7-11 and Convenience Store Food

Update: AUGUST 2010

A while back the 7-11s introduced a new vegan range of small meals (or snacks, depending on how you define them).

There are four frozen items in yellow packets in the freezers, clearly labelled "vegetarian" in English and 純素 (vegan) in Chinese. These include steamed buns, fried (then frozen and microwaved) rice, a "broth" and noodles.

vegan steamed buns

UPDATE: These have been DISCONTINUED, and have been replaced by dumplings, which come out ok but sometimes they stick together. Make sure you get sauce to go with them (find the free sachets). I preferred the steam buns personally :(

The steamed buns (above) are the best bet for a meal on the run. They will microwave them in the bag (doesn't sound very healthy, but hopefully the bag is made for it, and it keeps the steam in) and give you the plastic bag (hot). This is the best option at the 7-11 if you need to save your food for later consumption.

"vegetarian broth" (left) and fried rice (with soy sauce sachet over the top)

The "broth" (no it's not a mistranslation of soup) is to my taste a little bland, but it can be mixed with the noodles (not shown) to make a reasonable noodle soup. The fried rice (right) is in my opinion the next best of the new range (after the steamed buns).

While it's great to have a wider variety at 7-11s, for a real 'meal', the "Black Pepper Ramen" (below, from my original post) is still the best option.

More recently, the 7-11s have introduced small bags of maple-syrup-flavoured cashew nuts, again conveniently labelled vegan.

vegan cashew nuts from the 7-11

7-11s have by far the best vegan range (and fortunately they are also the most common convenience store in Taiwan), however the Family Mart stores have introduced Inari sushi, which anyone who's travelled in Japan will be very familiar with. The 7-11s also sell them, but they are not labelled vegan, a sure sign that they aren't.

Inari Sushi from a Family Mart store, 全素 (vegan + no garlic/onion; for Buddhists) enlarged

Old Post begins here...

Well before this blog falls off into the vast unused quarters of cyberspace, I thought I'd follow with quick and reasonably tasty morsel: a new 7-11 meal available at virtually every 7-11 in the country.

The Taiwan 7-11 chain, presumably in response to the new labeling laws coming in have changed their frozen vegetarian selection. One, not vegan, is more or less a combination of the two older meals. The second, however, pictured below, is a vegetarian udon soup. It is filling and tastes rather good for udon, at least in my opinion.

Take one out of the freezer (usually at the back of the 7-11). When they ask you if you want it microwaved (probably in Chinese, but it's all that they will ask you) nod. If you're so new to Taiwan that you're not yet accustomed to chopsticks, you might be lucky enough to get a knife and fork; if not, ask for one. Don't forget to get sauces from the rack somewhere under or behind the counter.

I usually add the chili and tomato sauces to give it more flavour, which it rather lacks.

The vegan option has a green box and is pictured below. Note that the yellow one usually beside it is not vegan (it contains milk, as shown by the 奶素 label).

This is how it looks when you get it back, microwaved.

UPDATE:

Though not nearly as filling or healthy, the 7-11s now sell a box of vegetable crackers, which makes a good accompaniment to go with the meal. It is made in Taiwan and quite tasty, and contains a range of real vegetables. It does not have ingredients in English (though a similar one below does) OR the vegetarian label, but I have checked all the ingredients carefully, and there are none which could be at all suspicious.

Vegan crackers, available from every 7-11.

The following crackers can be found at other convenience stores and small supermarkets (grocery stores). They have exactly the same ingredients, strangely printed in a different order. They are also listed in English. They are made in the same factory in Taiwan, and as far as I can tell, taste identical.

A different box of similar if not identical vegan crackers to those above.