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We booked a lunch date with Enso Kitchen on Sunday. The place wasn’t very hard to find but probably a poster or some more prominent signage at the entrance would be better. It would not only create publicity but might bring in more bookings? (They only do pre-orders.) The restaurant is a typical Japanese one. It isn’t Enso Kitchen’s but they use it on Sundays to serve Shojin Ryori lunches and dinners.
Right, let’s talk about food. And before we start, my Japanese friend taught me to say… Itadakimasu! (I gratefully receive!) First, we were served with a refreshing cup of hot green tea. Next is a small appetiser tofu made from ground sesame, soy beans and mineral water. On top of it was a small pinch of wasabi and radish mixed together. The tofu was placed on soya sauce on the small plate. Sorry, but it looked too tempting that we forgot to snap a picture of it before tucking in. Oh, and it’s supposedly good for digestion. And the chef actually ground the sesame and soy personally. (The chef recommended taking some sips of miso to warm the stomach before tucking in.)
Following is a full course ‘platter’ with…
1. Sweet sushi rice with seaweed, carrots, beancurd, sweet beans
2. Gingkos, lotus roots, carrots, lily bulbs, water chestnuts and burdock
3. Radish with sour plum sauce
4. Miso soup with winter melon cubes and white sesame
5. Salty fried beancurd filled with tofu and bits of water chestnuts, decorated with a slice of carrot and two stalks of green vegetables. (It’s very delicious.)
6. Turnip cut halfway with red string, which is used with chopsticks to slice it into quarters
7. Cold dessert with lychees, red dates and rock sugar.
And it cost S$45 for each person with 10% GST and service charge. So, the lunch cost us $99. :bandit:
The chef of Enso Kitchen told us he changes menu every month. Next change will be on the 8th of March. He creates three different sets for each season. Yes, Shojin Ryori by Enso Kitchen, which is really vegan fare, serves seasonal vegetables (flown in from Japan), which are believed to be more nutritious in the corresponding season. Which means there are 12 different sets of Shojin Ryori for each year! What we featured here is probably the second winter set meal. It’s light yet filling. It’s definitely different from any Chinese vegetarian food out there. I feel healthy just by looking at it!
And after a hearty meal… Gochisosama (deshita)! (Thank you for the meal!) 😀
Info on how to book: http://www.ensokitchen.com/event.htm
Hi penpal, if you were a long-time meat eater and are only just switch to vegetarian diet, you might experience a “toxin-cleansing” period, whereby your body will try to expel out as much toxin (mucus, phlegm or even diarrhoea) as possible. There no fixed period as to how long the body takes to do that, I guess it all depends on how much “trash” one’s body had inside. But one thing for sure, whenever one gets better from the sickness, one will tend feel much better and lighter… well, that’s provided one don’t feed the body with trash again. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean one need not have to see doctor when one falls sick (unless you know non-doctor means to cure yourself). Do consult the doctor when sick but make sure one eats healthily and rest well too.
That is great :), just for 1 day or 2, how about the other 364 days in a year? Can anything be done?
The animals can’t speak and this is good information and benefits others too … 😮
I am not saying this is who and who problems/faults or who and who should take care! I just voicing out what I felt about certain things … maybe something already been done in the pipeline …
1st misconception
Afraid that advocating for Veg*nism will ‘scare away’ potential Buddhists … The thing here is that beside Buddhism, there are many other religions that advocate Vegetarianism and is doing not bad … it is just that general public is not aware of …
Why other religions are not afraid of ‘chasing away’ people?
Why are they so successful?
(Out of Buddhism, the masses should know that Veg*ism should not associated with ONLY Buddhism! )
2nd misconception
When advocating Vegetarianism in Buddhism, they might have the feeling of ‘forcing’ Buddhist to become one. There might be a need to clarify this, it is just presenting the truth and also to speak up for animals without voice, the final decision is still on other.
I do hope that more can go veg*n, if not go Semi-Veg*n but I respect other’s choice …
3rd misconception
Vegetarianism diet is not healthy, I guess firstly what the masses need is a simple guideline on how to eat HEALTY VEGTARNIAM diet? (Bilingual)
The reason is very simple, people might be able to see the points or maybe out of courtesy agreed to the benefits of Veg*nism, but technically they don’t know how to do it or want to do it.
Lately, we can find a little bit of such info in media by Dietitians or Sin Seh but still many other don’t know …
Some Buddhist Parents can go Veg*n themselves, but when come to their kids, they don’t ‘allow’ and not even a semi-veg*n … What does this indicated?
4th misconception
Veg*n diet is bland and boring. Yes, it might be true in the past for traditional veg*n food, but now it is very different but not much awareness on this portion to debunk the myths.
The mindset of human!
I am just speculating! This is something complex, maybe those who act in this way not even aware of it. For e.g, I maybe able to understand the reason of going Vegetarianism in Buddhism, but deep inside me (I might not ‘want to’), so I just go veg*n lor and indirectly let it fails, then I have a very good excuse for myself, I had tried but my body does not allow … and never try again …
Of course, they are many many sincere ones who did try but maybe without proper information or not eating a healthy veg*n diet that lead to failure and be discouraged! This is so sad, because they might think they don’t have enough good karma but in reality this is not? What a waste.
What types of support are there for these issues?
We see lots of energies are channel making mock stuff to help people converting to a Veg*n diet! But not much energy is channel to help other eat right or to see the beauty or fall in love with plant based diet …in building a compassionate heart and lifestyle …
Hmm…. who can help? :straight:
Be it bringing awareness of vegetarianism or spreading of Dharma, I don’t know, I find that there is a Big Gap in-between …I hope I am wrong …
Let’s take promoting vegetarianism … I can stand there talking and talking about everything about vegetarianism… but do others need to feel the same, do they need to buy my ideas or be in the same flow as me?
Out of courtesy, if they see my ‘hardwork’, they might be kind, or just lip services agreed with my ideas but deep inside are a different story …
Me on one side, other on the other end – in between a BIG gap, both ends move parallel and therefore will not meet and nothing much is achieved.
Is there a need to close the gap? Depend on what is the real purpose. Is there anything wrong? Maybe not.
Spreading Dharma
Was at one of the Dharma talks few years back. We had a monk on stage talking about something on ‘needs and wants’ I think, gave an example “look at me, I don’t need so many clothes …’
Down on the floor, someone in front of me immediately turned and talked to the other person, then ‘The shopping mall will have to be closed down lor! (no business)â€
Anything wrong here? Both were not wrong in their saying! But both can’t see each other points yet! Both go back happily but had anything changed? I don’t know.
If that person dares to put forward that remark, maybe the monk would be able to address it and make sure the correct message get through.
There is a GAP, how to close it? Is the person wrong for not putting the question across? Or must the monk lower down to understand what is happening on the below?
Is the answer – 知己知彼, 百战百胜? I don’t know …
hi, atomant & guanzhao,
I frequently get sore throat/flu/fever every other month especially last year, am anaemic and also have some bout of gastric problems.
shian, u taking usana’s essentials? is it good?
Re: ‘That is great :), just for 1 day or 2, how about the other 364 days in a year? Can anything be done. The animals can’t speak and this is good information and benefits others too…’
Reply: For the other days, on my part, I’m a regular advocate of veganism in the classes and talks I give :-]
Re: ‘Why other religions are not afraid of ‘chasing away’ people? Why are they so successful?’
Reply: I think Buddhists are quite successful too – in spreading veg*sm.
Re: ‘I guess firstly what the masses need is a simple guideline on how to eat HEALTY VEGTARNIAM diet? (Bilingual)’
Reply: I work with VSS to during Vesak to make bilingual nutrition flyers available to about 30,000 visitors (though not all will take them). The feedback for the exhibition in the temple has always been good.
Re: ‘here is a GAP, how to close it? Is the person wrong for not putting the question across?’
Reply: We can help close it by answering if we can. If not, refer the person to someone who can. The key is always education via communication via as many means as needed, Maybe you can get the person’s email to reply to later?
Re: ‘shian, u taking usana’s essentials? is it good?’
Reply: I only started recently – and irregularly! But 2 vege friends take it and say it improved their health. ^_^
Shian, we can see that you are regular advocate of veganism, that why I dare to put comments on your blog. Guess, this world really need more people like you … 🙂
In fact, the ‘GAP’ I am talking about, isn’t a particular person … you know … it is general … and it can’t be solved by emailing … sometime email to some organizations landed up in the trash bin or even blocked … 🙁
Hi penpal
I am not a doctor or expert in this area, maybe others can help out.
It looks like you might be missing Zinc in your diet (I don’t know what you eat for veg diet), maybe you can look into this area.
Zinc plays an extremely important role in maintaining a healthy immune system. If you are deficient in this mineral, you are much more likely to catch a cold and keep it for longer. And fall sick easily. Stress is another thingy that can lead to a drop in infection-fighting white blood cells and increase the risk of getting sick.
Zinc come shellfish, meat, eggs, cheeses, wholegrain products, nut etc You can find out what veg*n food that contain zinc 🙂 Sesame? Pumpkin seed?
(I got the above info from – The Doctors Book of Food Remedies)
IRON seems not enough too! The body does not absorb iron quite as easily as from non-meat sources, but you can enhance absorption by combining them with Vit C rich food like orange juice and dark green vegetables. But you have gastric problems, so acidic stuff like Vit C from citrus fruits might be some problem … am I right?
Forget about Tea/Coffee after each meal, it hinders Iron absorption.
IRON sources: nori seaweed, lentils, eggs, kidney beans, watercress, kale, dried apricots, figs, prunes, pulse, kelp, parsley, amaranth, beetroot, dried lily flower, red dates …. Etc
Read this quick guide on A vegetarian’s Guide to Eating Right by HPB
http://www.hpb.gov.sg/foodforhealth/article.aspx?id=424
Maybe, when I get the time I scan some of the newspaper articles on Veg diet and put in my blog …
In other part of the world, questions like how to eat a healthy veg*n diet, am I lacking iron or protein, I am just a teenager, is going vegetarian ok for my body etc are very commonly asked. But it does not seem like the case in Singapore … but penpal asked 🙂