Add this one to your travel itinerary next time you visit Japan. It is called “Shojin” a vegetable diet for temple monks that was first established by Kencho-ji Temple in Kamakura.
Backstory:
Kamakura city used to be the ancient capital of Japan centuries ago and was deeply rooted in spiritual practice, thanks to China. For centuries Chinese zen monks had been establishing the spiritual teachings of Enlightenment for hundreds perhaps thousands of years in Japan. Many temples in Kamakura has its founding by a Chinese zen monk who established the teachings of the ancients by founding training centers for monks. Japanese traveled from all over Japan to learn the teaching of ancient spirituality. In order to become a monk, you have to eat properly in order to have a sound mind and body, and this is the origin of the “shojin” diet.
What is it?
The dish is called Ken-chin soup and it is made from sesame oil and soup stock. From there you added buckwheat noodles, and broken tofu - torn tofu. Centuries ago, a monk was carrying a tray full of tofu and slipped and fell breaking all the tofu in pieces. Well, as a monk, you can’t waste food, so you had to use the broken tofu in the soup, and this is why all tofu is broken in pieces in Ken-chin soup.
This is absolutely delicious!
Now, you can experience one of the oldest and authentic soup cuisines in the world in Kamakura.
Recommendations:
First, I recommend visiting Kencho-ji Temple first. Walking around a lot works up an appetite then heading over to a shop called Kamakura go Yama right across the street from this temple. Just show them the picture. Enjoy!