Before I came to Japan I had no idea what vegetarian foods I'd be able to find. As it turns out, I probably eat more variety here than I did back in the States (where I often relied upon pasta and cheese-based foods....mmmm, cheese).
I thought that a few of the vegetarians out there might be curious to see some of my dinner options, so expect a few of them to be featured every now and then.
Tonight we just ran to the supermarket and picked up some premade foods.
Futomaki (太巻き) is a large sushi roll, which generally has vegetarian fillings. In this case, my local supermarket puts egg, ginger, cucumber, and kampyo (a kind of sweetened squash). Just as a note, egg that is prepared for sushi can sometimes have a fish-based broth in it. If you're really cautious about your vegetarianism, you might want to ask your supermarket if there's a fish-based "dashi" (broth) in the egg in the sushi. At my supermarket, the large sushi roll (8 pieces) is ¥298 (about $3) -- go after the dinnering hour and get it for discount prices.
Harusame Sarada (春雨 サラダ）literally means "Spring Rain Salad", but is referring to Chinese vermicelli noodles, made from a potato starch. Japan has lots of delicious veggie-based side dishes, which make for an awesome vegetarian dinner. The salad was ¥160 (about $1.60). You only see half of the salad in my photo, 'cause I live with someone else.
Mmmm, all in all, a very satisfying dinner. Not bad for under ¥500!
