We recently got to chat with the lovely raw vegan chef Yin! In this interview, she goes in-depth to talk about her own vegan journey, sharing her top restaurant recommendations, words of advice, and also a fun recipe for us to try. Let’s dive in!
HC: Please tell us a bit about your story and your culinary journey.
Y: I’m a raw vegan chef & educator, bestselling author and TEDx speaker. I actually have a law degree but decided to leave the corporate world to discover my passion in life, which turned out to be raw vegan cuisine.
As a Certified Raw Food Teacher, I help people all over the world make delicious and beautiful raw vegan food.
Currently, I offer 24 online vegan cooking courses on ice cream, cheese, tempeh, mooncakes and Asian cuisine.
I’m really excited with my raw vegan uncooking courses on Korean, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese food as not many other chefs focus on raw vegan Asian food. You can check them out here.
I also wrote a bilingual (English & Chinese) print book on “Guilt-free Desserts” which was published by Seashore Publishing and made it to Kinokuniya Malaysia’s Best Sellers list.
HC: When, why, and how did you make the switch to raw vegan?
Y: In the early 1990s, I became aware of how meat wasn’t good for our bodies – I read about this in books, magazines and newspaper articles so I started cutting down on chicken, beef, and lamb. Unfortunately, I was also brainwashed by the general public telling me that I needed to have protein and thought I had to get that from fish. So for a long while I was more or less a pescetarian, eating mainly vegetables and some fish/seafood.
Fast forward to 2014, I made my very first fully raw vegan meal and in 2015 I started transitioning from pescetarian to vegetarian to vegan. In 2016, I became vegan.
Health was the main reason why I embarked on a raw food journey. I suffered from eczema for more than 30 years. This was completely healed after I went on a raw vegan lifestyle. I used to fall sick with the common cough and cold every month but that stopped because a raw vegan diet naturally supports the immune system and decreases inflammation. I experienced better digestion. Surprisingly, raw vegan food is actually gentle on your digestion – digestion is speedier and more comfortable. There was a very obvious increase in energy levels.
I talk about all these during my presentations, demos and personal consultations so that more people are aware of the direct correlation between food and health.
Later on, I also learnt about the horrors of the meat and dairy industry. I was so shocked by how much cruelty to animals has been caused just because humans crave the taste of meat. Coupled with the negative effect animal agriculture has on the climate emergency, it totally made sense to be vegan.
HC: People often think raw food is bland and boring; how would you challenge this opinion?
Y: I’ve been working on busting that myth for the past few years!
I’m also very passionate about Asian food so I’ve focused on developing raw food recipes on the following, NONE of which are bland or boring 🙂
Malay
Vietnamese
Indonesian
Japanese
Thai
Indian
Korean
And you can browse more courses here.
HC: What’s your favourite dish to cook?
Y: I love Rendang because it’s so flavoursome; I’ve made many versions of raw vegan Rendang using mushrooms, jackfruit and even cauliflower.
My favourite is my Indonesian Rendang recipe with king oyster mushrooms. It has 26 ingredients but I feel it’s worth making once you take a bite.
HC: What are your top 5 favourite vegan restaurants?
Y: This is such a tough one as I’ve enjoyed so much vegan food all over the world!
1. Plant, Food + Wine
in Venice, California for their raw food. I’ve made many of their recipes during my culinary training and it was a dream to be able to visit and enjoy both the cooked and raw food there.
2. Sayuri Healing Food
Fantastic raw food in Bali. Very creative dishes!
3. Sala
in KL for their Nasi Lemak and their burritos.
4. Yang Shin
in Taiwan for their vegan dim sum. This is a vegetarian dim sum place but they do have plenty of vegan options. My firm favourite Pure Veggie House in Hong Kong has closed, unfortunately.
5. Daehwa
for vegan Korean food. I always make sure I pay a visit whenever I’m in Singapore.
HC: Would you like to share an easy recipe?
A simple all raw, mushroom based stir-fry. Place soy sauce, sugar and miso in a bowl and whisk till combined and miso paste is dissolved. Add rest of ingredients in and using hands, mix till mushrooms are well-coated with sauce. Dehydrate for 2 hours at 45 Celsius.Mushroom Basil “Stir-fry” (raw vegan)
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And finally…
Yin has some advice for any new/aspiring raw vegan chef out there:
1. Continuously educate yourself in the culinary field. Every year I invest in at least one culinary course as learning never ends and you want to be at the forefront of the vegan culinary landscape.
2. Support other vegan chefs and establishments. Vegan chefs are currently a minority so remember to support each other – by eating at each other’s restaurants, giving shoutouts on social media and collaborating on pop-up dining experiences.
3. Don’t give up! It’s not easy being a raw vegan chef but it is very rewarding, and knowing that you’re helping the animals, the planet and other fellow human beings may keep you going.
For more recipes, tips and inspiration on raw vegan food, follow Yin on instagram at @rawchefyin.
And don’t miss watching her wonderfully inspiring TED talk!
We love chatting with people, like Yin, who have contributed to the vegan movement in their own unique ways. If you enjoyed reading this interview, take a look at some of our others:
– Spotlight | Vegan Doctor Nandita Shah, Founder of SHARAN
– Spotlight | Giuseppe Federici – Vegan Food and Fitness
– Spotlight | Aviram Rozin, Founder of Sadhana Forest
– Spotlight | Shivya Nath, Vegan Traveller and Author
– Spotlight | Kuntal Joisher, First Vegan to Scale Mt. Everest
We hope you learnt something new and fun today. For more content on veganism, check out the rest of the HappyCow blog. To find vegan food near you, at any time and place, get the FREE HappyCow app. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more great vegan content coming your way!