When it comes to vegetarian food it doesn't get much better than 2 000 years of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
Duc Son Pagoda and orphanage, near Hue in Central Vietnam, is a place of worship and home to 200 orphaned children. It is also home to 15 Buddhist nuns.
Vegetarian food
The Buddhist nuns at Duc Son Pagoda are, of course, vegetarian. Every day in the pagoda's vegetarian kitchen they cook wonderful tasty dishes made from locally grown produce and in the orphanage garden. They invite visitors to join them and enjoy their food. It is a special part of the Duc Son experience!
Minh Tam Restaurant
Mha Su Thich Nu Minh Tu, the head nun at Duc Son Pagoda, has set up a vegetarian restaurant, Minh Tam Restaurant near the pagoda. This is another fund raising project for the orphanage. The restaurant serves a wide range of delicious vegetarian food cooked according to the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
While sitting in the restaurant you are surrounded by plants that form a foliage veil along the outside walls. Statues of the lord Buddha and other Buddhist icons adorn the interior of the restaurant. Experiencing the ambiance alone is worth the visit!
At the restaurant there are also handcrafted wooden Buddhist icons and gnarled wooden furniture and hand woven traditional tea warmers, all created by orphanage residents. These items are for sale at the restaurant and the proceeds again go the orphanage.
The name Minh Tam implies peace and serenity. As they say "you will leave the restaurant with a serene smile on your face!" And it's true!
Vegetarian cooking
A hearty tasty vegetarian hot pot
Learn to cook genuine Buddhist-influenced vegetarian food with experts.
The nuns at Duc Son Pagoda, led as always by the indefatigable Minh Tu, teach individual students to cook traditional Vietnamese vegetarian dishes in the special vegetarian kitchen at the pagoda over wood-burning ovens.
Nuns preparing lunch in the vegetarian kitchen.
This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to learn not only how to cook a range of traditional vegetarian dishes but also experience Buddhism up close and personal. Course members also learn meditation and relaxation techniques. People who have been on this course speak of coming away with a unique insight into vegetarian cooking and a feeling of calm rejuvenation.
Vegetarian Buddhism
Not all Buddhists are vegetarians. The Theravada tradition states that eating meat is acceptable as long as the animal was not killed for the sole purpose of feeding the religious community. But within the Mahayana school there is a strong injunction against eating any kind of animal flesh.
In its strictest sense, Mahayana vegetarian food also avoids killing plants, such as root vegetables. Ingredients include beans, grains, leaves, stems and flowers which do not kill the plant are used. Strong smelling plants such as garlic are also avoided. In reality it is only on special occasions that these strict rules are observed.
In practice almost all Buddhists who follow the Mahayana tradition observe meat-free days on special occasions such as Buddha's birthday. Religious communities generally follow a wholly vegetarian diet. The nuns of the Duc Son Pagoda, for example are strict vegetarians and have a separate kitchen where they prepare and cook their food. They do however tolerate meat eating and children in the Duc Son orphanage and many of the volunteer helpers regularly cook meat and fish in their kitchen.