Eating vegetarian food is a long-standing religious and cultural custom of oriental countries, including Vietnam . Vegetarian food is a favourite of not only Buddhist followers but also many people from all walks of life. Eating vegetarian food is believed by some to be a means .to improve health and fight against diseases. It is useful in reducing weight and preventing such diseases as high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. Vegetarian dishes are made of vegetables and fruit, such as extracts from taro, flour and seaweed, and soybean products. To prepare a vegetarian meal, people can make the dishes by themselves or buy ready-made food and add other ingredients. Vegetarian dishes are diverse in variety and have an appearance and taste not very different from meaty dishes. They are usually served with rice (some people like to eat unpolished rice cooked with black beans and lotus seeds). Unpolished rice eaten with roasted sesame and salt produces a sweet and buttery taste. A vegetarian meal usually consists of braised fish (made of groundnuts, soyabeans and seaweed), crab (made of soya curds) soup with water cress, spring rolls (made of soya curds, mushrooms, vermicelli, fruit and vegetables), fried pumpkin, sweet and sour salad (made of coconut meat and yam bean)… Being made from fresh ingredients, the vegetarian dishes are delicious. Address: Truc Lam Trai Vegetarian Food - 39 Le Ngoc Han Street, Hanoi Tel: (04) 278 1848 Website: www.truclamtrai.net - Email: truclamtrai@yahoo.com 400 Story by Thu Ha - Photos by Le Minh