Ikigai Recipes & Food

A part of the Ikigai concept is a healthy lifestyle. Doing exercise and eating healthy food.

The diet of the older islanders on Okinawa in Japan (where Ikigai comes from) excludes dairy and meat and eggs are served in limited quantities. The Okinawa dietis mainly vegetable-based. Each person consumes an average of 1 kg of plants per day, consisting of many different varieties in different colours.
These centenarians usually eat a traditional diet of rice, miso soup, pickles, boiled or seasoned vegetables, fish, and soybean-based foods like tofu or natto.  The islanders do not bake and cook with butter, but with rapeseed and olive oil. But with only ingredients, the diet is not yet complete.
 
Japanese centenarians eat local, meaning they source food such as vegetables from their local districts or in many cases their own vegetable patches.

It’s Not Only About The Food

The Ikigai Diet is not just about the food Japanese eat, but also the customs they practice when eating. Japanese respect food deeply, and express gratitude before and after every meal. They are also very mindful of waste. It would be a rare sight to see a rice grain go uneaten.

Perhaps the most important rule of life is ‘Hara hachi bu’, which roughly translates as ‘fill the stomach to 80 per cent’. It is an ancient wisdom that tells you not to stuff yourself to the limit. The locals stop eating when they have filled 80 per cent of their stomach. It is like leaving room for dessert, only to not eat it.

Below, we share our favourite recipes with you. Enjoy!