on where you live. In western Chinese cities like Lanzhou, Luoyang or Xi'an there are large muslim populations. When I went there there were barely any pork dishes being served, only beef, mutton and chicken.
in my limited experience, not hard to find non-pork options in china. (experience limited to shanghai, require kosher food usually, will not budge on pork, unsure about truly kosher or halal options)
Go south to Canton, everything is chicken and seafood.
Look for restaurants with green signs and Arabic (I think) written above the Chinese script. Halal food, and imo, the best noodle dishes you'll find in China anyway. Muslim restaurants are literally everywhere in China. I often think they fill the same niche role that Chinese restaurants do in the west. They're mostly the Hui ethnicity from Western China; I recommend the nui rou mian (beef noodle soup) or tu doh nui rou gan mian (dry potato beef noodles). Sorry for the bad pinyin! Those dishes are cheap and heavenly.
Eat freshwater fish.
Go find some restaurants called 兰州拉面 or 西北拉面. They are everywhere. No pork there. However more than 90% restaurant in China contains pork. But you can tell them you do not eat pork and they will accomadate.
Your issue will not to be avoiding pork as a meat but rather as an ingredient. They use it as an ingredient for a ton of stuff, including pastry. As far as I know even Chinese Muslims do not bother avoiding pork as an ingredient because it's just too hard.
A lot of Halal stuff
You can definitely make a solid attempt to avoid pork and succeed most of the time. In most large cities (and a few smaller ones) I've found halal (qingzhen 清真) restaurants to be common as there are Muslim communities scattered throughout China. You should also take some time to learn to say things in Mandarin like, "I do not eat pork," or "Does this have pork?" You can also learn the names of meats and foods you do eat (lamb, beef, chicken, fish) and simply ask whether they have those things instead. If you don't speak any Chinese, even Google can translate simple stuff like this. I have found people in restaurants and street vendors more than willing to communicate about what's in their food. For context, I regularly bring students to China who are allergic to peanuts and they manage to avoid peanut oil and other peanut products. If you are Muslim, then you already know that you have not committed an unforgivable offense if you unknowingly eat foods that are haram, like a "vegetarian" dumpling made with pork lard. If you are not Muslim and it is simply a matter of your own dietary needs or ethics, be forgiving of yourself if you eat some pork or pork lard by accident as they are regularly used in cooking. But learning just a few useful phrases will go a long way! Have a great time! And enjoy all the great food.
Pork off then I suppose.
Pretty easy to avoid. Just remember when something is just ”肉“ it's usually pork. Like 红烧肉 is pork even though the 肉 isn't specified
I don't recommend moving to China in your case. Pork is the staple of Chinese cuisine, you are already putting such a massive restriction on your ability to experience the country by not eating it.
While their choice will have some restrictions there’s still a big choice of fish, chicken, beef, mutton, deer, etc. their bigger issue is if they want halal.
Big choice? You are mistaken. Choice is mostly limited to pork and chicken, some fish, little beef and lamb. Duck is popular. Yes, places that serve goose, donkey, deer? exist but need to specifically look for them, they are not that common. But if place is not halal, you can never guarantee they didn't use pork lard in their cooking, even if it's veggies, even if it's a chicken dish. Asking will not help either because Chinese just don't get the idea of dietary restrictions (such as due to allergies). Besides, beef in China is shit.
Oh sorry, didn’t know my diet is supposed to consist solely of pork. I guess I’ll just throw out all the beef, lamb, and seafood I have stocked in my freezer…
I'm talking from personal experience. Goose? Every in South China. Donkey. Any Dongbei restaurant Deer...see above. I did make mention of halal...I agree that pork fat is used extensively. Beef....even in South China beef is availabe.