Japanese food choices?

Question

I've been to japan only once and for a brief period of time. Do any people who have spent a considerable amount of time there or are from there know if there are good vegetarian options for food. I'm pretty sure there are but I'm looking for somthing a tad specific. Like is champuru ever vegetarian?

Answer 1

I think you could get a lot of things vegetarian, like sushi, which can be made with just vegetables, and okinomiyaki, which you could just top which veggies instead of meat and fish. And if you are asking for food, try to make it clear that you want no animal products in it, like gelatin or lard.
And don't forget, tofu and soy foods are easily found in Japan!

Answer 2

I am not a strict vegan or tru vegitarian, but I eat much like a vegetarian on a normal basis. I have been living in Japan for over 3.5 years and I have experienced that a true vegan lifestyle has it's challenges here in Japan. That is also complicated by one's ability to communicate. In your own private home it is quite easy to choose the foods that you will eat. You control what you buy and consume. When eating out at restaurants i will be quite difficult to find menu items that are free of any animal products. Even ordereing salads might have cheese and bits of bacon in it. The difficulties can extend farther. Asking for your food to be cooked in specific ways will be hit and miss, because most restauraunts just don't deal with that kind of request often.

It is not impossible, but it does take efforts and some local knowledge.

Answer 3

Veges are plentiful when in season. When they are not in season, you can still get certain veges, but their prices are insanely high.

The only tricky thing would be eating out. Japanese do love to garnish their food with animal/fish products. So be sure to ask before you order what the side dishes are, etc. Likewise, if you eat out and order Champuru, you would find it almost impossible to find it vegetarian. You may find a place that would remove the meat and seafood for you, but you would probably still have to pay the same price. They don't do that normally though.

If you still want that Meat feeling when you eat, there is a company that sells vege-meat. All soy bean based products. I love their stuff. It is a little expensive, but worth it, in my opinion. I love their vege-hotdogs, and gluten meat. The company is called Saniku Foods. They have sister companies in the US named Worthington Foods, Loma Linda Foods, and Ceder Lake foods, to name a few.

Good luck!

Answer 4

There are: yu-doufu (tofu pot au feu), oshitashi (boiled veges with dashi-source), yasai-tempura, agedashi-dofu (deep fried tofu), yuba-sashimi (soy protein), kappa-maki (cucumber sushi roll), and many more.

But if you are strict vegetarian, it is tough to find out a perfect one because of dashi (broth/stock), which is a fundamental seasoning for Japanese cooking. Dashi is basically made of konbu and katsuobushi (dried fillet of tuna) , so it's a kind of fish extract. If dashi is OK for you, this site will explain more.

http://www.vegietokyo.com/