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This site is operated by Wakyo Co., Ltd 2740-4 Akatsuchi Cho,Hitachi Ota City, Ibaraki Ken,JAPAN 319-0102		 Vegans' Club for Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes Preparing for vegetarian cooking
If you are thinking of reviewing your diet and embarking seriously on vegetarian cooking, you should first start with kitchen preparations – cooking equipment and food materials!

Among the food materials used in vegetarian cuisine there are some unusual things that you probably won't be able to find in your local supermarket. Many of the ingredients used are not generally well known and you may feel at first that it is an awful job to get all these things together, but once you get your kitchen preparations done, you'll find it easy and fun to continue on from there.

Kitchen preparations-equipment
cutting board
kitchen scissors
kitchen knives
rice scoop, rubber spatula, whisk, turner
rolling pin
cooking chopsticks
measuring cup, measuring spoon
steamer
frying pan
casserole pots (SML)
Bowls (SML), Bamboo baskets (SML)
Conserving jars and empty bottles and jars ? handy for storing grains and beans!
Mixer, food processor, etc.
Mortar and pestle
Oven

* You should have the frying pan and casserole pots and so on close by in a handy place, and I recommend you keep the bamboo baskets (zaru) and bowls handy by the sink.

* You should have the cooking chopsticks (saibashi), spatula (hera) and rice scoop (shamoji) handy by the cooker.

* You should also put various grains and beans, spices, herbs and so on in conserving jars (or empty bottles and jars) and have them arranged on a shelf so that they are handy for when you want to use them.
Kitchen preparations-ingredient
Unrefined grains
Unpolished rice (genmai), whole grain flour, buckwheat (soba), Minor grains: foxtail millet, barnyard grass, tall millet, adlay (adlai, hatomugi), oats, amaranth
Vegetarians who eat genmai as their staple food should, on principle, try to choose pesticide-free rice. If you really must eat white (polished) rice, then mix in some minor grains or eat half-polished rice (gobutsukimai), which leaves the germ intact.
Fresh seasonable vegetables
Fresh seasonable vegetables
Let's try to eat seasonable vegetables that have been grown using organic fertilizers and in soil where the microbes do their work, and not with the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Vegetables grown by the "natural farming" method are the best, aren't they?
Beans and dried foods
Beans, fu, freeze-dried tofu, sliced and dried daikon (Japanese radish)
Beans are a valuable protein source for vegetarians, so let's try to eat good quality beans. Dried foods are preserved foods that have a high nutritional value. If you can get natural sun-dried foods, you can make dishes that taste of the sun.
Seaweed
Wakame (brown seaweed, Undaria pinnatifida), hijiki (a kind of brown seaweed, Sargassum fusiforme), green laver, kelp, etc.
There are many different kinds of seaweeds used for food in Japan and other countries, both fresh and dried. Let's try to avoid those that have had chemical flavourings added to them (the labels usually say "amino acids" and so on).
Fungi and wild mountain vegetables
Fungi and wild mountain vegetables
There are many kinds of fungi used as food, both fresh and dried. We should eat these often as they are very good for improving immunity. Wild mountain vegetables help to discharge the toxins that build up in the body over the winter, so it's a good idea to eat these once a year and feel the detox effect they give.
Fresh seasonable fruits
Fresh seasonable fruits Fruits are a treasure chest of vitamin C. Let's try to avoid tropical fruits and those grown with pesticides, and eat fresh local fruit.
Seeds and nuts
Sesame, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, chestnuts, etc. Please try to choose good quality organic nuts, as imported nuts may well have had disinfectants (fumigants), insecticides, fungicides and so on used on them.
Dried fruits
Dates, raisins, apricots, goji berry (Lycium chinense, kukonomi), etc. Although not very well known in Japan, dried fruits are full of natural sweetness as well as being high in fibre content and having a high nutritional value. Perfect for snacks and confectionery.
Flavourings and seasonings
Miso, soy sauce, oils, vinegar, salt, (sweet) maple syrup, rice candy (komeame) We're all putting a little of these into our bodies every day, so your body condition will depend to some extent on the flavourings and seasonings you are eating. Vegetarian cuisine places a high priority on the use of (having present in your kitchen) good quality flavourings and seasonings.
Herbs and spices
Pepper, Japanese basil (shiso), Japanese ginger (myouga), ginger, Japanese green horseradish paste (wasabi), chili peppers, basil, rosemary, etc. The judicial use of herbs and spices with medicinal properties expands the merit of vegetarian cuisine. However, they may have quite strong effects on the body, so it is important to use only small amounts, e.g. as hidden flavours.
Pickled vegetables
Dried plums (umeboshi), pickled daikon (takuan), nukazuke (a type of Japanese pickle, made by fermenting vegetables in rice bran [nuka]), etc. Pickled vegetables (tsukemono) are the ultimate raw food (namashoku). Rich in calcium and iron and vitamins and edible fibre, vegetables are made into a delicious food through the work of enzymes. Especially nukazuke should be eaten regularly for the intestinal health and cancer suppression from the many beneficial bacteria that are taken into the intestines with this food.
Beverages
Grain coffee, soy milk, rice dream, apple juice, tangerine juice, bancha (a low grade of Japanese green tea), genmai coffee, etc. Good quality natural water, soy milk or rice milk instead of cow's milk, grain coffee (which warms the body rather than cooling it like coffee), 100% fruit juices rather than drinks containing lots of sugar and glucose, Japanese teas, herb teas, and so on are recommended as beverages.
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