Buddhist cuisine
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2021) |
| Buddhist vegetarian cuisine | ||
|---|---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin zhāi cài | | |
| Wu | ||
| Romanization | [tsa tsɛ] | |
| Yue: Cantonese | ||
| Jyutping | zaai1coi3 | |
| Southern Min | ||
| Hokkien POJ | che-chhài | |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | sachal eumsik |
| McCune–Reischauer | sach'al ŭmsik |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Revised Hepburn | shōjin ryōri |
| Kunrei-shiki | syôzin ryôri |
| Part of a series on |
| Chinese cuisine |
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Buddhist cuisine is an
Buddhists believe that cooking is seen as a spiritual practice that produces the nourishment which the body needs to work hard and meditate.
Philosophies governing food
Vegetarianism
Most of the dishes considered to be uniquely Buddhist are vegetarian, but not all Buddhist traditions require vegetarianism of lay followers or clergy.[2] Vegetarian eating is primarily associated with the East and Southeast Asian tradition in China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea where it is commonly practiced by clergy and may be observed by laity on holidays or as a devotional practice.[3]
In the
Tibetan Buddhism has long accepted that the practical difficulties in obtaining vegetables and grains within most of Tibet make it impossible to insist upon vegetarianism; however, many leading Tibetan Buddhist teachers agree upon the great worth of practicing vegetarianism whenever and wherever possible,[6] such as Chatral Rinpoche, a lifelong advocate of vegetarianism who famously released large numbers of fish caught for food back into the ocean once a year, and who wrote about the practice of saving lives.[7]
Both
Other restrictions
In addition to the ban on
The consumption of non-vegetarian food by strict Buddhists is also subject to various restrictions. As well as the aforementioned "triply clean meat" rule followed by Theravada monks, nuns, and some lay Buddhists, many Chinese Buddhists avoid the consumption of beef, large animals, and exotic species. Some Buddhists abstain from eating offal (organ meat), known as xiàshui (下水).[citation needed]
Alcohol and other drugs are also avoided by many Buddhists because of their effects on the mind and "
Simple and natural
In theory and practice, many regional styles of cooking may be adapted to be "Buddhist" as long as the cook, with the above restrictions in mind, prepares the food, generally in simple preparations, with expert attention to its quality, wholesomeness and flavor. Often working on a tight budget, the monastery cook would have to make the most of whatever ingredients were available.
In
In preparing food, it is essential to be sincere and to respect each ingredient regardless of how coarse or fine it is. (...) A rich buttery soup is not better as such than a broth of wild herbs. In handling and preparing wild herbs, do so as you would the ingredients for a rich feast, wholeheartedly, sincerely, clearly. When you serve the monastic assembly, they and you should taste only the flavour of the Ocean of Reality, the Ocean of unobscured Awake Awareness, not whether or not the soup is creamy or made only of wild herbs. In nourishing the seeds of living in the Way, rich food and wild grass are not separate.[8]
Ingredients
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Following its dominant status in most parts of East Asia where Buddhism is most practiced,
Buddhist vegetarian chefs have become extremely creative in imitating meat using prepared
Some of these Buddhist vegetarian chefs are in the many monasteries and temples which serve allium-free and mock-meat (also known as 'meat analogues') dishes to the monks and visitors (including non-Buddhists who often stay for a few hours or days, to Buddhists who are not monks, but staying overnight for anywhere up to weeks or months). Many Buddhist restaurants also serve vegetarian, vegan, non-alcoholic or allium-free dishes.
Some Buddhists eat vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar (lenten days), on Chinese New Year eve, and on saint and ancestral holy days. To cater to this type of customer, as well as full-time vegetarians, the menu of a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant usually shows no difference from a typical Chinese or East Asian restaurant, except that in recipes originally made to contain meat, a soy chicken substitute might be served instead.
Variations by sect or region
According to cookbooks published in English, formal monastery meals in the Zen tradition generally follow a pattern of "three bowls" in descending size. The first and largest bowl is a grain-based dish such as rice, noodles or congee; the second contains the protein dish which is often some form of stew or soup; the third and smallest bowl is a vegetable dish or a salad.[9]
See also
References
- ^ a b "TEMPLES OF THE SEASONS - Document - Gale General OneFile". go.gale.com. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ Bashram, A.L. (1982). "Journal of International Association of Buddhist Studies – Asoka and Buddhism - A Reexamination: Presidential Address Given on the Occasion of the Fourth Conference of the IABS Madison, Wisconsin, August, 1980". Heidelberger OJS-Journals (Universitäts-Bibliothek Heidelberg). pp. 131–132, 141. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
- ^ a b c "Buddhism and Vegetarianism". Urban Dharma. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ^ About.com. Archived from the originalon December 22, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ^ "What the Buddha Said About Eating Meat". Urban Dharma. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
- ^ "Vegetarianism in Tibetan Buddhism". The Official Website of Khenpo Sodargye Rinpoche. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ^ "Kyabje Chatral Sangye Dorje Rinpoche". Shabkar.org, a non-sectarian website dedicated to vegetarianism as a way of life for Buddhists of all schools. Retrieved July 11, 2021.
- ^ "Tenzo kyokun: Instructions for the Tenzo - White Wind Zen Community". Retrieved 2012-10-15.
- ISBN 978-0-395-97707-1. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
External links
