Eating at a non-kosher Chinese restaurant can be difficult. Culturally they’re often not as forthcoming on clarifying what is or is not vegetarian. Often they’re mom and pop operations and possibly there’s a trust issue.
but let’s say you get past all that and you go to a chain store or a larger more established restaurant. Chinese food is often all mixed together. If they do have vegetarian dishes, that would be fine, but watch out for bishul Akum. Vegetable lo mein should be good. Probably the egg drop soup and the vegetable soup. Don’t forget to ask. All types of mixed vegetables that are capable of being eaten raw are ok. Fortune cookies are good too. Rice is a problem.
enjoy
Dear Rabbi Abadi,
Similar to my question re: same oil used for the vegetarian fritters and for calamari, what about (vegetarian) tempura? Assuming the ingredients are OK. Is the oil self-kashering because it is at such a high heat? Thanks!
If they use the same oil, better not to eat it, although you make some good points. The main point would be that the oil has no flavor from the calamari, and if it did, it’s probably noten taam lifgam. But I’d rather not go there for now. I’d prefer to look into that further. For now, if you want something fried, confirm that it is vegetarian and was fried separately from the treif.