- [Danielle] Two of the most important things Asians have brought to America are their foods and their faiths.

And when you look, you quickly discover that the two are always closely interwoven.

At Asian places of worship across the country, visitors are greeted with simple, generous, delicious offerings of food.

This week on "Lucky Chow", I drop by a Buddhist temple, a Sikh temple, and an Indonesian mosque to see what's on the menu and to learn the role food plays in the practices of these ancient religions.

(upbeat electronic music) (traditional oriental music) Serenity reigns at the Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple.

A beautiful 15 acre complex in the hills near Los Angeles, the American headquarters of a Buddhist order based in Taiwan, it practices what it calls "Humanistic Buddhism".

I'm here to talk with Mankuang, a nun who serves as the temple's director of outreach.

And she's going to introduce me to the temple's famous vegetarian buffet, a multi-course feast that's served everyday.

- The basic principle is that our founder, Master Hsing Yun, he would like to build a bridge to harmonize the culture between East and West.

- So Fo Guang Shan was founded in Taiwan?

- [Mankuang] In Taiwan, in the Southern part of Taiwan, in Kaohsiung County.

- [Danielle] And what year was that?

- That 1967.

In Buddhism, we basically, we have Mahayana Buddhism, which means it's more suitable for general people because Mahayana, they are engaging society, helping people, benefiting the society.

And the other school is Theravadian.

They concentrate on self-cultivation.

So I think that's the distinguished difference.

Master Hsing Yun, right now he's 90 years old.

When he was 23 years old he came from Mana, China, with a monk, with nothing at all.

But on his mind, he said, "If I am a monk, then I have duty, "Even though I'm poor.

"But one day, if I have a ability, "A lot of ability and I would like to benefit people", that's why for the first time he would try to agitate the people in Taiwan so the first building he founded is not a temple, it's a school.

- Uh huh, I understand.

- And then, gradually, people need temple to worship.

And he develop his temples.

And up to now, we have at least 150 branch temples in the world.

- Really?

That's very impressive.

Well, I know that many, many Chinese are Buddhist.

It's a religion that a lot of people understand, but certainly not so much in the West.

- [Danielle Voiceover] Talking to Mankuang about Buddhism has given me an appetite.

It's time to check out that lunch buffet, and I'm about to learn that the atmosphere in the temple's kitchen is very different from the peaceful surroundings at the courtyard.

- I would've never imagined there to be such a large size, restaurant scale kitchen in a temple that they actually serve thousands of meals a day.

The long rows of industrial size woks and the hustle and bustle of chefs and proc workers squeezing past each other makes me think I'm in a commercial Chinese banquet hall.

But few Chinese restaurants have this impressive of a selection of rice.

- So look at all of this rice.

So many different types of rice.

California short-grain rice, Jasmine rice, Thai rice, brown rice, multi-grain rice, long-grain rice.

- [Danielle Voiceover] I also get to see the ingenious ways in which vegetarian ingredients are cooked and shaped to look like meats.

The kitchen staff, most of them volunteers, prepare a true feast that will be served to both the monks and the nuns who live here, and to visiting tour groups, often made up of students.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, and various forms of tofu, will be turned into a wide range of simple, but tasty dishes.

- Can you tell us what is for lunch today?

- Okay, so for the main course we have the fried rice, steamed rice, very good stuff!

Many different kinds of stuff.

- [Danielle] It smells great.

- [Chef] Here's the sweet and sour tofu.

- [Danielle Voiceover] Mankuang has explained to me that while Buddhists aren't barred from eating meat, they're encouraged to stick to a vegetarian diet, because it's considered both more compassionate and more healthy.

- Very healthy, very delicious, this looks wonderful.

I'm surprised that you have so many different types of offering.

- Yes, very different.

- [Danielle] Meat isn't the only thing missing here.

Also absent, the sound of voices.

Do you usually eat in silence?

- Yeah, in our headquarter Tama-line Fo Guang Shan, we have at least 1,000 people sitting in the dining hall and eat with silence.

We observe silence during the meal.

First of all, in Chinese cooking, when we treat our guests we want to have it very colorful and also very healthy.

So, in vegetarian, of course, we have a lot of color, just like we have the green one, it must be a vegetable, and just plan, just use a little oil and thats it.

- [Danielle] Finally I'm gonna get to try some of that Trumpe L'Oeil meat, but first, a prayer.

- May palms be joined together in every world in compassion, joy, and healing.

May all beings find security in peacefulness and loving care.

(traditional oriental music) - The reverence Mankuang showed beautifully expresses is reflected just out of the dining room in the temple's tea room.

The calming infusions are steeped and poured with a delicate touch.

My visit to the Hsi Lai Temple has left me with a full belly, a calm mind, and a better understanding of the daily demands of Buddhist practice.

It's also made me think about my own roots, which include family ties to Taiwan, and about all the people who came before me, paving the way for my own American adventure.

Before leaving, there's time for me to light a joss stick, to honor the Buddha, to honor my ancestors, and to thank the Hsi Lai kitchen for that amazing meal.

From the quiet hills of Hacienda Heights, I've descended into the loud and crowded heart of Los Angeles, home of the Hollywood Sikh Temple.

It's one of the leading American outposts of the 600 year old South Asian religion that accounts about 28 million adherents worldwide.

To show my respect, I'll be removing my shoes, washing my hands, and donning a colorful headscarf.

I'm no expert with the scarf, but Grover, a prominent member of the temple, is here to help out.

Can you tell us a little bit about the principles behind the Sikh religion?

I know it's one of, it's the fifth largest religion in terms of followers in the world.

But to you, what does it mean?

- Sikhism is a peace, love, and no war, nothing like that.

So we try to teach the others' communities.

Our God each other fast is Guru Nanak.

Guru Nanak gave us the starting.

What is the life, why we are born, what are, what we have to do.

The first thing is that do good thing for the others.

Love each others.

And say to other, learn from the Holy Book.

- [Danielle] Helping others also means feeding them, and the temple welcomes anyone who's hungry to it's homemade vegan lunches.

- We are vegetarians, in our temple is only vegetables.

No meat at all, no animals, because we are not allowed to hurt the animals.

- I see.

But for your temple, do you serve vegetarian food in order to be inclusive with everybody, so that everybody has something to eat?

- Yes.

- Or is it- - Not have to, it's a choice, our choice.

- Yes, it's your choice.

- Somebody likes to eat are welcome.

- Right.

- We offer them, come in, have our food.

It's their choice, if they like to eat, they can eat.

(prayer chanting) - [Danielle Voiceover] Once again, I get a little religion before I get my lunch.

- And then I will bow down, you will bow down like this.

(prayer chanting) Walk, walk, walk around.

Walk around, walk around.

Walk around.

Walk, walk all around.

That is our Holy Book, our priest read the book.

(prayer chanting) They are They are reading from the Holy Book, and this is every day from Quran.

(religious incantations) - These guys are great, but it's time to see the dining room.

- [Grover] This is the food section.

- So you serve the entire community, a lot of everybody from LA.

- Any community most welcome.

- [Danielle] Lunch at the Sikh temple is a casual affair, with paper plates, hardy simple food, and family and friends sitting together on long mats rolled out across the room.

It's the perfect ambience for a place where inclusiveness is the order of the day.

This is all vegetarian?

- [Gurmeet] Vegetarian.

- [Danielle] So what is this made of?

- [Gurmeet] This is made of milk.

- [Danielle] Milk?

- [Gurmeet] Yeah.

- [Danielle] Okay.

- [Gurmeet] This is made out of garbanzo flower.

- [Danielle] Garbanzo flower?

Okay, and this is sweet as well?

- [Gurmeet] Yeah, sweet.

- [Danielle] Okay.

- This is a fried pakora.

Light and salted, and vegetables.

Very garbanzo, maybe.

This is a salsa.

- Salsa?

Okay, do I just add a little to the pakora?

- Every human is invited to come in.

Sit together, poor, and the kings.

King has to sit on the same place with us.

If our President, Mr. Obama comes to this place, he will sit on the ground in the same place.

- I really like that, it's very beautiful, this idea of inclusion and universality.

You know, the simplest way to show that attitude is through the offering of free food.

- [Danielle Voiceover] It's rare to find a place as welcoming and easygoing as this temple, where we've been welcomed and fed despite a serious communications loss.

No one knew we were coming!

- Through the music, music is everywhere.

God has given us the music, and the fire, and the water, and the air.

You can feel there is a music when there's fire in the wood, you can listen oh, there's the fire, music.

Music gives us all, this is all our Holy Book, 1,430 pages.

In one line, there is a question, the other line, there is the answer.

(sitar strumming) - [Danielle Voiceover] A lot of the food is prepared at home by temple members and brought here to be set out for the buffet.

But in the nearby kitchen, there is an elaborate assembly line turning out the star of the meal.

Hot, puffy roti, or Indian flatbread.

- [Grover] What she's preparing, the tortilla.

- There's a lot of hard work and skill involved in making these simple looking breads.

From shaping to rolling to delicately timed stove top cooking.

I'm about to get a lesson in roti making, but first I have one question: Why do they keep calling them tortillas?

I guess it's a California thing.

(traditional Indian music) So what're we making?

- We are making the, you know that, like, the Mexicans make tortillas, it's the same thing but we call it roti.

- Roti, but this is not made with corn, is it?

- No, they make it from ... - Flour.

- Flour, and also from a corn flower.

This is wheat.

- This is wheat.

Yes.

- Like with the other hand.

- Uh huh.

- Watch me.

- Okay.

- Like this.

- Uh huh, okay.

And then putting it into a round shape.

And then, do you eat this on your own?

Or what else is being served as part of the lunch?

- [Cook] Oh, a lot, a lot.

- Can I bring this plate?

Okay.

So this is like a lot of other Asian cuisines.

You know, like the Chinese, I'm Chinese, you know, we also, everybody makes their own, kind of, specialty dough, specialty bread, right?

- [Cook] Because all they're all of the ancient cultures.

- [Danielle] Yes, of course, yes.

- So that's where everything started.

That's what they would say to us, you know, that the sun rises early in the East, so it means we are more cultured than the Western world.

- (laughing) Yes, I agree.

- Okay, now you can take it over there, bake it, put on, get it burned.

- [Danielle] I'm amazed at how the air goes into the tortilla.

- [Cook] So now you know how to make a tortilla.

- Yes, yes.

Punjab style.

Look at that!

Roti flipping is a tricky business, but I think my flat breads stack up pretty well.

(traditional music) - [Danielle Voiceover] It's the perfect ending to my visit to the Hollywood Sikh Temple.

Setting down and offering the food before the priest and the Holy Book, in a room where organized prayer shares a space with contemplation, conversation, and children at play.

It's a place where anyone can come to try a hot butter roti and find a host of friendly faces as well.

(relaxed electronic groove) Queens is New York's ultimate melting pot, and I'm here to check out a food fair at a place even most New Yorkers don't know about.

Masjid Al-Hikmah, the oldest Indonesian mosque in America.

Surveying the Southeast Asian delicacies here, I feel like I've stumbled on a magical trove of food.

My guide to both the cuisine and the culture of Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, is an old friend, Kiki Suhadi, who's here with her mom.

So what does this food festival mean to you?

- From someone that wasn't born in Indonesia, to come to this festival and be able to taste all the different kinds of foods that Indonesia has to offer especially since my mom is from Jakarta, and we have family from everywhere, and I didn't have the luxury growing up to go there every year and try all the foods.

And to come here and really taste genuine Indonesian foods from Indonesian moms who, you know, worship at this mosque, who have kids that attend this Masjid, it's such a great experience.

- It really is, right?

How important was it for you to have Kiki be a part of this mosque and to learn about her Indonesian Muslim heritage?

- I think it's very important for me, because I was, you know, I'm born Muslim, and I want Kiki to know, you know basic Islam, you know, at least she knows about Islam.

- [Danielle] Well this is really a taste of Jakarta for you, or is it not?

- Yeah, this is, like the bazaar?

- I think it's more than just Jakarta, like, there are foods from West Sumatra, there's foods from Central Java, there's food from Jakarta, Kalimantan, it's really from all parts of Indonesia that we get to try, and that people are from.

So it's really good.

- Have you learned how to cook Indonesian food?

- Okay, I always wanna learn, honestly.

But it's like, my mom, she always makes fun of me whenever I go with recipes and measurements, and, you know, get a teaspoon of this, a teaspoon of that.

My mom is so good in just using feeling and kind of knowing what ingredients she needs more of, whereas I'm more structured.

So every time I watch her, I try to, like, write down everything she's putting, but every time you cook it, it's like a little bit of love, a little bit of this.

So it's always different, and it's always depending on who cooks, where you cook it, and the amount of energy you put into it.

That's how affects the taste.

So honestly, I've tried to cook one dish, and it is nowhere near how my mom's is.

So, yes I've tried to learn, but am I good?

(laughing) - You know, I'm curious that Ramadan, which is such an important festivity in your calendar, is all about almost a deprivation of food.

- I think what Ramadan is, it's, you know, yes it's part of the Quran, and we have to try our best to, but you also know your own body.

Yes, we do our best to fast during the month of Ramadan.

You shouldn't push yourself to fast and starve yourself if you're about to pass out.

So it's never encouraged to do that, but it's always encouraged to believe in your religion, and if you believe in Ramadan and Islam then you'll be able to find the drive to do it.

- There's unfortunately so much anti-Muslim sentiment in America, do you feel that with regards to Indonesian culture and where you live?

- Honestly, no, because again, it goes back to a lot of people don't know that Indonesia's the largest Muslim populated country.

And everyone affiliates Muslims with ISIS and the Middle East, so when they think of Muslims, they think of burkas, they think of, you know, men in hats and women covered up.

So they have this perception of how a Muslim should look.

So I think, specifically, Indonesian-Muslim Americans don't get as much hate or as much pressure from media.

I do believe, that, Muslims in other parts of the world do, so I think as an Indonesian-Muslim, I don't really feel as much as others.

- On that note, it's time to start tasting the food.

All of it prepared according to the Islamic regulations known as "halal".

We start with one of Indonesia's most famous dishes.

What is this dish?

- So, basically we're focusing on saute, Indonesian-style skewer.

We have options from chicken, lamb, beef, and also for vegan, we are trying to introduce tempeh to New Yorkers.

It's sweet, it's salty, but you can taste it also.

It's just everything, it's like a party in your mouth.

- It's a party in your mouth, I love that!

It is, it is delicious, and I'm really glad that you're bringing Indonesian food outside of the community.

- [Cook] Thank you, thank you.

- [Danielle Voiceover] The saute is fantastic, but I'm just getting started.

- [Kiki] This is our bakso stand.

So the bakso is our beef balls, which is homemade by Thanta Edat.

It's basically beef and tapioca, and the tapioca holds the meat together, and then she cooks the nice soup to it, puts some noodles, tofu, vegetables, and of course the typical accoutrements, fried onions.

So basically we're putting sriracha, typical hot sauce, but you also have Indonesian hot sauce which is also homemade by bird's eye chili.

Yes, and you can put that in.

- [Danielle] Thank you.

- [Kiki] It's really spicy, oops, sorry.

And then we have an Indonesian soy sauce, which is called a sweet soy sauce, or kecap manis.

And then you typically would put it on your soup.

A little bit of vinegar, because vinegar makes everything better.

And then you always wanna top it off with some fried onions.

- [Danielle] I love it.

- [Kiki] And scallions.

I know, there's a lot that goes in.

- [Danielle] This is delicious, and the balls, that's so chewy.

- [Kiki] Yeah.

- And I would never have guessed that the secret ingredient is tapioca.

I'm loving this.

Thank you.

Tell me what is here?

- It's karedok.

- There's so many ingredients in here, there's probably at least 20 different ingredients.

I love it!

- You like it?

- Because you have every single flavor possible, right?

Sweet, sour, spicy, umami, bitter even!

And then you also have textures.

It's crunchy, it's soft, it's delicious!

So is this a dessert?

A dessert with chili and meat?

Is that minced meat?

- [Cook] No meat.

- [Danielle] Oh, tempeh!

Oh.

- Is that spicy?

(laughing) - I love this.

(laughing) Thank you!

- Thank you!

- That's what I love about this experience.

Because it's more than food, it really feels like a cultural immersion, you know?

You dance, you have art.

So this really is just like a little microcosm of Indonesian culture, and I can't believe you were one of these kids!

- Yeah, I was one of those kids.

I went to Saturday school, learned about Islam, learned how to read the Quran.

I took it, and kind of, it molded me into the person I am today.

Because I took the learnings from the Saturday school and from my mom, and, you know, made me more interested in Asian culture.

And I joined a dance group, Som-Budaya, and, you know, learned about culture through dance.

Through food.

- [Danielle] Can you teach me a simple move?

(laughing) - So Mi-nong, it's a West Sumatran dance, it's very martial artsy, very opposite of your hat.

(laughing) But essentially, you have this movement where you have your left hand up by your forehead, so kind of shielding away the sun, and then you have an offering with your right hand.

So a lot of the times in West Sumatra, it's a lot of harvesting and rice fields, so a lot of the times you wanna shield away from the sun but also offer rice.

- That's such a beautiful metaphor.

- Yeah, so, hey!

(laid back ambient music) - [Danielle Voiceover] There are times when it seems like all religion can do is keep us apart, but on my visit to three very different places of worship I saw two things everywhere I went.

Smiling faces, and generous spreads of food that reflected the deep cultural roots of the Asian congregations.

Which comes first?

The faith, or the food?

I'd say neither one is as satisfying without the other.

(upbeat electronic music)