cathy, so sorry for you... :(

I know how bad it could upset your stomach and other internal organs if you were not used to meat and fat! A really clsoe friend of mine is a vegetarian, really pure, she doesn't eat even garlic or onion, which she also considers "poisonous". She accidentally had some minced meat in a party and got really ill afterwards. The host was playing a trick on her and only added pinch of meat in the so-called "vegetarin rolls"... Geez, you'd better stick to your Japanese cooking. I was just curious since you are very particular about your food. Maybe if you also liked otehr cusine, you could provide me some traditional methods of those goodies! LOL! I love Thai and Vietnamese food as well, but the later one is healthier I think. Thaifood tends to use too much coconut milk, which is harmful. Vielnamese use more fresh herbs and involves more light cooking, juat like Japanese cuisine. I think most Chinses food that upsets your body is due to the "oil" they fry food with. (I have seen some really dishonest restaurant owners recycles their oil until it turned black!!! And like you mentioned earlier, MSG is a problem as well. In Australia, the problem is vise versa I think... You get more food poisoning from Vietnamese food than Chinese coz they way the handle the raw ingredents... You'd never want to try their pork rolls! Compared to many big cities I have been in the US, I honestly prefer the Asian food here as they tend to stick to the tradtional methods. I really believe it's the geographical factor as more Australians I know can speak an Asian language such as Indonedian or Japanese. Anyway, if I talk some more, it will be "off-topic"! See you!