It was the 3rd and the last day of our stay in Kyoto. Our Shinkansen was in the afternoon, so we went to Hanbei for their famous shojin (Buddhist-style vegan) "Mushikui" lunch.
Hanbei has been making "fu" (wheat gluten) for over 300 years. Fu is one of the essential ingredients in shojin cuisine and has a variety of styles. There are dry fu and fresh and soft fu. Soft style is called "nama-fu" and it has a chewy texture because the wheat gluten is mixed with sweet rice flour.
Their "Mushikui" lunch course showcases the different styles of dishes made with different types of fu (mostly nama-fu). It was great to taste different flavors and textures of fu with different preparations.
Kumi-age yuba (fresh free-shape tofu skin), fried yuba, and fried dry fu.
Age-dashi nama-fu in light broth, and namafu in white miso soup.
I was so stuffed after the meal. I always loved nama-fu and enjoyed every dish, but it was just so rich and my body felt so heavy...it was almost hard to believe it was a strict vegan meal.
Before we went back to Tokyo, we stopped by at some traditional Kyoto shops including wagashi (Japanese sweet) shops (Daikoku-ya and Futaba!) and eel-stuffed omelet shop.
My carry bag was so packed with all the delicious souvenirs.
