Monday, June 23, 2008

Vegan Pitfalls in Japan

Before coming to Japan, I thought that being a vegetarian here would be relatively easy. Afterall, there is a high Buddhist population and everyone always goes on about how the Japanese never traditionally ate meat or milk. I couldn't have been more wrong! Almost everything produced or consumed in this country contained fish or fish products. Even among Buddhists, "vegetarians" are expected to eat fish and most practicing Buddhists in Japan aren't vegetarians (even in this limited sense) at all.

The other day I was looking into ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) accomodation which usually includes dinner and breakfast. I was delighted to find vegetarian meal options, until I read the fine print "Vegetarian (fish)" or "Vegetarian (no fish but with fish broth)." This illustrates the extent of vegetarian options in the country at large as well.

For tips on what to eat (and yes, there are some options) see my "Introduction to Japanese Food," this post will be some warnings of surprising non-vegan products and pitfalls. The moral of the story is: READ LABELS and ASK QUESTIONS! or stick to raw fruits and veggies.

Potato Chips: Often contains katsuo or fish seasoning and if they don't, they may contain chicken (even Pringles or other western brands are not safe).

Sembe (rice crackers): I'd say there's about a 50/50 chance that even ones called "salad," "vegetable," or "plain" flavour will contain katsuo or other fish seasonings.

Dashi (soup stock): Make your own or go without. All soup in Japan contains fish.

Salad Dressing: Again, almost always contains katsuo or eggs. I've had the best luck with sesame ones but I usually just use some balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper.

Kimchee: Very popular in Japan. I'm not sure what traditional Korean kimchee might contain but I have never seen any in Japan without fish products.

Cup noodles, instant curry, TV dinners: Except for some boxed curries that are imported (and come in English boxes), I have never seen one that's vegan.

Tsukemono (pickled vegetables): Often contains katsuo.

Gum: Although Western gum is almost always safe, Japanese gum almost always contains gelatin!

Candy: Hard candy is fine (of course) but gummies here always contain gelatin (not pectin).

Soy milk: Usually includes cow's milk as well. I have no idea why, but of course these products are not being made with vegetarians (or vegans) in mind. They also don't usually have added calcium. There are a few with nothing but soybeans and water--usually the cheaper ones too, although not so tasty. Western syle soy milks are available at health food or foreign import stores.

Bread: Sold in tiny loaves and almost always contains milk products. Check the bakeries for vegan bread--they usually have convenient little signs that mark a circle or an x by the kanji for milk, eggs, wheat, soy, etc. (circles mean contains).

Introduction to Vegan Japanese Food

Being vegan in Japan is very difficult. In fact, you will probably be told countless times that it is impossible; it is not. It requires some planning ahead, some adjustment to your usual daily menu, and some (ok a lot of) cooking. In general, you will probably find yourself cooking almost every meal. Your mortal enemy will be a little thing called katsuo (translated as bonito flakes, though I'm not sure why because as a native English speaker the term "bonito flake" means nothing to me.) It's easy to be a so-called "vegetarian who eats fish" but fish is in almost everything produced or consumed in this country.

For on the run options, here's what's probably available at your local grocery store or conbini:

Inari Zushi: Deep fried tofu pockets seasoned with sugar and soy sauce and filled with seasoned white rice. Be aware that these sometimes contain things other than plain white rice. Usually these things are just vegetable (as in the gomoku variety) or sesame seeds, but occassionally they may contain fish or fish products.

Onigiri: Rice triangles filled with something and covered in nori. There are two "somethings" that are ok for vegans: konbu (seaweed) and ume (sour plum--also called "Japanese apricot"). I have never seen an onigiri of these two flavours that was not vegan. The konbu one usually has a green or light green label and will say konbu in hiragana (こんぶ). The ume one's label often features a picture of a little red pickled plum along with the kanji 紀州梅 or just 梅. Sour plum is, well, sour and a lot of foreigners find they don't like this right away but try it anyway. It's my favourite onigiri.

Veg Sushi Rolls: Many varieties of vegetable sushi rolls are available. I like kanpyo the best (brown strips of marinated gourd--be careful there is a popular fish variety that is also brown and looks very similar. I always have to double check and make sure I know what I'm getting) but cucumber (kyuri), carrot (ninjin), daikon, and natto are also available.

Yasai Tempura: Delicious battered and deep-fried vegetables. Sometimes homemade tempura batter contains eggs but the variety sold (usually serve-yourself style) at most grocery stores tends to be vegan. Ask to be sure. Tempura is best when eaten with a bit of macha salt. Satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato) and kabocha (pumpkin) varieties are my favourite!

Natto: Fermented soy beans. This stuff is sticky, foul smelling, and gross. Most foreigners don't like it but give it a try, you might be one of the rare ones who can stomach it and come back for seconds. Natto is apparently very healthy and stand alone is vegan. Watch out when it's served as it can be mixed with fish seasoning.

If you're checking out a Japanese restaurant (never my choice) you can't go wrong with plain white rice or salad with no dressing. Those are about the only things you can't go wrong with. Sometimes tsukemono (pickled foods) are ok but be sure to ask about katsuo who not infrequently makes an appearance in the brine.

Anpan: This is that white bun looking thing you see in a heating rack at the cash register of the conbinis. They come filled all kinds of things and only the an one is vegan. It's a bit strange and very hot! But sometimes good, especially if you're stuck.

Now on to my favourite part of Japanese cuisine: DESSERT!
Many sweets in Japan are made from rice flour and mashed sweetened beans so there are a LOT of vegan options on this front. Some of my personal favourites include:

Daifuku: Round cakes of rice flour (mochi) filled with sweetened adzuki bean paste (anko). These come in many colours and flavours, including plain white, strawberry pink, and yomogi (or grass) green. I like the yomogi ones the best all year round but in strawberry season, my favourite treat is one of the strawberry variety with a fresh, juicy strawberry in the very center!

Andama: Hard to find, but recently these are my favourite. Brownish purple balls made of anko that are a little hard and covered with a sugar frosting.

Karinto: Deep fried black sugar cookies. About the size and shape of your finger. They also come in a white sugar variety.

Jelly Cups: Often these tiny cups filled with a jello-like dessert are made from konnyaku, not gelatin. They come in many varieties and flavours. Check the label, if you see "ゼラチン" they're not vegan!

Anko Popsicles: I see these popsicles everywhere! They come in a red box or package and show a pink popsicle with red beans in it. They look a bit milky but, yup! they're vegan! There's also a mango popsicle I've seen with bits of konnyaku in it. There are also usually some sherbets or sorbets floating about that are vegan too. Check the labels you might find a summer treat in the freezer case! I have never seen the mythical IV soy ice cream I heard about from the Vegan Ronin. For 2 years I have looked in every freezer case I have come across, but if you can find it, try it! Let me know how it is!

Dango: Dango just means mochi ball served on a skewer and these come with a few different coatings or toppings. Maybe the most common is mitarashi dango with a delicious sweet soy sauce based glaze.

Experiment and let me know what you think!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Marathon Fundraising for Peaceful Prairie

Donate on Just Give! ON JUST GIVE

WITH PAYPAL
Today I officially registered to run my first marathon! It's called the Hiroshaki Shirakami Apple Marathon and will be held in Aomori Prefecture (Japan) on October 5. To give me some extra motivation to keep up this gruelling training for the next 4 months, I have decided to use this event to raise money for a worthy charity close to my heart, Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary!

As many of you know, I have been vegan and an animal rights activist for many years. Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary provides a safe, permanent home for rescued farm animals--not accepted at most shelters. Each animal at Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary has their own sad story of abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment. At the sanctuary, they require and receive varying degrees of medical attention, social interaction, and most importantly, tender loving care. PPS also does great work in spreading the vegan message and educating about the plight of exploited animals.

My goal is to raise at least $500 for this cause. I have set up a WishList on JustGive.org to make it quick and easy for everyone to do what they can to help out! http://www.justgive.org/basket?acton=viewList&donorId=184740&listTypeId=1 Every dollar will help me reach my goal and will help Peaceful Prairie in the important work they do for animals.

If you can't or don't want to donate through JustGive, you can also donate money for PPS to my paypal account by clicking the orange button on the top of this entry!

Please show your support for me and Peaceful Prairie! Please donate anything you can today!

From me and the animals: THANK-YOU!

Kelsey

Check out more about Peaceful Prairie and the Apple Marathon at these links below:

http://www.peacefulprairie.org
http://www.applemarathon.jp

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Updating...

Sorry I've been so slack for the past few months. Now I'm trying to work on updating with more useful information but I do still have a stack of recipes that I have made (and think I remember how) to post soon. Stay with me...

Vegan Protein Shakes

I found a vegan protein shake! There's only one I can find among the wall of whey powders and it only comes in one flavour (orange) but it's something at least!

It's "SAVAS Aqua Soy Protein" and cost me about 3000 yen for 330 g. 14-21 g per shake. A 3 scoop shake (21 g) is about 67 Cal and 14 g protein in every shake. Even if you're not training for anything but want to boost your protein, it's not a bad idea!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Cruelty-Free Japan Shopping Guide

I have recently found a great Tokyo-based Animal Rights group that focuses on the issue of animal testing. Japan Anti-Vivisection Association (JAVA) has cruelty-free shopping guides available on their website as well as awareness/fund raising type stuff (t-shirts, stickers, bags, etc). Check them out at www.java-animal.org

  • Cruelty-free companies are listed with address, website, a checklist of what products they make (make-up, hair care, cleaning, etc.), and where they are usually available to buy.
  • Companies who actively promote non-animal testing are flagged
  • Companies who use only vegetarian (although not necessarily vegan) ingredients are also flagged.
  • Companies currently observing a moratorium and those who are actively testing are also listed (please write to them!)
  • Also includes a few pages explanation of the issues involved with animal testing and what you can do to stop it.



    The Cosmetic Guides are 400 yen each (plus shipping) and are really well organized and incredibly easy to use. To order your own copy, send your name, address, phone number, and how many copies you’d like to java@blue.ocn.ne.jp. You don’t pay until you receive the guide. They will send you the guide and a furikomi sheet with which to pay (at the post office or bank). My guide took 2 days to get here and cost an extra 200 yen for shipping (to Hokkaido) for a total of 600 yen. They also have lots of other original products like stickers, buttons, t-shirts, and videos. Check them out here.

    Everything is in Japanese (of course) but it’s still really easy to use if you know some katakana (which, as a good vegetarian, you have mastered by now, right?) and even without any Japanese reading ability, web addresses are universal in any language. Or spread the word about animal testing by passing it around to your Japanese co-workers and asking them to help you decipher the precise meaning!


    The usual international companies with no-animal testing policies (The Body Shop, Lush, Avon, etc.) of course hold the same policies in Japan, but there are also a number of Japanese companies whose products are usually cheaper, more readily available, and local(er). I'm currently using, and recommend, Ishizawa Laboratories all-vegetable based Orange shampoo. Available on their website: www.ishizawa-lab.co.jp. (All of their original products are vegetarian and cruelty-free!)

    Vegan Marathoning

    I’m currently training for my first marathon and have been looking for tips for vegans. Most of the forums and sites I’ve found have just been discussing the regular issues of marathon training. I’m left to think that vegan training is no different but without specialized products that cater to us or vegan meal plans, I don’t think it’s the same at all. I intend to post on here any tips or products I find that are specifically vegan and also to post any advice I find or have on what to eat as well.

    All marathon trainers recommend replenishing your body’s protein stores as soon as possible after every run to help repair muscle damage and prevent soreness and injury. Most sites I’ve seen stress that the first 15-30 minutes after a run is the optimal time for protein absorption and that, following a run, the first thing you should do is wolf down some high-protein energy bar or shake. I finally found a Vegan Protein shake (SAVAS Aqua Soy Protein--see post).

    So far I have developed the habit of eating a can of minced seitan (Saniku’s “Gluten Burger”) mixed with ½ Tbsp of ketchup and ½ Tbsp of sweet chili sauce (just for a bit of flavour) and accompanied by a glass of V8 juice (from Costco) with a tsp of spirulina mixed in (ordered from home). This power lunch seems to be doing a great job of keeping my body energized and free from pain.


    Today’s post-running meal was even simpler than the one above. I just took a block of tofu, pressed out some of the water, put it in a bowl, and added a swipe of ginger paste and about 1-2 Tbsp of ½ sodium soy sauce. It’s a delicious, high-protein, low-calorie, quick, filling, easy snack.


    One of the obstacles I have faced with vegan protein sources is that they tend to also be high in calories. I am hoping to lose weight (or at least not gain) while doing this training and so have compiled a little chart of my favourite vegan protein sources as arranged by calories per gram of protein and yen per gram of protein (I know, I’m an excel nerd, what can I say). Let me know what you think…

    Calories/gramYen/gram
    Soy Protein Shake 4.79FD Tofu 2.1
    Gluten Meat 6.23 Tofu4.1
    Gluten Burger10.12 Soybeans5.5
    FD Tofu10.14 Kidney Beans 7.5
    Tofu 10.90 Gluten Burger 8.7
    Tempeh 12.23 Mixed Beans 8.7
    Mixed Beans 12.88 Chickpeas 9.8
    Soybeans 13.33 Gluten Meat 11.2
    Kidney Beans 14.98 Tempeh 13.0
    Chickpeas 19.02 Protein Shake 13.64

    Vegan Protein in Japan

    How To Be A Healthy Vegan In Japan:

    Protein たんぱく質

    For the spoiled vegan used to meat analogs and vegan TV dinners, how do we still get all the nutrients we need with a whole food, from scratch diet? Here are a few suggestions on how to meet your daily intake goals with quick, easy, and available foods.

    *Note: totals listed in the charts below may vary depending on brands, etc. Check labels to make sure how much you’re getting.*

    The usual Daily Recommended Intake of protein is 0.8 g per kilo of body weight. http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm states that some allowances may need to be made for the differences in absorption between plant and animal proteins. To be on the safe side, vegans should consume somewhere between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

    Of course the most obvious and economical sources of protein in Japan come from soy, in its many forms. In addition to regular, run of the mill tofu, other soy products include:
    Abura age (あぶらあげdeep fried tofu pockets)
    Agedoufu (揚げ豆腐deep fried blocks of tofu)
    Koyadoufu (高野豆腐freeze dried tofu blocks about 100 yen/5 pack)
    Okara (おから the pulped skins of the soy beans left over when making tofu, VERY cheap, throw a handful into whatever you’re making, also good for baking)
    Yuba (湯葉 the hardened skin that forms on top when making soy milk, very delicate and not so cheap but can be tasty)
    and the infamous
    Natto (納豆smelly, sticky fermented soy beans that are hated by the majority of foreigners and the wise people of Osaka-fu).

    The most widely used and cheapest seeds are sesame seeds (ごま). Adding a handful to whatever you’re cooking is a great way to increase your protein intake. Make sure you grind them slightly or chew them well to release their nutrients.

    There are also some specialized products you can find at health food stores here, though not nearly as many as at home. Most health food stores sell dried unflavoured textured vegetable protein (TVP), tempeh, and gluten “meats” (seitan). Red and green lentils and some less common (in Japan) beans (like chickpeas) are also available at about four times what you’d pay back home.

    Nuts are ridiculously expensive in Japan. Almonds are great sources of protein and calcium but cost about 300 yen for 100g. Cashews and pistachios are similarly expensive. Walnuts (くるみ)are very common and, of course, peanuts are cheapest and most widely available. Foreign stores, like Costco or ethnic import stores, are the only option for affordable nuts.

    Beans are usually quite expensive in Japan. Canned beans and a few varieties of dried beans (soy) are available at Supermarkets. Legumes such as red and green lentils are also available but cost a lot. A large percentage of Japanese immigrants come from South America, especially Brazil and Peru. Depending on the area in which you live, there may be import or ethnic food stores that are an excellent, cheap sources of dried lentils and beans. If these stores aren’t available where you live, check out a Costco near you.

    My favourite way to get protein is with a few traditional bean sweets. Adzuki beans (mashed into sweet red bean paste or anko) feature heavily in this category of Japanese desserts. While the mochi variety are usually vegan, always check for eggs and milk kanji. The wafer-looking shapes (usually patterened circles or fish) filled with anko are also delicious and usually vegan.

    In the bean sweets category I have to digress a moment to include a recommendation of my absolute favourites. Those are kurodama (black sugar and edamame balls, available only in Kofu, Yamanashi), yomogi mochi or kusa mochi (green, made from a grassy weed that is very healthy), and ichigo daifuku (mochi filled with anko with one ripe strawberry in the middle, available only in strawberry season).

    Whole grains like buckwheat noodles (soba), oats (available at health food stores and Costco), and quinoa (health food stores) also contain significant levels of protein.

    Totals in the chart below are mostly taken from products I use personally; nutritional information will vary according to brand. The beans’ totals are from the brand available at Costco. Inari age is abura age that has been seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, ready for making inari sushi pockets. Nutritional information on inari age varies widely! The brand listed here is the cheapest available in my city…

    Protein/100g
    Freeze-dried tofu 51.8
    Lentils 28.0
    Peanuts 26.2
    sesame seeds 22.5
    Almonds 21.3
    Pistachios 21.2
    Tempeh 18.8
    Saniku gluten meat 17.5
    Saniku gluten burger 16.9
    Oats 16.8
    Soba 15.8
    Cashews 15.3
    Walnuts 15.2
    Soybeans 14.7
    Edamame 13.0
    inari age 12.5
    Miso 11.8
    Mixed beans 9.2
    kidney beans 10.7
    Chickpeas 8.2
    Tofu 6.6
    inari age 12.5
    agedoufu
    yuba
    Okara 4.8
    natto
    Anko 13
    Anko no kimo 10

    Vegan Calcium in Japan

    How To Be A Healthy Vegan In Japan:

    Calcium カルシウム

    Current daily recommended intakes specify at least 1000 mg calcium. Too much is better than too little! Personally, I take calcium supplements everyday and recommend everyone (vegan or not) do the same. These supplements are available as widely here as at home.

    Sesame seeds are widely available and very cheap. Adding a handful to whatever you’re making is a great way to boost calcium levels.

    Dried figs are also cheap and available at most vegetable stands and supermarkets.

    Almonds are a great source of calcium but can be expensive here outside of foreign import stores.

    Edamame as well as standard and black soy beans also contain a lot of calcium but that doesn’t seem to hold true once they are processed. Tofu here is not usually packed in calcium sulfate and calcium levels are usually low (for some reason my freeze-dried tofu seems to be high in calcium).

    Unlike Western soy milk, Japanese soy milk contains minute levels of calcium, often contains milk products (so be careful!), and is not very tasty (as it doesn’t usually contain sugar or other additives). Eden Soy and Kirkland brand fortified soy milks are available at health food stores and Costco. Rice Dream is also sometimes available but is not a significant source of calcium.

    Other milk analogs like soy yogurt, soy ice cream, soy sour cream, and soy cream cheese, are not available at all. I have seen soy cheeses (and almond cheese) but these always contain casein and are thus not vegan.

    Most leafy greens like kale, collards, and Swiss chard are not available here either. Spinach seems to be the only exception.

    Calcium/100g

    sesame seeds 718
    freeze-dried tofu (5 blocks) 482
    soybeans 277
    almonds 248
    edamame 197
    garlic 181
    raw kelp 168
    raw wakame 150
    dried figs 144
    wasabi root 128
    spinach 99
    tempeh 95
    oats 54
    soy milk 4