Located in the mountains east of Fukui City, the town of Eiheiji is famous for Eiheiji Temple, one of the two co-head temples of the Soto Zen Buddhism sect. Here, monks from across Japan are trained in the art of Zazen, or seated meditation, which this type of Buddhism is famous for. You can even experience it for yourself. However, the temple is not the only thing the town is known for. The food in Eiheiji is also special.

Fukui as a whole, but this region, in particular, is known for its special preparation of foods. This is called “Oroshi,” where grated daikon is added in large amounts. Throughout the Prefecture, you can find foods such as Oroshi Tonkatsu (pork cutlet with daikon radish). In Eiheiji, this style is combined with buckwheat flour cultivated in Fukui to create a well-known food in Eiheji: Oroshi Soba.

Oroshi Soba and Eiheiji

According to Buddhist tenets, meat consumption is forbidden because all life is sacred. As a result, the monks do not eat meat, which has had a trickle-down effect that historically, people who lived around temples did not eat meat. A famous example is Kyoto, where the speciality foods are primarily vegetarian – sushi was uncommon due to the distance to the ocean. With so many temples, growing rice and vegetables made more sense than giving over so much of the land to grazing animals. This latter aspect is even more important in Eiheji since it is in a small mountain valley with extremely limited space. Therefore, foods like oroshi soba were and continue to be important in this area.

Today, most restaurants in the town around the temple serve soba and similar foods. Almost all of them have their own versions of oroshi soba, which are variations on the daikon radish and soba noodle theme. Due to its simplicity, it is usually one of the cheaper options on the menu.

Most kinds of soba are served with a liquid that you dip the dry soba noodles into, giving them both moisture and flavour. In contrast, for oroshi soba you pour the liquid over the noodles. They are served in a bowl rather than on a bamboo tray. After removing them from the water, the bamboo tray helps dry the noodles, which is unnecessary for oroshi soba.

Dessert: Eiheiji Daruma Pudding

While you can find this pudding in various places in the area, there is only one Daruma Pudding store, located in Eiheiji. Marketed as “the pudding even monks with the strictest training can’t resist,” Daruma Pudding is known for its cute little serving pots, which have daruma faces on them.

Made from vanilla beans and eggs, this pudding also comes in various flavours besides plain. While the plain one is available year-round, the others are seasonal, depending on what is produced locally. Here is a table of the flavours and their availability:

I had the chestnut one, which looked like this:

It was very smooth and easy to eat. I am not usually a fan of sweet things, but this pudding did not disappoint. It was more like a traditional Japanese dessert: just a hint of sweetness which hits the spot after a delicious meal. There was a definite chestnut flavour, but it was not overpowering. The flavours were extremely well-balanced. In short, I would happily go back and buy the lot! I wish I had bought at least one of each of the other flavours.

I also really liked the pot it came in. It is made of glass and made to be reused. The company’s website has ideas, suggestions for projects, and ways to reuse them.

Thanks for reading! Want to do some more exploring? Have a look at the travel map:

Interested in seeing our social media? Follow us on Instagram for travel photos and Youtube for travel videos!