#vegan in japan
Soy milk (豆乳, tounyuu) is widely available at convenience stores and supermarkets in Japan, however not every brand is also vegan. Cafés often don’t have soy milk, unfortunately, unless it’s a chain like Tully’s or Starbucks.
Here is a comprehensive guide on what soy milk to look out for and what to avoid!
Miso Ramen made with this vegan soup stock and noodles. Toppings are tofu, moyashi, cabbage, shiitake, nori and spring onions.
Vegan cheese made from coconut oil and soy milk, from Aeon’s topvalu brand. I used it for Mac and cheese and really liked it!
A recent find at family mart. Cocoa & dates bar. It’s good, but the actual bar is only half as big as the package. Is that allowed?
Aeon Mall seems to have stocked up on their meat alternatives! They now sell various soy meat curries and sauces, as well as the vegan instant noodles you can also find at Natural Lawson. They also had the soy meat from my previous post as well as the Kagome Vegan Curry I bought online a while ago.
Found this soy meat at my local grocery store! This is “minced type” (ミンチタイプ) but they also sold block and filet types. It has a vegan label!
Glico sells this vegan pudding on almond and soy basis. Make sure it says 植物生まれのプッチンブリン to not confuse it with the non-vegan version!
veggino - You Choose How Plant-based You Want To Be
Check out this bilingual website about being vegan in Japan, with lots of recipes and advice!
a snack you can sometimes buy at shrines or festivals are roasted chestnuts. so good!
This post has been in my drafts since 2019 can’t wait to go to festivals again…Post link
Recently bought this 5 pack of vegan bean curry from Kagome and I really like it!
simple fried rice with leftover veggies (cabbage, shiitake), tofu and frozen peas. added soy sauce, mirin, sake, kombu dashi, szechuan pepper mix.
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In rural Japan you can often see fruit and other local produce being sold at the roadside. It’s one of the things I find so charming about the inaka. Here mikan and yuzu are being sold for 100 Yen a bag, you put the coin into the red box.
Japanese Sweet Potato Fries
I love sweet potatoes, and this year started making fries myself for the first time. it’s super easy! recipe under the cut.
ingredients:
- one medium sized satsuma imo
- canola oil
for the sauce:
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- ½ tbsp canola oil
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- ¼ maple syrup
- juice of 1 sudachi or half a lime
instructions:
cut off the ends of the sweet potato, the cut the sweet potato into sticks. transfer them to a bowl and coat them in a bit of canola oil. line them up in your oven toaster (if you’re in japan and don’t have a real oven) and bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven toaster. for the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. please note that the amounts are approximate, i usually just wing it. if you want, you can sprinkle welsh onion or salt on top of the sweet potato fries.
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What’s your favorite Japanese tea?
Japan is infamous for its vending machines and convenience stores and the varietes of tea they offer. The above pictures are from Uji (near Kyoto) which is famous for its green tea and had a whole vending machine dedicated to local tea.
Sencha (煎茶): classic green tea, not only very popular in Japan but also worldwide
Bancha (番茶): a type of green tea that is plucked later in the season. it has many varieties.
Genmaicha (玄米茶): green tea with roasted brown rice. often also contains matcha. one of my favorites and very popular in Japan, but I don’t think popular anywhere else.
Matcha (抹茶): powdered green tea. Very popular in Japan and overseas, used in the tea ceremony. Also popular as Matcha Latte and used in various types of sweets and cookies.
Hōjicha (ほうじ茶): charcoal-roasted green tea, which makes the leaves brown. has less caffeine than regular green tea. is also very popular as Hojicha Latte that can even be found at Starbucks in Japan.
Jasmin Tea (ジャスミン茶): green or white tea scented with the aroma of jasmine blossoms. Popular mostly as a cold beverage in Japan.
Oolong Tea (ウーロン茶): a Chinese tea that is oxidized in the production. You can find this a lot at izayakas in Japan as a non-alcoholic, cold refreshment.
Mugicha (麦茶): barley tea, in Japan popular as a cold beverage in the hot summer because it contains many minerals.
Which type of tea is your favorite? I’ve recently become obsessed with hojicha, especially as hojicha latte with soy milk. Let me know what your favorite tea is or which ones you’d like to try!
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rice noodles with tofu and bok choy
rice noodles are not a typical part of japanese cuisine, but you can easily find them at an import store or the supermarket. i like to either prepare them as a salad or a warm meal. recipe under the cut.
ingredients:
- rice noodles
- fried tofu
- bok choy (or broccoli)
- moyashi (bean sprouts)
- onion
- garlic
- soy sauce, sesame oil, coconut milk, szechuan pepper mix, sesame (to taste)
instructions:
prepare rice noodles and let them cool down. in a pan heat sesame oil, add onions and garlic. add fried tofu, bok choi and moyashi. if making the warm meal, add coconut milk. if making the salad, you can leave it out. add soy sauce and spices. add rice noodles. if eating warm, serve and sprinkle with sesame seeds. if making the salad, let it cool down and put it into the fridge for a while before serving. it also tastes good with lime or sudachi juice sprinkled on top.
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roasted green tea soy latte biscuit
from natural lawson, can also be found at some regular lawson stores (where i get it from because i do not live in the kanto area).
for more info on vegan food and snacks at natural lawson, check out isitveganjapan
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I recently found this quinoa & bean spicy curry at my supermarket, the package says “no animal ingredients” and the ingredients list doesn’t list any, either!
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vegan curry
left: vegan japanese-style curry, makes six servings
right: vegan soy meat spinach curry from kagome
both bought at aeon
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after two years of working here, I am leaving Japan this month. Cleaning out my apartment and my fridge, I’ve been eating lots of leftovers. Here’s fried rice made with leftover brown rice and tofu, goya, carrots and moyashi (and yes, leftover sudachi). Veggies prepared with sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, sake and roasted sesame on top.
Pasco Choujuku Focaccia
It lists dairy as an ingredient, however according to isitveganjapan this is only an allergy warning for cross-contaminationand the product does not contain dairy.
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Vegan coconuts milk curry with chickpeas and maitake mushrooms, takeout from Miroku spice in Tokushima
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Soba Salad
cucumbers, fried tofu, carrot, bok choy, topped with spring onions and chili pepper mix. dressing made from sesame oil, canola oil, soy sauce, and maple syrup.
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the other day I bought locally produced ‘moromi miso’ for the first time. I used it for my miso soup, as well as for dengaku nasu (eggplant marinated with sweetened miso). I really like it!
o’bash crust is a bakery in Tokushima that has vegan cookies, as well as bagels and some other vegan and vegetarian options.
Japanese style pasta
If you’ve been to Japan you have probably seen the wildest adaptions of western food, and pasta is no difference. You can find a lot of Japanese style pasta at restaurants, though the dishes are rarely vegan. My own version is pasta with shiitake and sometimes other mushrooms (such as champignons, enoki, matsutake etc), leek, spinach or komatsuna. Prepared with konbu dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake and topped with shichimi togarashi, it has a nice umami flavor that goes well with pasta!
