Macau’s Iconic Pork Chop Bun Gets A 21st Century Upgrade With Green Monday’s Omnipork

Leading the charge to promote more plant-based meals in the former Portuguese colony, Macau’s largest casino operator Sands China has launched their Green Cuisine Campaign in collaboration with Green Monday. It’s the biggest environmental educational program the Special Administrative Region has ever seen, introducing new vegan dishes at over 10 of its restaurants, including a meatless interpretation the Macau’s iconic pork chop bun. Below, we take you through the highlights of this historic collaboration.

Green Cuisine Campaign

Taking place at The Venetian Macau’s Portofino Italian restaurant, the event was joint effort between Sands China, Green Monday, and the Macau Government Tourism Office. With a prominent lineup of executive management including Green Monday founder, David Yeung, and celebrity television host, Janis Chan present, the opening ceremony was abuzz with this shift to sustainable consumption in Macau. “Not only does this campaign give guests healthier and more sustainable dining options, but will also support the social and environmental responsibilities that are key to the Sands ECO360 Strategy,” noted Senior VP of Food & Beverage, Tom Connolly. “Over the last few years, we have seen a huge rise in the number of people dining at our restaurants requesting vegetarian and vegan meals. To meet this growing demand, we have responded by offering an impressive range of meat-free options. Even the most carnivorous of diners should be able to find something to suit them”

Highlighting a diversity of global cuisines, the new innovative dishes include flavors from Japan, India, France, Italy, Southeast Asia, as well as Northern and Southern China, utilizing an array of alternative food ingredients like Beyond Meat, Just Egg, Omnipork, vegan cheese like Daiya and meat-free foods from Gardein. Participating restaurants include Portofino, Canton, Golden Peacock and North at The Venetian Macau; Dynasty 8 at Sands Cotai Central; La Chine, Lotus Palace and Brasserie at The Parisian Macau; and Golden Court and Copa Steakhouse at Sands Macau.

Sands Omnipork Pork Chop Bun

Made with Green Monday’s plant-based minced pork analog Omnipork, the innovative chefs at Sands China unveiled their vegan version of Macau’s most famous snack, zhu pa pao, or pork chop bun. The new Sands Omnipork Pork Chop Bun made its highly-anticipated debut moments after the opening ceremony with Executive Chef for Convention Catering Alen Chow taking the stage with celebrity guest Janis Chan whipping up a live demonstration of the versatile plant-based pork analog.

“The whole idea [of making a vegan pork chop bun] was started and supported by the team,” says Alen. “We tried it out with several ingredients – mushrooms, tofu – and finally found that chestnuts was the best partner with omnipork. By roughly cutting up the chestnuts, it blends together quite similarly to the real pork chop bun!”

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With lightly toasted buns crisp on the outside and soft on the inside exactly like the classic Macanese hamburger, we devoured the marinated omnipork mixed in with chestnuts that gave it a firm, yet spongy texture. Well seasoned, juicy but without all the oil and grease – we were won over! Available at selected restaurants in the city, including Imperial House at The Venetian Macau, Tastes at Sands Cotai Central, Market Bistro at The Parisian Macau and 888 Food Court at Sands Macau, this Sands Omnipork Pork Chop Bun is definitely a must try the next time you’re in Macau.

With more than 2 million monthly visitors arriving to “Las Vegas of Asia,” tourism is a major industry in Macau. The ardent push of more plant-based dishes – gourmet and casual – proves there is no contradiction between protecting the climate and maintaining (and dare we say, even amplifying) delicious meals. Implementing a permanent collaboration between Green Monday and the resort’s 28,000 employees by offering more veggie dishes and ‘Food 2.0’ ingredients at staff canteens, this unprecedented impact is exactly what Green Monday founder, David Yeung was hoping for: “From an internal sustainability standpoint, you have 28,000 people experiencing a greener diet on a weekly basis, and when they go home they’re telling their family members about it. Let’s say on average there are four members in a family, that’s already influencing over 100,000 people. Combine that number with local tourists trying out these new dishes and the effect is just enormous!”

Furthering their mission across the region, Green Monday officially launched in Singapore this week to much fanfare, inviting citizens to taste the classic dish ‘Sweet & Sour Omnipork’ at their Omnipork food truck in collaboration with the Grand Hyatt. The hotel had previously done a Beyond Burger soft launch in August and the response was phenomenal with over 3,000 burgers sold in mere hours. Over 20 F&B partners with 80+ outlets between them have already enrolled in Green Monday’s Singapore programme. Yeung sees the warm reception as a given due to Singapore’s demographic similarities with Hong Kong: “[As] one of the leading energy and technology hubs in Asia Pacific,Singapore is a natural choice for us to further spread the plant-based movement. We are extremely delighted to see how the plant-based sphere in Singapore has been gaining momentum since the launch of the game-changing Beyond Burger in August.”

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All images courtesy of Sands China (lead) and Green Queen