Vegan Japanese Recipes (simple ideas and good books)

Air-fryer teriyaki tofu (Full of Plants)

Learning to cook your own food is empowering, as you no longer have to rely on expensive plastic-wrapped ready-meals and takeaways. Master your favourite cuisines at home. Then every night is restaurant night!

Japanese food is very unique, and delicious if you enjoy salty and spicy flavours. It does need a few specialty ingredients, but once bought, you’ll be in taste heaven!

Don’t eat cooked rice after 24 hours. 

Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).

For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch tops closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.

The vegan Japanese grocery shop

• Tofu is popular (organic Tofoo is made in Yorkshire!)
• Rice is the base of most meals. Biona sells organic rice (including sushi rice) in plastic-free packaging.
• Miso is a digestion-friendly condiment with real umami flavours used in many recipes (unpasteurised versions should be avoided for pregnancy/nursing or weak immunity/children). 
• Matcha is a green tea that’s high in antioxidants. It’s also used in recipes (and works as a natural green food dye).
• Soy sauce is used in recipes, as is tamari (check versions are fish-free).
• Shiitake mushrooms are easy to find (rehydrated in water)
• Wasabi is made from horseradish (and very hot!)
• Seaweed is also popular (avoid for thyroid/iodine issues).

Never harvest seaweed yourself, it must be done by experts who ‘give it a haircut’ to avoid removing the roots. Keep dogs away from seaweed as fronds can swell in the stomach as they dry. Read more on keeping dogs safe by the seaside.

Easy Vegan Sushi

Easy Vegan Sushi (The Veg Space) offers four varieties, using rice, rice vinegar, ginger and nori sheets. Then just assemble with veggie fillings (cucumber, broccoli, carrots, peppers).

Moving Mountains sell fishless fillets, which you can use to make vegan sushi (mix with cucumber, pepper, spring onion and vegan mayo, then layer with cooked rice).

15-minute vegan Ramen

This vegan Ramen (Full of Plants) is loaded with Japanese tastes of shallots, ginger and miso. And ready in just 15 minutes!

Tofu Katsu Curry

This katsu curry (Cupful of Kale) combines panko-breaded tofu with a creamy carrot curry sauce.

Good Japanese plant-based recipe books

Vegan Japan is a book of street foods, vegetable sides and adorable bite-sized desserts, along with warming soups and slurp-able noodles.

Japanese French chef Julia grew up devouring all the above, so when she went vegan, was sure she would not give up her childhood favourites. And in this book, shows that Japanese food does not have to be complicated.

Recipes include:

• Kabocha Stew
• Miso Butter Ramen
• Yakisoba
• Onigiri
• Napolitan
• Japanese Potato Salad
• Karaage
• Maguro Don
• Ponzu Sauce
• Mentsuyu
• Japanese Mayonnaise

Author Julia Boucachard grew up between Tokyo and France. She earned degrees in biology and environment, then became a self-taught cook and opened a Paris restaurant, where she shares plant-based recipes, inspired by her childhood foods.

Vegan JapanEasy offers authentic recipes to cook at home including:

• Vegetable tempura
• Onigiri
• Mushroom gyoza
• Fried tofu in dashi
• Cauliflower katsu curry
• French onion ramen
• Soy sauce butterscotch brownies

Japan (a unique country like no other)

Japan is a unique country, likely most of us has never visited. You may consider Japan as home of lovely buildings, macaque monkeys (who like to throw snowballs in hot springs), but what else do we know about this most unusual of countries?

In fact, it’s home to some of the healthiest people on earth, who regularly live to over 100 with no ill health until end-of-life. Japan is mostly islands, with only a few urban areas, one of which is Tokyo. But all cities are better at protecting the planet than here, with hardly any litter (like Switzerland).

Animal welfare in Japan is a hot topic right now, after a horse died during a 680-year old Shinto festival. The charity has a long history, beginning after World War II when the founders began to raise money to help emaciated and dying dogs and horses.