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I'm a strict vegetarian travelling to Asia (mostly Japan).

Which traditional Japanese foods are safe to eat vegetarian or easy to substitute to be so?

What are common non-vegetarian ingredients to look out for?

Zanna
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Tom Kelly
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  • Anyone is welcome to discuss vegan foods also. – Tom Kelly Feb 06 '17 at 20:38
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    I'm more looking for foods (such as miso soup) which often have non-vegetarian ingredients (e.g., daishi / fish stock) to avoid while eating out or visiting a Japanese home rather than cooking strictly vegetarian myself. – Tom Kelly Feb 07 '17 at 09:38
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    Soba usually contains dashi, with fish sauce or fish scrapings. – Turion Feb 07 '17 at 15:05
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    @Turion Yep, dashi is very difficult to avoid in Japanese food. I was hoping an answer would address this. – Tom Kelly Feb 07 '17 at 22:49
  • Note that as Japan is a Buddhism-practising country, many monastaries cook only vegitarian food because they believe in the Dharmic concept of ahimsa (peace/non-violence). Not sure they'd let you eat there (they might if you ask nicely), but they might be able to offer more information or suggestions. – Pharap Mar 24 '17 at 01:02
  • Also perhaps try comminicating that you want "shōjin ryōri" 精進料理 which is the term for Buddhist food, which is either vegetarian or vegan. (Not completely relevant but still interesting: the Mahayana branch of buddhism has a saying "One who eats meat kills the seed of great compassion".) – Pharap Mar 24 '17 at 01:08
  • @Pharap I would be interested in experiencing this but my impression of Japan is that Buddhism is rarely practiced. Similar to how not many people are nuns or monks in western countries. I suspect it would be very difficult to locate these places or rely on them for vegetarian meals rather than learning to order Japanese food. – Tom Kelly Mar 24 '17 at 22:30

2 Answers2

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I wasn't in Japan but in nearby countries The hardest ingredient to avoid was fish-sauce, followed by shrimp-paste. It feels like they use it everywhere (but that's not true).

As a substitute I normally use soy-sauce which is almost always available. I could normally make people understand to use it for my food in restaurants.

Vegetarian restaurants and vegetarian food are, I think for religious reasons, not that uncommon in many Asian countries. Also Indian restaurants are mostly aware and helpful with vegetarian food.

I also recommend learning how to say "vegetarian" in the local language.

Zanna
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Den
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    +1 for learning how to say "vegetarian". Also have it written down, and perhaps specifically 'I am vegetarian, no fish sauce, shrimp paste please' 私は菜食主義者です、魚のソースやエビのペーストはしないでください – Steve Feb 07 '17 at 01:14
  • Fish sauce is used in Japan as well a lot. – Turion Feb 07 '17 at 09:20
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    @Steve すみません、ベジタリアンです is probably sufficient for beginners: thankfully "bejitarian" is an english loanword as it is in many languages. However, in some cultures they do not understand that fish is not vegetarian so perhaps it would be better to be more specific. – Tom Kelly Feb 07 '17 at 09:43
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    I have heard that mentioning Buddhism in the context of vegetarian will help in some Asian countries to avoid being served meat and fish based items/sauces. I have no personal experience with this. – Benjamin Kelley Feb 07 '17 at 16:51
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    @TomKelly Worth noting that this isn't just an Asian thing - annoyingly some western cultures still don't understand that fish is not vegitarian. – Pharap Mar 24 '17 at 01:03
  • @Pharap Absolutely but I took Asian countries as a specific example – Tom Kelly Mar 24 '17 at 22:25
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One of the biggest traps in japanese cusine is dashi, a stock used in many preparations, and traditionally made from steeping kombu (vegan), grated dried fish (not vegan), and sometimes mushrooms (vegan). It would be typically used in a miso soup, other soups, sushi pieces that do not incorporate any other fish, condiments...

rackandboneman
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