Vegan Japanese food is both easy to make at home and find while dining out.
One could make the argument that the changing seasons are far more influential on Japanese cuisine than anything else. Japanese food follows the four seasons. As the seasons change, so do Japanese meals to reflect those changes. High quality seasonal vegetables, fruits, and other plant foods picked at their peak are key elements of Japanese cuisine.
That being said, Japan is an island nation, so saying that “seafood” is a big part of Japanese culture would be a serious understatement. Japanese cuisine incorporates nearly everything possible from the sea, from fish to seaweed.
Because Japan has been primarily a pescatarian nation throughout most of its history, you might be surprised to learn that vegetarianism has also existed in Japan for almost a thousand years. Shojin Ryori, a vegetarian Japanese cuisine, was developed by strict Japanese Buddhist monks as early as the 13th century and still remains popular today. It’s the most consistently vegan Japanese food you can find at home or abroad.
Staple Japanese Foods & Dishes
Staple vegan Japanese foods include miso, tofu, noodles (ramen, udon, soba), gomacio, tamari, shoyu, mushrooms, sprouts, seasonal vegetables, wasabi, seaweed, rice, pickled ginger, umeboshi, and soy sauce.
Staple vegan Japanese dishes include tofu, edamame, cucumber salad, seaweed salad, sweet potato, veggie maki, veggie gyoza/dumplings, kuromame, and natto.
Dining Out at a Japanese Restaurant
Dining out at a Japanese restaurant is actually really easy as a vegan, if you know what to order.
What to Ask
- Is your dashi/broth made with fish/katsuobushi?
- Does your tempura batter contain egg?
- Do you fry vegetables and tofu in the same oil as fish/meat?
What to Order & How to Order It
- Veggie Maki (sushi rolls)
- Seaweed Salad
- Cucumber Salad
- Edamame
- Kuromame
- Natto
- Veggie Gyoza/Dumplings
- Ramen
- Udon/Soba
When ordering broth-based dishes such as ramen, udon, or soba, make sure the broth is vegetable-based.
Beware of miso soup, as it’s usually made with a fish-based broth. Make sure to ask your server before ordering.
When ordering veggie maki make sure to let your server know not to add egg-based sauces (such as mayo or aioli).
Contrary to popular belief, “eel sauce” isn’t made from eel (it’s made from soy sauce, sugar, and a thickening agent) and is actually vegan. It’s just called “eel sauce” because it typically goes on eel dishes. I like it on avocado maki.
It’s considered a bad omen to stick your chopsticks directly into a dish when not in use, as this is how chopsticks are positioned in a bowl of rice left on the altar for the deceased at a Japanese funeral.
Vegan Japanese Food Recipes
You’ll enjoy a lot more variety by making Japanese food at home, because you control every ingredient that goes into a dish. There are plenty of traditionally non-vegan Japanese foods that can easily be made vegan at home.
Most Japanese food cookbooks and recipe blogs have a variety of easily-veganized recipes. Just replace certain ingredients and you’ve got a vegan dish. If you’re fine with looking past the pictures of dishes containing meat and can focus on veganizing the recipes themselves, you won’t have a hard time finding loads of resources for making vegan Japanese food at home.
Below are Japanese cookbooks that are exclusively vegan:
Cookbooks
- Kansha by Elizabeth Andoh
- Japanese Cooking: Contemporary and Traditional by Miyoko Schinner