Ever the twain shall meet.....

At times, even as a Singaporean, who comes from a multi cultural and racial upbringing, catering a makan (meal) session for a mixed group of guests from different cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs can require a lot of extra effort. That's what we found out recently when we had a gathering of friends of different nationalities and beliefs at our place.
When you are an omnivore like me, someone who has meat in their diet, you may often not realize that you are in fact cooking with animal products, because you don't think that way since animal products are not restricted from your diet or religious belief. There are some things that your guest may not feel comfortable eating. The best way to find out exactly what your dinner guest does not eat is to ask them. When you cook with animal products sometimes it isn't always clear. However, you can save a lot of work by making similar dishes for the group - a vegetarian version and a meat version. I simply started by cooking the vegetarian first and making sure it is enough to be divided into two portions. Once the vegetarian version is prepared and dished out, add in the non-vegetarian ingredients(e.g meat, prawns) for the non vegetarian version. Here are some vegetarian dishes that lend themselves easily to meat versions for your vegetarian guests without much fuss and effort. We were complimented and praised for the time and effort we put in but felt embarrassed by the fact that we only spent half the time and effort.

Vegetarian Version
Singapore Noodles (Fried Bean Curd)
Ma Po Tofu ( Chopped Salted Radish [Chai Poh] )
Stir-fried Vegetables in Black Beans Sauce

Non Vegetarian Version
Singapore Noodles (Fried Bean Curd)
Ma Po Tofu ( Chopped Salted Radish [Chai Poh] )
Stir-fried Vegetables in Black Beans Sauce