Returning our food at a restaurant, How would you handle this ??

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Yeah, its part of the game of being a vegetarian. My grandmother used to make me pea soup when i was younger, and insist there was no meat in it. Meanwhile, I could clearly taste it, see it , smell it .... I couldnt upset grandma, so i thanked her, then gave it to my mother when we left.
Restaurants, sure most of the time the broth is chicken, the sauce was made with meat, the apple pie crust with lard...The list goes on. SUre, in the ideal world, vegetarian = vegetarian, but it doesnt work that way, so I have to adapt to the world around me. No big deal. I do the best I can. Even the few strictly vegetarian restaurants I go to, sometimes I wonder, because some of the sauces just taste a little too real. But im not going to wander into the kitchen . I just take it for what it is, and if im really bothered by it, just avoid it the next time. As I said, Im not one to spary paint peoples fur coats, or burn down houses. I just want a good, tasty , vegetarian meal.
 
Soy chicken (as in faux chicken) is not chicken so why call it that?

It would be called 'chicken' (meaning the word 'chicken' would be in the name of the item) so vegetarians or vegans would know what flavour the soy product is supposed to mimic. If the items weren't called chicken, beef, duck, fish, etc...everything on the menu would be called 'soy'. The fact that the product is in fact soy, is usually why the word 'soy' precedes the word chicken, or beef, etc.
 
It would be called 'chicken' (meaning the word 'chicken' would be in the name of the item) so vegetarians or vegans would know what flavour the soy product is supposed to mimic.
I have never had one of these imitations that tasted anything even remotely like chicken. I have seen them attempt to look and feel like chicken, but I have never tasted any that could be considered chicken flavored. I especially could not see this in a soy (sauce) chicken dish where the soy sauce flavor would make the soy product taste like soy cause and not chicken.
 
Yeah, its part of the game of being a vegetarian. My grandmother used to make me pea soup when i was younger, and insist there was no meat in it. Meanwhile, I could clearly taste it, see it , smell it .... I couldnt upset grandma, so i thanked her, then gave it to my mother when we left.
Restaurants, sure most of the time the broth is chicken, the sauce was made with meat, the apple pie crust with lard...The list goes on. SUre, in the ideal world, vegetarian = vegetarian, but it doesnt work that way, so I have to adapt to the world around me. No big deal. I do the best I can. Even the few strictly vegetarian restaurants I go to, sometimes I wonder, because some of the sauces just taste a little too real. But im not going to wander into the kitchen . I just take it for what it is, and if im really bothered by it, just avoid it the next time. As I said, Im not one to spary paint peoples fur coats, or burn down houses. I just want a good, tasty , vegetarian meal.

Larry, I'm only speaking from my own experiences but I would like to assure you that you probably are getting a vegetarian base in those soups. Most chefs take vegetarians very seriously. It would be extremely unethical to serve something called 'vegetarian' if in fact it is not. That's like trying to hide pork in a chili you know jews could eat, or eggs in something you expect indians to eat. It's just not right. A chef will stake their reputation on their meal. Feeding something to a person who has dietary restrictions is a big deal, meant to be taken that way.

On the other hand, it's up to the customer or guest to always alert the staff of any dietary restrictions if they are in a 'free for all' restaurant. By that I mean, allergies, aversions, and food items that must be omitted. You know better than anyone else what you can and are willing to tolerate. You are your own best advocate.

Just like some people call that bubbly stuff soda and others call it pop...the word soy means lots of different thing to lots of different people. But, one last time, I've been two both ChinaTowns on both coasts, and countless chinese restaurants all over the country. I've had more chinese take out than your average citizen. In all that experience I have never seen the words 'soy chicken' written on any menu to refer to 'soy sauce chicken'. I cannot even imagine what that finished product would be like... Most sauces in chinese restaurants are chili, hoisin, plum, teryiaki, kung pao, black bean, garlic.... Those are the general descriptives used on the menu. I've never seen 'soy' in the name. Doesn't mean that some are doing it, but I have never seen it in easily over a hundred different take out menus.
 
I have never had one of these imitations that tasted anything even remotely like chicken. I have seen them attempt to look and feel like chicken, but I have never tasted any that could be considered chicken flavored. I especially could not see this in a soy (sauce) chicken dish where the soy sauce flavor would make the soy product taste like soy cause and not chicken.

Well, then, you haven't had any decent soy products. If you've never been a vegetarian, or cooked for vegetarians on a daily basis it would make sense that your only experiences would be limited. There is a huge market out there both supplying and demanding superiour products.

And, to answer your original question about why the product would even have the name chicken in it...just because it didn't taste like chicken to you, doesn't mean it cannot be a descriptive to other people. Surely, you wouldn't expect it to be called 'soy-we-pretend-tastes-like-chicken-but-who-are-we-kidding?' It's called soy duck l'orange because it's meant to taste like duck l'orange.
 
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I think what VeraBlue is refering to is the word "Soy" being used as an adjective as opposed to a nouns.

For example: is Orange Beef beef that tastes like an orange, or is it literally orange in color ( i loved this analogy :-p)


And in my case, is Soy Chicken soy (sauce) flavored chicken, or chicken made from soy...

And I agree that most immitation suff doesnt taste like the real thing, although it could be used in replacement and would work, in a culinary sense
 
Well, then, you haven't had any decent soy products. If you've never been a vegetarian, or cooked for vegetarians on a daily basis it would make sense that your only experiences would be limited. There is a huge market out there both supplying and demanding superiour products.
Vera you know nothing about me. You do not know if I have or have not been a vegetarian or cooked for a vegetarian on a daily basis. You do not know what quality soy products I have or have not had. You do not know if my experiences have been limited.

I happen to have had plenty of quality soy products. Just because I do not find them tasting anything at all like chicken most certainly does not mean that I must have been eating inferior products.

The only think I know of that tastes like chicken is chicken.
 
Surely, you wouldn't expect it to be called 'soy-we-pretend-tastes-like-chicken-but-who-are-we-kidding?' It's called soy duck l'orange because it's meant to taste like duck l'orange.
I never said that is what it should be called. Read my post. I said it should be called what it is. For example, if you are using tofu to replace the chicken then call it tofu with soy sauce. It really is not that hard.

And I disagree that it is called soy duck l'orange because it's meant to taste like duck l'orange. I think it is called that because it is meant to be a vegetarian replacement for duck l'orange.
 
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The only think I know of that tastes like chicken is chicken.

Fine, the only thing you know of that tastes like chicken is chicken. You asked me why would a product that was made of soy be called 'soy chicken'. I answered that question for you. You continued to divulge what your own personal experiences were regarding taste, etc. You only asked why. I answered.
Sure I don't know anything about you. I answered in good faith that perhaps you haven't had any good soy products yet. I only see that my answer to your question didn't satisfy you. That doesn't make my answer wrong.
 
I never said that is what it should be called. Read my post. I said it should be called what it is. For example, if you are using tofu to replace the chicken then call it tofu with soy sauce. It really is not that hard.

And I disagree that it is called soy duck l'orange because it's meant to taste like duck l'orange. I think it is called that because it is meant to be a vegetarian replacement for duck l'orange.

How would it constitute a replacement if it wasn't meant to taste like it??
There are literally hundreds of products out there, made of soy that mimic other protiens. For marketing purposes, it cannot all be called soy. No one who is seeking a soy product that tastes like chicken, or can be cooked like chicken, would know what they were getting if the product didn't have the word chicken in the title. That, also shouldn't be that hard.
 
My question was rhetorical Vera. I was not asking you. I was using the question to demonstrate my point that calling something by what it really is would be much more logical than calling it something it isn't.
 
My question was rhetorical Vera. I was not asking you. I was using the question to demonstrate my point that calling something by what it really is would be much more logical than calling it something it isn't.
Then why did you quote me? Doesn't that usually mean, in the virtual world, that you are responding directly to that person?
 
Then why did you quote me? Doesn't that usually mean, in the virtual world, that you are responding directly to that person?
I already answered that question in the post of mine you just quoted, but since you seemed to have missed it...

It was rhetorical. I was using it to demonstrate my point.
 
I think what VeraBlue is refering to is the word "Soy" being used as an adjective as opposed to a nouns.

For example: is Orange Beef beef that tastes like an orange, or is it literally orange in color ( i loved this analogy :-p)


Isn't soy being used as an adjective in both cases? Same as your orange example?

In both cases it's being used to describe the chicken. "Soy" modifies the noun "chicken" in both cases.
 
The thing that surprises me here is that in 20 years of vegetarianism, this is the first time that you have run into this. In most cases I can think of on menus, the first word is the adjective describing the noun. You got your pepperoni pizza, your herbed potatoes, your garlic chicken, your orange chicken. I would never assume that I was getting garlic nor orange nor soy that tasted like chicken, but instead the reverse. The exceptions to me would include a modifier, as in steak with cheese sauce, or short ribs in a wine sauce, or as a preparation description, as in a la king, marsala, or au gratin.
 
My Local Chinese, Besides The Aforementioned "buddha's Delight", Has A Dish Called "un-done Chicken"...................don't Think I Want To Try That One.............
 
Isn't soy being used as an adjective in both cases? Same as your orange example?

In both cases it's being used to describe the chicken. "Soy" modifies the noun "chicken" in both cases.



me never claimed to be good in english :-p

But I guess to be technical, Soy could be referring to the sauce, not the chicken, therefore, and adjective yes, but to the sauce, not the chicken. And is the Orange describing the beef ? or the sauce ?
 
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