First Annual Veggie Parade in New York City

The first Veggie Pride Parade in American took place in Greenwich Village, New York City, on Sunday. The parade went from the area of Meat Packaging District to Washington Square Park.

Along with a festival of rock music, speakers and exhibitors, the Veggie Pride Parade also sponsored a costume and poster contest with great prizes. Luckily May Wah was able to participate in the contest. The winner of the contests was able to win great prizes including $50 gift certificate for purchases at our store front, 213 Hester Street, New York, NY 10013

Although we were not able to participate as exhitbitors this year, we still went to the parade to support vegetarianism. Take a look at our pictures:

Our dear Susana hugged a tree to represent her love for the green world.

Here's Stephanie with the star of the day, Penelo Pea Pod.

Hopefully we will be able to participate in more activities for next year's veggie parade.

Wan.

What is the Secret?

Recently one of my usual customers asked me how is it possible to create products that taste so similar to meat but do not contain any animals. “What is the secret?” he questioned me. I told him that the Asian culture have become extremely creative in imitating meat using prepared wheat gluten, agar, yam flour, and soybean. Because these ingredients are very flexible materials, they can be shaped into different textures and have the ability to absorb many flavors.

Let us focus on another main ingredient, Konjac 蒟蒻/菎蒻, aside from the wonderful and healthy soybean.

Konjac is a perennial plant, growing from a large corm up to 25 cm in diameter. Konjac is grown in China, Japan and Korea for its large starchy corm, used to create a flour and jelly. Many consumers also uses konjac as a vegan substitute for gelatin. This ingredient is found in our seafood products to provide a chewy texture resembling seafood.

In 1977, American Senate nourishment committee published a report that states the shortage of fiber in eating habits is one of the reason that adult diseases (obesity, constipation, arteriosclerosis, heart sickness, diabetes, cancer, gallstone, and hemorrhoids) have gradullay increased. For example, dietary fiber activates the function of intestines and let the harmful things go quickly out of your body. As a result, it defends you from intestine cancer. Konnyaku contains much fiber in it and keep you away from such diseases.

When taken with foods, it reduces speed of sugar intake which prevent rapid blood sugar level jump. Instead, it gives graduale increment. Study not only indicates that Konnyaku lowers Choresterol level, it also cleans the digestive tract of toxins. Most recently, the food industry is paying attention to the Konnayku flour to replace conventional starch formulations since the Konnyaku is lower in calories and lower in fat without sacrificing texture and taste.

Therefore if you are interested in creating a new dish with a unique flavor, visit our store or site, www.maywahnyc.com, for our Konnyaku selections.

Recommened Konnyaku selections

C004 Vegan Codfish Balls
C005 Vegan Shrimp Balls
C010 Vegan Prawns
C012 Vegan Beef Balls
P003 Vegan Seaweed Strips

Wan.

Asian Vegetarian Meal Without Garlic, Scallion, Onion, or Leeks PLEASE...

Growing up in Taiwan as a Taoist, our owner, was provided with plenty of delicious vegetarian food, but when she moved to New York, the cultural environment lacked many of the foods she grew up with, and it affected her traditional eating habits. As time passed, she realized there were a growing number of vegetarians, not just among the Asian-American community. She then decided to start a business to introduce new styles and provide a greater selection to the vegetarian community. Thus the beginning of us...

Since the establishment of May Wah, many other health food retailers have slowly noticed the trend of vegetarian consumers as well. So how do we differentiate May Wah from other health food stores? We have mock chicken, mock beef, vegan seafood, texturized soybean, and natural seasonings just like any other stores. We may have a larger variety for our consumers but that is not our only appeal.

So here it is...

OUR PRODUCTS DO NOT CONTAIN GARLIC, SCALLION, ONION, OR LEEK!

What is the reason behind this idea? It is proven by statistics that we should consume garlic and onion for the benefits of our heart and health. However as a Taoist, one does not only consume a vegetarian diet, he/she also does not consume vegetables that are considered as strong-smelling plants, traditionally also referred as 五荤 Five Acrid And Strong Smelling Vegetables' or 五辛 'Five Spices' as they tend to excite senses. This idea is very similar to the idea of being a vegan. Vegans do not believe in the consumption or use of animal products of any kind, which excludes drinking milk and consuming eggs. But in the Asian community, we excludes the addictive ingredients instead.

So definitely check out the ingredients of your favorite products the next time you drop by the store!

Wan.

Strange Vegetarian Food

The Chinese word for vegetarian food, SU SHIH, suggets a cuisine that is pure, simple, and plain. Despite the word, Taiwan's vegetarian cuisine can be considered plain but is often more refined and elegant than any other cuisine.

Nowadays visitors come into our store and discover products such as vegan squid, vegan pig's belly, vegan ears, vegan pig's shank, vegan flitch, and much more! And how exactly do these products come about?

For thousand of years, vegetarian chefs have become extremely creative in imitating meat using prepared wheat gluten, also known as seitan or temph, agar, yam flour, and soybean. Because these imgredients are very flexible materials, they can be shaped into different textures and have the ability to absorb many flavors.

Thus arrive the creation of mock chicken and mock seafood!

(Take a look at our Stephanie enjoying a vegan chicken drumstick, with an actual stick!)




Wan.

Vegetarian Shipments from Taiwan

I can't believe it's already March. Spring is going to hit me in the face any second now. Hopefully Spring will come along gently, slowing pushing the winter cold away. And I could finally stop shivering at the store. 

Speaking of moving the winter wind out of the way, we definitely did some moving this week. We received a new vegetarian shipment from Taipei, Taiwan. With our bare hands and the wind hitting our face early in the morning, we moved 2000 plus boxes into our store. We had mock chicken and mock seafood falling out of the container. Not only did we enjoy the view of moving all the cases, we had a couple of comments from our bystanders. Our neighbors cheered us on by the sidelines, motivating us with words of encouragement. We finished moving the container in 3 hours. It was a hard task but we did it!

    

Just to give our regular customers an update, we have the products you've been asking for!

Some of available products include:

Vegan Chicken Steak

Vegan Spiced Chicken Leg 

Vegan Lotus Seed Chicken

Vegetarian Coal Roasted Sausage 

Vegan Tuna Mackaral 

Vegan Bean Bread

Vegan Wheat Gluten Roll

and much more!

Unfortunely it seems this shipment did not include the following:

Vegan Bacon

Vegan Prawns

Vegan Beef Ball

Vegetarian Corn Burger

Vegetarian Vegetable Burger

Vegan Mushroom Balls

Vegan Lobster

but if you come early, there maybe one or two left......

Wan. 

Honey, I'm Bringing Home the Vegan Bacon Tonight!

Business at the store didn't seem to be blooming today. Maybe the reason why was because everybody was startled from yesterday's counterfeit bust couple blocks from us. The police seized more than $1 million in counterfeit items and temporarily close 32 illegal Chinatown stores. Customers would probably prefer to avoid the mess for the timebeing.

From opening to the afternoon, there were ten customers. Although there were not large purchases, 8 out of 10 customers had one thing in common; they purchased our vegan bacon strips. It started off with one of our regular customer purchasing two pieces and she introduced to the next customer. Somehow the bacon message spreaded throughout the neighborhood and by noon time we had to restock the shelves again.

But that is not the end of the story. By the time I awarded the bacon as our best seller of the day, one of my VIP customer came into the store and asked to exchange 7 pieces of the bacon she purchased a hour ago. There went my motivation for the hot seller of the day. Her reason for the exchange was because she was not able to read the Chinese ingredients and did not trust that there were completely vegan. Good thing I was able to read and translate all the ingredients (soybean protein, mushroom stem, salt, sugar, and vegetarian seasoning) for her. She called her husband and announced that she'll be bringing the VEGAN bacon home tonight. Without any hesitation, she took the bacons and said goodbye.

You always hear people in movies say "Honey, I'm bringing home the bacon tonight!" But at the vegetarian store, you hear customers say "I'm bringing home the VEGAN bacon tonight!" It seems like strange statement, but it's definitely something I won't get tired of hearing.

Wan.

What is timeless about May Wah Healthy Vegetarian Food?

What do I want my customers, staff, distributors, and partners to understand about the company's identity? 

I've been catching up on my readings regarding brand identity. What does May Wah Vegetarian Food brand stand for? I've been thinking about this question for the last few days. It's definitely taken a lot of my sleeping time away. There's so many topics flowing all over the place that I can't seem to grasp all of them and turn them into one idea. 

• Established as the first vegetarian retailer in New York in 1995 
• First to introduce Asian vegetarian/vegan options into the restaurants
• Familiarized the local health food markets with the upcoming trend of a healthier alternative
• Specialized in creating meat alternatives
• Largest vegetarian distributor in New York 

So what is timeless about it and what is not? 

During my last reading, the author pointed out one point regarding how Asian companies tend to get distracted by short term goals and practices. Although the short term goals will move faster, that is the bottom line attraction for the company. I really hate to admit it but I feel like I fall right into that circle. I always tend to start projects and ending them right away without investigating the results and providing solutions. It's always been a big problem I had. 

Let's end by using one rubber band to sum everything up...

"May Wah Vegetarian Food"

• Welcoming newcomers towards the new trend of Asian vegetarian lifestyle and diet
• Educate ongoing consumers that are health and animal conscientious by providing the best products and services in terms of quality, taste, and price
• Emphasizing the cultures of the Asian vegetarian communities

Wan.