Vegetarian dim sum

Vegetarian food has become so ubiquitous that vegetarian dim sum seems almost the logical evolutionary step.  A new place opened up in Markham recently - Wutai Vegetarian Restaurant (Chinese name Wu Tai Shan 五台山 the home of many Buddhist monasteries and temples in Shanxi, China).   I was surprised at both how little different the vegetarian dim sum seemed from regular dim sum and how different Wutai was from the old style vegetarian restaurants.  The latter usually offers faux chicken, faux duck, even faux bbq pork - all made from gluten and with the respective fake flavours.  The irony of course is that all these offerings of fake meat implies a lingering yearning for meat, a questionable commitment on the part of the vegetarian.  Wutai Vegetarian seems to serve vegetarian the authentic way - with lots of mushrooms, vegetables and soy (all my favourites).  It shouldn't be difficult with the abundance of these produce in the city.  

Of course, when you think about it,  dim sum has also evolved quite a bit from the old standards of bbq pork buns and shrimp dumplings.  In fact, many items on the contemporary dim sum menu are already vegetarian, especially in finer restaurants.  So it's really a small leap to do a strictly vegetarian menu. There is clearly motivation behind the extra effort - the restaurant is owned by the Cham Shan Buddhist Temple on Bayview.  What a great way to spread the word and make some money for the organization - tasty vegetarian food!  Decor is bright and airy with an abundance of chandeliers and golden lotus.

Below is a selection we tried from the 49 items on the dim sum menu (no doubt there is some symbolism in the number 49).  I found most of them tasty.  The bitter melon tempura was a tat oversalted and greasy but most of the items were well made and thoughtfully presented.

Cheese tarts served in neat wooden boxes

Bitter melon tempura

My favourite - crispy fried taro cakes with taro thinly shredded for a more intense flavour

Layered soy sheets - not too exciting

King mushrooms wrapped in bamboo fungus

Your standard turnip pudding cake without the dried sausages

Looking good are the fried sticky rice dumplings with peanuts inside.  This is available in regular restaurants and people who like these dumplings think that these are very good.  Personally, I don't like fried sticky rice - the rice soaks up all the grease when fried.

This too is available in regular restaurants - enoki mushrooms and cucumber in steamed rice rolls

Osmanthus flower cake - made with gelatin

Vegetarian lunch is well and good - but will I have a vegetarian dinner at this restaurant?  That remains to be seen.  I had a peak at its dinner menu - lots of mushrooms and vegetables, clearly healthy for you...