Alessandra Zecchini: Vegetarian in Kyoto

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Vegetarian in Kyoto

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

It can be hard being a vegetarian in Japan.

I lived in Tokyo for over three years, and survived on many plain rice balls as even the most innocent vegetable dishes are often cooked in fish stock. But I believe that most countries can

surprise outsiders (and often insiders) with a truly vegetarian cuisine and for Japan, a treasure chest of traditions; I just had to head for Kyoto.

Kyoto is famous for its elaborate high cuisine,

which does include vegetarian cuisine, or

Shojinryori, originally developed in Buddhist

temples. Beware: Shojinryori is not cheap because

of the amount of time and care it takes to prepare.

Still, I always seem to end up in inexpensive

eateries, or resort to cheap snacks because of my

vegetarianism. So it was about time that I treated

myself to a restaurant where I could look at the

menu and choose anything, absolutely anything!

The restaurant I was recommended is Izusen,

in Daitoku-Ji Temple, First of

all I was greeted with a bowl of freshly whisked

complementary green tea, accompanied by a

Japanese cake. Don’t think of it as odd to get tea

and cake before lunch. The tea is very bitter and

works like an aperitif, and the cake is very small

and not actually as sweet as a Western cake. It is

more like an appetizer to enjoy while looking at

the menu.

There is so much to choose from: little indi-

vidual dishes, special food cooked in clay pots,

set lunches served in beautiful lacquer boxes

and china bowls. I decided on a middle of the

range, 2500-yen set lunch, as the photo on the

menu seemed promising.

You can order tea or beer, which goes well

with Japanese food.

My lunch arrived in a big rectangular

box that opened into two trays lined with

fresh bamboo leaves, plus an assortment

of little bowls and plates. It all looked

beautiful, obviously prepared and pre-

sented with so much thought; it was the

perfect balance between a visual feast and

a selection of flavours.

Little morsels that may look like fish

in any other restaurant were skewered

onto faux pine-needles made out of super-

thin strips of bamboo. A light green sen-

sho (Japanese pepper) sauce and leaves

infused the whole tray with a fragrance

similar to citrus and pine, common in

Kyoto spring cuisine. Leaves and flowers,

plus roots and shoots of many plants

were included, as well as the full array of

seasonal vegetables, all in tiny portions,

maintaining their individual flavours and

providing a colourful display.

Then there was Yuba,

my favourite, the delicate curd which forms when making tofu.

It is very difficult to obtain and expensive, but exquisite, especially here, offered simmered in a tasty vegetable broth with a dengaku (deep fried tofu and vegetable dumpling) and celery sticks. The tempura is ever present in these set meals, and the mushroom pieces tasted particularly good. Next was goma dofu, a tofu block made with sesame seeds, to eat raw with wasabi and soy sauce.

It came accompanied by a single ume-plum tempura, its sweet taste quite a surprise.

I went through all the pieces, sometime no quite sure what I was eating, but for once not having to worry about it. There was even an individual morsel of faux meat, smeared with French-style mustard sauce, but it was delicate and did not taste at all like a chewy piece of gluten. Rice, pickles, vegetables and soup are always served in a Japanese meal and are usually eaten at the end (though you can dig in any time you like). The broth of wakame seaweed and bamboo shoots at Isuzen rated as the best I had ever had.

Around me tables were full, a few low, over tatami mats, but most were with chairs. I was the only foreigner, although the restaurant does host quite a few, mostly American vegetarians. A group of elderly ladies laughed from their tatami mat seats. They were not vegetarians, but they met here for a “girl’s” day out. “The place is nice and clean, and the food is good for your health,” they commented. Another group of six told me they were visitors to Kyoto, and while there they enjoyed the local cuisine, Shojinryori being one of their favourites. Kyoto itself is a very special city, and its people particularly kind.

I tried to explain at the ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) where I was staying that I am a vegetarian, as Japanese breakfast was included in the price. Rice and pickles were de rigueur, and they told me they were going to prepare, especially for me, a miso soup without fish stock, and “perhaps would I like some tofu?” Would I? The ryokan waitress brought it in an iron pot and lit the paraffin fire beneath it, so that I could cook my own yudofu (tofu simmered in a kombu seaweed and vegetable broth —yet another Kyoto specialty). It was fantastic!

On the second morning, I was presented with a different soup and age-dofu (tofu lightly fried, then simmered in a vegetable stock), which I can still taste now!