Japanese Foods
Soups - Soup Bases
Nearly all restaurants will cook soba noodles in a broth made with カツオだし (katsuo dashi - fish stock). They are rarely vegan. Occasionally, or if you are in a specialist Shojin Ryori (Buddhist) restaurant or vegan Japanese restaurant or in a mountain village they might serve 昆布だし (kombu dashi - seaweed stock).
Dipping Sauces
Dipping sauces often contain カツオだし - (katsuo dashi - fish stock).
So dips for gyoza, pancakes, tofu steak and so on... check for any dipping sauce.
Sushi is dipped in shoyu - so is usually ok.
Noodles
Home-made Soba or Ramen noodles are often made with egg, like pasta. Udon are usually vegan.
What is left?
Yaki udon... yaki soba... well usually yes.. unless the griddle it is cooked on is covered with animal fat...
Gyoza
Gyoza are made using gyoza pastry... I've looked at Japanese gyoza skins and they all appear to contain egg... so we use won ton skins instead... egg is used to bind gyoza... so unless they can tell you there is no egg then they are not definitely vegan.
Tofu Steak
Check that the Tofu Steak has not been basted with egg first. This gives it a slightly crunchier skin... This is often done in Chinese and Thai restaurants...
Korokke (Croquets)
Japanese Korokke are made with egg to bind the panko (breadcrumbs) onto the bread… unless they are vegan korokke (rarely) in which case they will have used nagaimo tororo (pulped mountain yam) which has sticky tendencies like egg... and tasty too…
Korean Foods
Kimchi
People usually add fish stock to home-made kimchi.
Commercially-produced kimchi mostly does not. It is worth checking the ingredients.
Soup Bases
The same applies for Korean soups and noodle soup bases. They may be made with fish stock.
Indian Foods
Breads
Unless stated otherwise: Naan bread is made with cow’s milk. Check with the chef for all the other breads... usually the only bread they can guarantee is vegan is chapatti.
Although roti and paratha may also be ok.
Poppadoms are usually fine.
Vegetable Samosa
Ideally this should be a pastry filled with vegetables... but some English supermarkets choose to exclude a large proportion of samosa consumers by adding dairy (Sainsburys (UK) once added Creme Fraiche in one improvement of their recipe / Tesco added yoghurt)
Vegetable Samosa does not equal VEGAN samosa. Check that dairy products are not part of the recipe!!!
Thai Foods
Red Curry / Green Curry usually contain nam pla (fish sauce). Restaurants are often happy to replace this with salt...
Shop bought curry pastes usually contain nam pla too... only a few brands do not, so do check first.
Tao hoo tod (deep fried tofu with a chilli dipping sauce) - I often wonder whether the tofu pieces are dipped in egg batter first before frying.
Coconut Milks
Some tinned Coconut Milk is sometimes preserved with Sodium Caseinate (milk protein). And some are not. How do you know which is being used by a restaurant? Or whether they use tinned or creamed coconut?
UK Foods
Potato Crisps (US - 'Chips')
Crisps are rarely vegan... nearly all flavours (except Plain/Ready Salted) contain milk or milk lactose or cheese powder (nachos).
Milk is an ingredient in Walker's 'Salt and Vinegar Flavouring' for some completely idiotic reasoning...
US Foods
Dry Roasted Peanuts
For some odd reasoning.. Some brands of Dry Roasted Peanuts in the USA contain gelatine and are NOT vegan. This is not the case in the UK. Check before buying!!
Beers
Not all beers are vegan .. it is worth knowing which are and which aren't. Some beers may contain isinglass (fish stomach).
Here is a vegetarian/vegan list: http://www.gonchong.co.uk/vegbeer.html