Shojin

Basic Brown Rice Gomashio-Roasted Sesame Seeds and Sea Salt Lemony Cucumber-Dill Pressed Salad

Shojin
333 S. Alameda St., Ste. 310
(Little Tokyo Shopping Center, 3F)
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213-617-0305
www.theshojin.com

Hours
Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 12 noon to 10 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 12 noon to 11 p.m.
Monday and Tuesday: Closed

If you're looking for heavenly food in the City of Angels, head to downtown L.A.'s Shojin. Featuring a modern décor, a cozy atmosphere, and exceptional eats, Shojin is by far the best vegan restaurant in Little Tokyo.

The restaurant specializes in the ancient art of shojin—a Buddhist vegetarian-style of cooking that's all about using healthy, humane ingredients. Incorporating the natural flavors of organic vegetables imbued with "the power of the Earth," all of Shojin's delectable dishes are good for your body—from your taste buds to your toes!

Featuring a unique and diverse line of mouthwatering macrobiotic meals, Shojin does wonders with "wheat meat." Also known as seitan, this wheat gluten-based meat substitute is a staple in Japanese macrobiotic cooking. Mastering seitan so that it has the taste and texture of chicken, pork, or beef, Shojin has developed a Crispy Seitan Cutlet, Barbecued Seitan, and Garden Seitan Balls. Included in its popular Daily Bento Boxes, each seitan entrée comes with one of three traditional vegetable dishes and a side of brown rice.

One of Shojin's many other equally irresistible entrées is the green tea soba noodles in a light tomato sauce with juicy eggplant, tofu, and arugula. And it's easy to see why the Green Tea "Moss" Cake is the restaurant's best seller. Layered with green tea cake and "cream," this superb dessert is made all the sweeter with sweetened azuki beans and powder on top.

Basic Brown Rice
2 cups organic brown rice, soaked for 8 hours or overnight and drained
3 cups water
2 pinches sea salt

• Put the rice and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the sea salt, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 45 to 50 minutes.
• Turn off the heat, remove from the stove, and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using a wet wooden spatula, gently mix the rice and serve.

Gomashio-Roasted Sesame Seeds and Sea Salt
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1 cup organic sesame seeds, washed and drained

• In a pan, roast the sea salt until slightly gray. Place in a suribachi* (Japanese ceramic bowl for grinding) and grind with a surikogi* (Japanese wooden tool used with a suribachi) to a fine powder.
• Roast the sesame seeds until they pop and become easy to break with your fingers.
• Put the sesame seeds in the suribachi with the powdered sea salt and grind until 80 percent of the seeds are broken down.

*Note: Suribachi and surikogi are usually available at Japanese markets.

Lemony Cucumber-Dill Pressed Salad
3 organic Japanese cucumbers or 1 Persian cucumber, partially peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
5 red radishes, sliced
Green tops of red radishes, chopped
1 Tbsp. dill
Ume vinegar or sea salt
1 tsp. lemon juice

• Put the cucumbers, radishes, radish tops, and dill in a bowl. Add the ume vinegar or sea salt and the lemon juice and mix well with both hands (use just enough ume vinegar or sea salt for the vegetables to become shiny—the ume vinegar/sea salt will draw water out of the vegetables).
• Cover with a dish smaller than the bowl and place a stone or some other weight on top of the dish to press. Leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Squeeze the excess water from the vegetables and serve. If they are too salty, rinse with water before serving.

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