Buddhist devotional cuisine (shōjin ryōri), entirely vegetarian, served in Zen monasteries of the Edo period. The meal is organized not as starter-main-dessert but around the ritual ōryōki bowl: a bowl of rice, a soup (shiru), and one to three side dishes (sai) — vegetables, tofu, pickles. One eats in silence, leaving not a single grain, and rinses one's bowl with a little hot water which one drinks to waste nothing. Tea and fermented beverages punctuate the day and the welcoming of pilgrims.

Fermented soybean paste (miso) and rice seeded with kōji mold (Aspergillus oryzae) are the soul of this cuisine: they give deep umami to the daily soup, transform rice into a sweet drink, and allow vegetables to be preserved all winter. At Shōin-ji temple in Hara, frugality never meant blandness.