Shojin cuisine in Koyasan, Japan

I once read a book called "Shojin Cuisine at Kamakura Kenchoji Temple", and suddenly I wanted to experience the real Shojin Cuisine in a Japanese temple. So, together with my best friend, we headed straight to Mount Koya in Japan.

Mount Koya is known as Japan’s Buddhist resort. It is said that 1,200 years ago, Kobo Daishi Kukai, the founder of Japan's Shingon Sect, opened a mountain and built a temple here, almost preserving and passing down the original flavor of Tantric Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty. Today, Mount Koya, a world heritage site, is densely covered with more than 100 temples and a Buddhist university. Mount Koya has become a holy place for people around the world to study Eastern Tantric Buddhism. It is said that its religious status is equivalent to that of Lhasa in my country.

Koyasan has 52 "shukubo", which are accommodation facilities operated by temples. Each temple building well demonstrates Japanese philosophy and aesthetics. Here, you can not only get a glimpse into the lifestyle of Shingon monks, but also participate in it.

We chose to stay at Huiguangyuan this time.

The main entrance of Huiguangyuan

Huiguangyuan is located in a thousand-year-old temple. It has gardens, libraries, Buddhist halls and meditation rooms, etc. You can stay here for the night. Not only can you taste Shojin cuisine in Japanese temples, but you can also copy scriptures and participate in Buddhist morning gatherings, fire festivals, meditation and other activities.

What is Shojin ryori?

Before I went to Japan, I did some research on Shojin cuisine.

Japan’s Shojin-ryori is a Buddhist vegetarian cuisine made entirely from seasonal vegetables, fruits and wild vegetables. If we look for the origin of this cuisine, we can trace it back to the "foreign revolution" in the food industry in the late Kamakura shogunate period (13th and 14th centuries AD). During this "revolution", vegetarian dishes from the Song Dynasty officially appeared on the Japanese dining table with the introduction of the Soto School of Zen Buddhism, and became a well-known Shojin cuisine in Japan.

This kind of cuisine is based on Buddhist precepts and avoids killing animals and does not use irritating ingredients. All animal ingredients and the five meats (garlic, green onions, buckwheat, leeks, onions) are not used in Shojin ryori. Different from the monotonous and stereotyped impression of vegetarian food, exquisiteness and beauty are synonymous with Shojin cuisine.

To experience Shojin-ryori, of course, is not just to simply satisfy your appetite, but also to pay attention to the five dharma, five colors, five flavors and five concepts.

The number "five" comes from the Chinese philosophical concept of "five elements" and reflects the cycle and balance required by nature and society.

Shojin ryori food mainly uses five cooking methods: raw, boiled, grilled, fried, and steamed;

The five colors refer to the colors of green, yellow, Red, white, and black;

Put food in your mouth and you can taste the five flavors of sweet, pungent, sour, salty, and bitter, which represent the various tastes of life;

The five concepts are Reflect on your actions while eating, look at your mistakes, and be grateful for your food. If you have been to Japan, you must have heard the word itadakimasu before eating, or even a simple snack. Put your hands together and bow your head slightly. This sentence is usually translated as "I humbly accept", which means Acceptance and gratitude for food.

What is the difference between Shojin ryori and other vegetarian cuisine?

As with other vegetarian dishes, imitation meat dishes are a common method used by many vegetarian restaurants to attract customers. For example, the common vegetarian steaks made with tofu and mushrooms, sweet and sour vegetarian pork ribs made with lotus roots and potatoes, etc. Shojin ryori is different. It does not over-process the ingredients or over-season them, and the cooking techniques are kept as gentle as possible to ensure that the appearance and taste are natural and simple, so that diners can savor the elegance and elegance of the food. Encourage diners to have a reverence for nature and explore the joy of food itself.

Shojin cuisine is very particular about "ten" in ingredients, which is what the Chinese call "eating from time to time". Savoring the changes of the four seasons in your cuisine is one of the special features of Shojin ryori. When making dishes, the monks only use seasonal vegetables and fruits to show their respect for nature.

Shojin cuisine emphasizes making the best use of raw materials and never wastes them. Eggplant stems, for example, are usually considered inedible and discarded, but monks cut them into small pieces and put them into soups as a garnish. Of course, they are edible.

In addition to the commonly used five flavors of sweet, pungent, sour, salty, and bitter, Shojin cuisine has a sixth flavor, which is the subtle original flavor of the food itself.

Encouraging vegetarianism has never been the meaning of Shojin Ryori’s existence. It is fundamental to arouse people’s love for food and nature through cooking.

First experience of temple Shojin cuisine

In the evening when we arrived at Mount Koya, it snowed heavily. In a short period of time, the entire temple was covered in silver, adding another atmosphere to our Shojin Ryori experience. We had our first meal of Shojin cuisine in the Japanese-style room we stayed in.

Dinner at Ekoin Shojin Ryori

Ekoin offers a wide range of Shojin ryori dishes, including pickles, boiled dishes, tempura, soup and fruits, among which Koyasan local ingredients are used. The sesame tofu is the most famous. The change in food taste is reflected by cooking methods, and retaining the original taste is the first priority.

The portions of each dish are not large, just matching the moderately sized container.

The quantity is small and you should cherish the delicious food. This is the spirit of Zen Buddhism.

I asked the monks who served us meals if they had such rich meals on weekdays. He smiled and shook his head. Their daily diet was just one meal, one soup and one dish. Moreover, they must recite sutras before eating, and are not allowed to laugh, chat, or even make chewing sounds during the meal.

The monk who served us the meal introduced each dish to us. As we tasted each dish, we could actually feel the ups and downs of our taste. The portion doesn't seem like much, but it's very satisfying.

Vegetable tempura. The deep-fried food, paired with matcha powder and fine salt, doesn't feel greasy at all.

Although both are soy products, the taste of fried tofu with kelp and the light Koyasan tofu are very different. What must be mentioned is the denseness of Koyasan tofu, which is really amazing.

The steaming hot pot goes very well with the snowy night

The main dish of today’s dinner is a tofu soup pot made with tofu, seasonal vegetables and mushrooms, which retains the true nature of the food very well. The taste is fresh but not bland. There are a few pickled side dishes interspersed in it, which is very refreshing.

Koyasan’s famous sesame tofu

Legend has it that when Koyasan was opened and temples were gradually built, due to the high altitude, cold weather, and inconvenient transportation, the ingredients were mainly grown by monks. At the same time, due to the strict requirements of Zen Buddhism on dietary standards, the available ingredients are relatively scarce. The monks make full use of the available ingredients, season them through various means, and create endless combinations with limited ingredients. Among them, sesame tofu is one of them. Outstanding.

The dinner ended with a piece of sweet apple.

As a tourist, alcohol consumption is allowed during meals. But we chose traditional oolong tea as a drink with the meal.

After dinner, a monk will come to collect the bowls and chopsticks. In the snowy night outside the window, we quietly copied a Heart Sutra, and felt a long-lost peace and tranquility in our hearts.

After morning classes and visiting the fire festival, at about 7 o'clock, we returned to the room and started enjoying today's breakfast.

The breakfast includes salad, miso soup, white rice, seaweed, pickles, pickles, boiled vegetables, fruits, etc. My favorite is the monks’ homemade fried tofu balls.

Kapok tofu comes with carrots, lotus roots, fungus, etc. The excess ingredients used in the dish are not discarded. They are chopped and mixed into the tofu, wrapped, fried and cooked thoroughly. Nothing is wasted, which is one of the essences of Shojin ryori.

In the next few days, we tried Shojin cuisine in other temples and restaurants in Koyasan. The dishes were different, but the essence of Shojin cuisine was surprisingly the same. Eating meat and drinking to your heart's content are certainly pleasures in the world, but there is something special about calming one's mind and feeling the connection between man and nature in Shojin cuisine.

Food is good medicine, and eating is spiritual practice. We rely on food, but rarely consider our relationship with food. We never think about the hard work of the cultivators behind the food, and we rarely feel grateful to nature. In fact, we can also integrate the profound Zen spirit of Shojin Ryori into our lives. This does not require people to strictly follow the rules of the temple to cook and eat, but to encourage people to try to cherish the ingredients and care for nature. Eat, enjoy the original flavor of food, and feel the connection between man and nature.

If possible, you might as well try to stick to this way of eating and chew slowly. In each meal every day, you will have the most precious things in life.