Shojin's Caterpillar Roll

Jane and I are off to Montana for a week.  Since it looks like vegan dining will be Taco Bell and The Pita Pit, we figured we'd get a quick fix from our favorite vegan restaurant, Shojin.

As always, dinner was fantastic.  We started our dinner with our all time favorite, the Caterpillar Roll.  When we first went vegan the idea of "vegan sushi" was a bit of a joke to us.  Sushi was fish, and we had loved it.  But let me assure you, we are converts.  This roll starts with a base of Shojin's barbequed seitan and is topped with sliced avocado.  YUM!  We've tried other vegan sushi, but this is our absolute favorite.

Our next course was the Barbequed Seitan.  It's sliced seitan with some kind of light barbeque sauce.  In our opinion, Kimiko (Shojin's master chef) makes the best seitan.  It's far and away better than any other we've ever eaten.

Shojin's Seitan Pepper Steak

One of the reasons we enjoy Shojin so much is that they are constantly changing their menu.  They keep the core items, but add things as certain foods become seasonally available.  Our main course was the Seitan Pepper Steak, which is one of those new things.  It was delicious.  If you haven't tried Shojin, and can get to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles, go... you won't be sorry.

So we're sated, and hopefully our expectations of our food options in Montana will be exceeded.

Click here for Shojin's website.

We received a comment from one of our readers (hi Addie) questioning the validity of  PETAs list of  "I Can't Believe It's Vegan."  She says she used to use that site as a reference tool, but has since learned that sugar is absolutely not vegan, and since it is in many of the products on their website, she feels that the list does not give an accurate portrayal of vegan products.  "I researched the heck out of sugar to save those white Oreos for myself (an item listed on the site as Vegan), but finally had to just let them go ." Well Addie, you can put your Oreos back on your shopping list.

Most refined white sugar is processed over bone char and that rules it out as a vegan product.  However, there are sugars that are not.  These are the brands of sugar we know to be vegan:

• Wholesome Foods
• Florida Crystals
• Hain Organic Powdered Sugar
• Jack Frost
• Country Cane
• Supreme
• Southern Bell
• 365 (the Whole Foods house brand).

You can use these tidbits to help you navigate through the sugar aisle:  Beet sugar is vegan. Raw sugars or turbinado are also vegan.  Other acceptable vegan sweetners include:

• date sugar
• rice syrup
• fructose
• corn syrup
• succanat
• barley malt
• molasses
• maple syrup
• agave nectar.

C&H refines their sugar over bone char, so they are definitely not a vegan option.  And supermarkets buy their private label sugars from a variety of refineries, so it is likely they are not vegan.  Brown sugar is usually made from refined white sugar with molasses added.  So if you know the manufacturer to use bone char in refining their white sugar, you can bet the brown sugar will not be vegan either.

Since the processing methods are not indicated on the packaging, it is very difficult for consumers to know which sugar is indeed vegan.  And it becomes much more difficult to make that determination when buying packaged foods. If the ingredient list contains beet sugar or evaporated cane juice instead of "sugar", you're good to go.  If the list says sugar, you have to decide for yourself. You can do the legwork and contact the individual manufacturer, but it's unlikely that you will get an honest answer. Most manufacturers  source out sugar that is cheapest at the time, and so they don't even know how it was processed, also the sugar used may  vary from batch to batch.

I trust Peta to have actually contacted the manufacturer and done the legwork.  If they give a product their seal of approval, that is good enough for me.  But then again, I'm not all that concerned with by-products (I do my best to avoid them, but don't make myself crazy about them.  I do however strictly avoid milk byproducts especially caseine).  Bone char is a cheap throw away.  Once animals are no longer slaughtered for food, I would expect the refining of sugar to be done in some other manner.  No one is going to raise animals for their bones.  It wouldn't be economically viable.

This year the Animal Rights National Conference will be held right here in Los Angeles.   (It was in Alexandria, VA last year.)  The conference runs July 16 - 20, 2009 and will be held at the Westin LAX Hotel: 5400 West Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045.

Here is what you can expect:

• 100 sessions, including keynote plenaries, workshops, raps/discussions & reports
• 90 speakers representing 60 animal protection groups in seven countries
• 90 free exhibits with compassionate shopping & social justice organizations
• Sessions on personal skills development, activism, organizing & outreach
• Eyewitness report on the Sea Shepherd whale wars and CA Prop 2 campaign
• Presentations & networking with leaders of other social justice movements
• Celebrity, Activist, and Campaign Awards at Saturday Banquet
• 80 videos including premieres
• Networking Receptions
• Delicious vegan cuisine

The conference itself is not cheap, $160 for the full session, or $65 for one day. They do offer low income discounts. But if you don't qualify for one of those, there is still a reason to drop by if you can. From the Animal Rights National Conference website:

Visitors are encouraged to drop by Friday, Saturday and Sunday (9am-6pm) to enjoy our 90+ free exhibits, including compassionate shopping, delicious snacks & desserts, and amazing social justice organizations. One free session is also included, so bring your friends, stay for a meal, and make a day out of it!

If you are in the area and can swing by, this is defiitely a worthwhile event.  Don't forget to pass this info along to any of your friends or family who may be interested in the topic.