Vegetarian at a sushi restaurant: more than a cucumber roll

Vegetarians at sushi restaurants are used to a specific disappointment: a long menu, and one line at the bottom that says cucumber roll. It happens often enough that many people stop asking. The reality of Japanese cooking is much wider than that, and the limit is usually a menu writing problem rather than a kitchen problem.

What a full vegetarian meal can look like

• Avocado, cucumber and pickled radish rolls. The classics, and they are good when the rice is good.
• Inari: sushi rice in a pocket of sweet fried tofu. Filling and often overlooked.
• Tofu, aubergine and mushroom dishes. Grilled, fried or simmered, these are main courses rather than side notes.
• Vegetable tempura. Sweet potato, green bean, pumpkin.
• Edamame, seaweed salad and pickles. The supporting cast that turns three items into a meal.

Where fish hides

This is the part that catches people out, and it is worth knowing whatever restaurant you are in.

• Miso soup is usually made with dashi, a stock built on dried fish flakes. It looks like the safest thing on the menu and often is not.
• Dashi also turns up in simmered vegetables, dipping sauces and noodle broths.
• Bonito flakes, the fine shavings that move on top of warm dishes, are dried fish.
• Some soy and ponzu sauces contain fish extract.
• Surimi, the crab stick in many rolls, is fish paste.

Vegan is a further step

Beyond fish, watch for egg, honey glazes and mayonnaise based sauces, which are extremely common in modern rolls. A roll described as spicy almost always means a mayonnaise sauce.

How to ask so you get a useful answer

Rather than asking whether something is vegetarian, ask whether it contains dashi, bonito or fish sauce. It is a precise question, kitchen staff can answer it quickly, and it avoids the awkward situation where everyone means well and the soup still arrives with fish stock in it.