VN DPG Culture Plates/Kitchen

Fill ½ of your plate with vegetables and eat fruits. Vary your veggies and focus on whole fruits. Fruits can be consumed as dessert.

• Vegetable choices: bok choy, Chinese cabbage, carrot, celery, corn, tomato, leafy greens, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, string beans, cauliflower, onions, green peas, radish, luffa, mushrooms, lotus root, bamboo shoots, and others
• Fruit choices: apple, oranges, bananas, pears, plums, papaya, melons, cherries, pineapple, kiwi, grapes, peach, pomegranate, mango, and others

Fill ½ of your plate with grains, tubers, and protein. Make half your grains whole grains. Vary your protein routine.

• Whole grain choices: rice, wheat (noodles, steamed buns, Chinese pancake), millet, Job’s tears, barley
• Tuber choices: potato, yams, taro, squash
• Protein choices: tofu, tempeh, peas, beans, edamame, peanuts, tree nuts, seeds

Get adequate hydration (6-8 cups/day) from unsweetened beverages such as: water, green tea, white tea, oolong, jasmine, soymilk, and others

Sample Menu for Mainland Chinese

Breakfast choices

• Steamed buns
• Rice congee or millet congee
• Scallion pancake
• Vegetable omelet
• Soymilk or lactose-free milk
• Served with cucumber salad, celery with boiled peanut, preserved vegetables, boiled eggs
• Noodle soup

Lunch and dinner choices

• Stir-fry dishes paired with steamed rice or buns Mapo tofu, tofu with vegetables
• Cold dishes (cucumber salad, seaweed salad, tofu skin salad)
• Vegetable dumplings (Gyoza/Pot stickers) or buns
• Noddle dishes
  • Noddle soup
  • Veggie Lo mein
  • Dried mixed noodle with soy sauce, sesame oil, and vegetables
• Stews and soups
• Braised tofu and mushroom casserole

Snack choices

• 1 medium fruit or 1 cup of fresh cut fruit medley
• ¼ cups of nuts or seeds (roasted walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
• Rice crackers or rice rolls
• Popcorns
• Dried tofu

Sample menu for Taiwanese

Breakfast choices

• Vegetable pancakes
• Soy milk
• Rice milk
• Scallion pancake
• Roasted sesame flatbread
• Sticky rice roll
• Turnip cake
• Steamed bao
• Congee and side vegetable dishes

Lunch and Dinner Choices

• Soup
  • Herbal soup
  • Mixed vegetables soup
• Rice dishes
  • White rice, brown rice or purple rice
  • Oil rice
• Stir fried and stew vegetables with pumpkin squash and mushrooms
• Boiled kelp
• Lu Rou Fan (made with braised tofu and mushrooms) served with rice
• Noodle dishes
  • Spicy sesame cold noodles
  • Thin noodles soup
• Crispy vegetables pocket
• Pan fried vegetables bun

Snack choices

• Soybean curd with ginger syrup
• Fermented tofu aka Stinky tofu
• Fried sweet potatoes ball
• Papaya milk
• Bamboo rice dumplings
• Grilled mochi
• Herbal jelly

Sample menu for Hongkongers

Breakfast choices

• Hong Kong soymilk tea
• Macaroni vegetable soup
• Congee
• Vegetable dim sum
• Taro puffs
• “Pineapple bun”
• Steamed rice roll
• Turnip cake
• Whole wheat Toast

Lunch and Dinner Choices

• Noodle dishes
  • Tofu Dandan noodle soup
  • Vegetables “cart” noodle
  • Wonton noodles with vegetables
  • Hong Kong style crispy noodles with mixed vegetables (e.g. zucchini, broccoli, carrots), tofu, and mushrooms
  • Cantonese soy sauce pan fried noodles
• Bitter melon stir fried with scrambled tofu
• Steamed vegetable bun
• Vegan dumplings (e.g. chives dumplings, mushrooms and cilantro dumplings)
• Rice dishes
  • Paired with stir fried vegetables (e.g. eggplants, chinese broccoli)
  • Claypot rice with mushrooms and vegetables (e.g. bok choy)
  • Tofu fried rice
  • Mapo tofu with rice
• Soup
  • Watercress soup
  • Hong Kong style Borscht soup

Snack choices

• Peanut butter on Whole Wheat Toast
• Red bean bowl pudding cake
• Soft tofu pudding with syrup or ginger syrup
• Grilled pineapple and tofu skewer
• Roasted chestnuts
• Fried bread sticks (you tiao)

Common spices and seasonings:

salt, sugar, garlic, chili pepper, ginger, Sichuan pepper, star anis, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster source, vinegar, rice wine, chili bean paste

Common beverages:

tea, juices, soft drinks, fermented dairy beverages, coconut milk

Commonly Eaten Food Examples in Each Food Group

References: References for this resource are available at www.VNDPG.org

A registered dietitian nutritionist can help you develop a healthy vegetarian or vegan eating plan that meets your needs. To find an RDN in your area, visit https://www.eatright.org/find-a-nutrition-expert. ©2022 by VN DPG. RD Resources are a project of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group. More topics available at www.VNDPG.org.

Written by Zhiping Yu, PhD, RDN, LDN, FAND

Expires May 31, 2026.