Vegetarian cooking in China has two separate roots: the Buddhist monastery kitchen, where meat is excluded for religious reasons and the cook works with what the temple garden and the market provide, and the modern urban restaurant, which borrows the same techniques for a general audience. Xi'an has both, and because the city has long been a centre of Buddhist learning, the temple tradition here is older and more confident than in most Chinese cities. The result is a cuisine that depends on wheat gluten, yuba, tofu in several textures, mushrooms and the strong flavour of fermented bean pastes rather than on imitation.
What the cooking is actually like
The Chinese term for the mock-meat dishes translates as something like vegetarian meat, and the technique is to build texture from wheat gluten kneaded and steamed into layered blocks, from dried yuba sheets rehydrated and rolled, and from konjac and soybean products. These are then braised, smoked, deep-fried or shredded and dressed with vinegar, chilli oil and Sichuan pepper. Shaanxi cooking adds its own habits: wheat rather than rice, strong vinegar, and cold dressed vegetable dishes. A typical meal will include cold plates first, then braised dishes in a clay pot, then a soup, with noodles or steamed buns to finish. Nothing will taste like meat, and that is not the point.
Where to eat
The temple kitchens are found at the working monasteries and at a few restaurants attached to them, where the menu is short and the food is plain and good. The city also has several long-established vegetarian restaurants in the centre and around the university district that run much larger menus, including banquet sets designed to be ordered family-style and shared. Prices are moderate, portions are large, and the restaurants are used by locals rather than tourists, which keeps both the cooking and the bill honest.
Practical notes
If you are vegan rather than vegetarian, ask specifically about egg and dairy, both of which appear in some dishes and in some steamed buns. Buddhist kitchens will also avoid the five pungent vegetables - garlic, onion, leek, chives and coriander - so if you want the full temple experience, ask for dishes cooked in that style. The busiest restaurants do not take reservations and fill quickly at conventional mealtimes; arriving a little before or after the peak gets you a table without a wait. Menus are usually in Chinese with photographs, which is enough to order with confidence.
