The Chinese Vegetarian Foodscape of the 1950s–60s

Set up by five Buddhist women in 1946, Loke Woh Yuen was the first Chinese vegetarian restaurant in Singapore. It employed an all-female staff, was known for its popular shark’s fin made from maize, and was sometimes so packed that it had to set up dining tents that stretched to the main road. Its efforts to spread vegetarianism were complemented by other Buddhist women and nuns who wrote cookbooks and fundraised for charity.

Kelvin Tan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history from the National University of Singapore. He was a research assistant for the project “Mapping Female Religious Heritage in Singapore: Chinese Temples as Sites of Regional Socio-cultural Linkage” funded by the National Heritage Board.

What Kelvin Talked About

• 01:48 – The founders of Chinese vegetarian restaurants in 1940s–50s
• 05:28 – The most popular dishes at the vegetarian restaurant Loke Woh Yuen
• 06:26 – How Fut Sai Kai Vegetarian Restaurant differs from Loke Woh Yuen
• 07:26 – Ko Tian-gu, the founder of Fut Sai Kai
• 08:37 – Cookbooks that helped to spread vegetarianism
• 10:57 – The famous vegetarian soon kueh recipe by Abbess Yang Qincai of the temple Hai Inn See
• 12:24 – Legacy of early Chinese vegetarian restaurants in philanthropy and Buddhist education
• 13:55 – Resources Kelvin used in his research.
• 16:40 – Why early Chinese vegetarian restaurants have Cantonese heritage
• 18:58 – The vegetarian dish that Kelvin wants to master next

Transcript and Resources

• Read the transcript: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/chinese-vegetarian-foodscape/transcript
• Watch Kelvin make soon kueh: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/videos/soon-kueh/

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This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Gibson Analytics. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Kelvin for coming on the show.

BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.