Camping in Japan is the perfect weekend trip: it’s socially distant, in the middle of nature, and a way to relax away from the hustle and bustle of the city. There really is nothing quite like plopping down your tent next to a gorgeous lake amongst towering, luscious green mountains. There are many campsites within just a few hour’s drive (or train) of Tokyo! Recently I headed out into the wilderness to Lake Motosuko. While the weather was not the greatest (imagine your tent being blown over while torrential downpour was occurring), I had an absolutely wonderful time. Not only was it so great to be outside, but the food we prepared was also a highlight! I documented most of the meals we ate, and I’m here to share my not only convenient but downright tasty vegan dishes you can make….even while camping!
Breakfast
Using a campfire stove, I prepared two easy and delicious breakfasts. One of the things I made was tofu scramble. It’s cheap, easy, and super filling. Simply drain a block of extra firm tofu, add in lots of Tumeric, salt, garlic and pepper, and voila! Black salt is also the secret ingredient that makes it taste like eggs, but I didn’t bring it along. We also fried up some rosemary potatoes, mushrooms, and veggie meatballs (from Ikea). I brought along a baguette and cut that up to have with my tofu scramble. Along with a random assortment of veggies and fruit, we had quite the spread!
Lunch
During my camping trip, the meal we made for lunch was probably my favorite. We made such a variety of dishes, there was something for everyone to enjoy. We started off with grilling veggie hot dogs from Ikea. These seriously won everyone over, even the meat-eaters! They have great texture and flavor. We just cut up some baguette, threw the lil dogs on the grill, and added pickles, mustard, and ketchup.
Then there was the yakisoba & skewers. The yakisoba we made using bulldog Tonkatsu sauce (surprisingly vegan!), chopped carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, onions, and some noodles. We fried that using the frying pan and it was another quick, easy dish that tasted great. Along with that we chopped up some leek, daikon, peppers, pumpkin, and corn and threw them on the grill. Toss them with olive oil and garlic salt and you’ll get lovely crispiness. Also, we had a genius among us. He threw garlic cloves in aluminum foil on the grill and let that just sit for a while. If you’ve never had roasted garlic, it will change your LIFE!!
There were also various sides such as a salad with olives, chickpeas, and tomatoes. All in all, lunch was huge and safe to say it kept us full and satisfied for a while.
Dinner
For dinner, we brought out the Japanese camping favorite meal: Japanese curry. Basically we made two huge pots of curry, one traditional and one our new creation. It was super simple and everyone loved them. We also made a huge pot of white rice to go with the curry.
For the traditional curry, I cut up onions, potatoes, and carrots and threw them in a pot to cook for a little. Then we added enough water to cover them, waited until it boiled, turned off the heat, and threw in a bunch of curry roux cubes from Daiso. That’s right-DAISO HAS VEGAN CURRY ROUX. For only ¥100, it’s hard to beat. Once the curry roux had dissolved into the water, the heat was turned back on. When you do this, let it boil as long as you like until you get the thickness you want. Our curry was super thick, and I was really impressed! For the other curry, we did the exact same thing but with different veggies: eggplant, pepper, mushrooms, and loads of garlic. Both the curries were a fan favorite, and again it’s such an easy meal to make.
I sadly did not get a picture of the curry, because it got eaten before I remembered to take a picture!
I also really would recommend this location: Lake Motosuko. It’s a little further than Kawaguchiko, but there are many campsites on the lake. There is even a chance you will see Japan’s own version of the friendly loch ness monster: Mossy! We stayed at both Kouan and Motosuko Lakeside camping.
Overall all the meals were delicious and I was pleasantly surprised by how flavorful everything was. I am definitely going to have some more camping excursions in the near future, so stay tuned for vegan goes into the woods part II.
What’s your favorite vegan meal to make while camping? Have you ever camped in Japan? Let us know in the comments! Happy eating! Xoxo Jackie
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