Je: Celebrating the Thai Vegetarian Festival at MRT Chatuchak Station, Bangkok, Thailand (เทศกาลกินเจ)
Je: The Annual Thai Vegetarian Festival (เทศกาลกินเจ)
at Chatuchak Park MRT Station, Bangkok, Thailand
This week is Tesagan Gin Je, the ten-day Thai-Chinese Vegetarian Festival. During this time people who strictly follow the Taoist and Buddhist restrictions of the "Je" diet give up meat, animal products, and strong-smelling ingredients such as onion and garlic. To make up for the restrictions, restaurants across the country create unique and complex dishes with imitation meat and a variety of alternative ingredients.
I visited MRT Chatuchak Park Station which was hosting a Je Festival Food Fair in their Metro Mall to try some of the festival's best food.
As the only Thai festival completely dedicated to food, we here at The World of Street Food absolutely had to participate in the Je Festival!
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| Je Festival vegan grilled "duck" and rice, Bangkok, Thailand |
What is the Je Festival (Tesagan Gin Je) in Thailand?
Each year around October (technically on a floating range of dates in the ninth lunar month of the traditional Chinese calendar), yellow flags go up at restaurants, shops, and markets all throughout Thailand marked with the Thai letters for "Je".
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| Pawyilee, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
The Je Festival is an annual Thai-Chinese holiday celebrated throughout the country during a ten-day period. It honors nine star gods (represented by the Big Dipper constellation) who are important figures in Taoism.
Participants in the festival observe it as a period of self-purification. They dress in all white and abstain from alcohol, stimulants, eating meat and animal products of any kind, and eschew all kinds of strong smells or flavors (such as onions or garlic). Furthermore, any food that has a "Je" label or flag typically has to undergo a certain type of blessing ritual to be considered truly "Je".
To make up for the restricted ingredients, restaurants during this period sell a variety of imitation foods designed to follow the standards of Je practice.
The Je Festival at Chatuchak Park MRT Station
This week, the Metro Mall inside the Chatuchak Park MRT Station in Bangkok, Thailand is holding a huge Je food festival!
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| Thai Vegetarian Festival inside Chatuchak Park MRT Station, Bangkok |
There were so many options that it was hard to choose what to eat. We decided to try several different Je meals from a number of different stalls.
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| yellow "Je" flags signify food that is certified for the Thai vegetarian festival |
First, we wanted something to drink.
We decided to try iced rice milk. Each cup of rice milk, served like a slushy, could be served with your choice of three toppings. You could choose from several Je-certified ingredients like Job's tears, toddy palm, gingko, jujubes, and more.
Iced rice milk is super refreshing with a light, sweet taste. They served the rice milk with both a straw and a spoon, so after you finished drinking your delicious rice milk, you could scoop out the extra ingredients and enjoy them as well.
Next, it was time for the main course.
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| rice milk with healthy toppings, Thai vegetarian (Je) festival |
Iced rice milk is super refreshing with a light, sweet taste. They served the rice milk with both a straw and a spoon, so after you finished drinking your delicious rice milk, you could scoop out the extra ingredients and enjoy them as well.
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| Thai frozen ice milk |
Next, it was time for the main course.
Kraprao (basil stir fry) is one of Bangkok's most quintessential street food dishes.
We tried a Je version of this dish.
Of course, since it's the Je Festival, this dish was not made with the typical minced chicken or pork. Instead, it used a plant-based protein (similar to Impossible or Beyond meat) stir-fried with Thai holy basil. Because both garlic and chili are forbidden during this festival, they did not include those usual ingredients.
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| vegetarian basil stir-fry for the Thai Je Festival |
We also ordered a Je version of khao ped, or duck rice.
This is another personal favorite Thai dish, and to be honest, I could hardly tell the difference between this imitation duck meat and the real thing! The texture was a bit chewier, but the flavor was almost perfectly on-point! The dish was served with the common sides of sliced cucumber and pickled ginger.
Next, we shared a serving of flat rice noodles topped with mushrooms and imitation meat. Even though chili is not typically a part of the Je diet, it was an option. Since I like my Thai food spicy, I went ahead and added it.
I'm not necessarily trying to observe the Je Festival myself, but I am interested in trying all of this amazing food!
The rice noodles were steamed and were topped with lots of healthy and fresh ingredients such as bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and sliced mushroom. Of all the dishes we tried, I think this one was my favorite.
For dessert, we tried a Japanese-style mochi. These rice flour balls are filled with lots of different traditionally-flavored pastes. We bought four: (clockwise from top left) strawberry, sweet potato, red bean, and matcha green tea.
Of the four, strawberry was my favorite, followed closely by the matcha tea mochi.
It's always fun to try festival foods! The Je Festival takes place every year around this time, and each year it brings new innovations in non-meat-based foods. Although I eat meat myself, I am trying to cut back whenever I can, and I am a big supporter of plant-based protein meat. I think a festival like this, although it has ancient origins, can be a great way of bringing awareness to a more conscientious lifestyle.
Plus, the food is also just really good!
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| imitation vegetarian duck on rice, Thai Je Festival (vegetarian food festival) |
Next, we shared a serving of flat rice noodles topped with mushrooms and imitation meat. Even though chili is not typically a part of the Je diet, it was an option. Since I like my Thai food spicy, I went ahead and added it.
I'm not necessarily trying to observe the Je Festival myself, but I am interested in trying all of this amazing food!
The rice noodles were steamed and were topped with lots of healthy and fresh ingredients such as bean sprouts, fresh cilantro, and sliced mushroom. Of all the dishes we tried, I think this one was my favorite.
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| flat rice noodles with imitation meat, Je Festival, Bangkok, Thailand |
For dessert, we tried a Japanese-style mochi. These rice flour balls are filled with lots of different traditionally-flavored pastes. We bought four: (clockwise from top left) strawberry, sweet potato, red bean, and matcha green tea.
Of the four, strawberry was my favorite, followed closely by the matcha tea mochi.
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| vegan mochi, Thai Je Festival, Bangkok, Thailand |
It's always fun to try festival foods! The Je Festival takes place every year around this time, and each year it brings new innovations in non-meat-based foods. Although I eat meat myself, I am trying to cut back whenever I can, and I am a big supporter of plant-based protein meat. I think a festival like this, although it has ancient origins, can be a great way of bringing awareness to a more conscientious lifestyle.
Plus, the food is also just really good!
Location
I bought all of this food at the food market set up in the Metro Mall at Chatuchak Park MRT Station in Bangkok, Thailand. However, you can find Je food all across the country during this period!
The most popular place to celebrate the Je festival is in Phuket, an island with a massive Chinese-Thai population.
The most popular place to celebrate the Je festival is in Phuket, an island with a massive Chinese-Thai population.
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If you enjoyed this post about the Je Festival, you might also like this post about the Indian-Thai Great Diwali Festival, held each year at ICON Siam shopping mall! It's a great place to try some of the city's best Indian food.
Prawn Biryani at the ICONSiam Bangkok Diwali Festival (theworldofstreetfood.com)
Prawn Biryani at the ICONSiam Bangkok Diwali Festival (theworldofstreetfood.com)
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