Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 69
Thanks:
0
Hi everyone,
I've been considering going vegetarian for awhile now and would like to know if anyone could share any tasty Japanese recipes (or websites) to start in on it.
Thanks in advance~
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2,541
Thanks:
4
Vegetarianism doesn't really exist in Japan, and the concept of 'meat' in not such a strong one in Japan (there are numerous anecdotes about vegetarians who asked for food with no meat, but got various forms of meat because the Japanese host didn't really understand what his guest meant by meat). Though, vegetarianism has become more well-known, so recently more and more people understand it.
That being said, although almost any Japanese meal would have meat in it, there are plenty of individual Japanese foods that don't have any meat in them. Normally you would have lots of little dishes, some with meat and some with no meat. If you're a vegetarian you can just stick to the ones with no meat.
I've always really liked the Youtube channel cookingwithdog, which has tons of great real Japanese recipes. And it's in English so Japanese knowledge isn't necessary. Anyway, some of the recipes on the channel have no meat.
Edited: 2011-07-27, 1:58 am
Koyasan monastery in Wakayama has 1,000 monks that are strictly vegetarian, and there are several vegetarian restaurants around Daitokuji temple in Kyoto. Although I haven't been to any of them due to the cost of a meal there. I'm a notorious cheapskate.
I hate spending more than 10 minutes preparing a meal, so I mostly just throw veggies in season into a pot with tofu, beans and whatever sauce is in eye-shot. Sometimes it turns out great. Other times, not so much.
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 2,541
Thanks:
4
Haha, should have mentioned the exception of Buddhism, where it definitely does exist in Japan.
