At the monastery table, the meal is not a break but a part of practice. One eats from the nested ōryōki bowls (“just enough”), in silence, wasting nothing. The morning meal revolves around rice porridge and soup; a more refined dish honors guests or special days; fermented pickles and rice beverages accompany the year. Everything is vegetarian (no flesh, in accordance with the precept of non-violence), frugal, and prepared with total attention, because for Dōgen cooking IS the Way.

Without meat or fish, umami comes from kombu seaweed and dried shiitake mushroom, which are soaked and then simmered. This clear broth is the invisible foundation of almost everything: it proves that one can nourish the body deeply without killing any being.