Com Chay

Com chay is rooted in Vietnam's Mahayana Buddhist vegetarian tradition, an chay, in which followers eat meat-free either on fixed lunar days (commonly the first and fifteenth) or permanently. The custom and its temple cooking are well documented; central Vietnam's Hue, the former Nguyen-dynasty capital and a major Buddhist center, is especially associated with an elaborate, refined chay cuisine that historically catered to monks and to a devout court. The plate has no single inventor or date — it is the standing form of vegetarian rice eating that grew up around pagoda kitchens and the vegetarian eateries that cluster near them, and which today appears nationwide wherever Vietnamese eat chay.

A working plate, not a delicate one: warm rice carrying the sauces that pool from the surrounding dishes, a soft braised-tofu corner, a tangle of garlicky greens with bite, a savory chew of mock meat that mimics the fiber of pork or chicken, the slippery give of mushrooms, and a sharp pickled edge to cut the richness. Each forkful is a different combination depending on which pile it crosses. The clear broth between bites resets the palate. The whole reads savory and home-cooked rather than spiced or showy.

The challenge of a satisfying chay plate is supplying the savory weight and chew that meat normally provides, without it. Vietnamese vegetarian kitchens do this three ways: mushrooms and a vegetarian seasoning sauce or soy build glutamate-driven umami in place of fish sauce; mock meats made from seitan (wheat gluten) or pressed soy give the dense, fibrous mouthfeel of meat; and a deliberate spread of textures and a sharp pickle keep a meat-free plate from tasting flat. Because the plate is composed of separately cooked dishes, balance across the plate — one braise, one stir-fry, one pickle, one broth — matters more than any single recipe.