Arts & Entertainment

Enjoy Japanese food and Asian rummage sale at the Tacoma Buddhist Temple’s Fall Bazaar

Tacoma Buddhist Temple holds annual Fall Bazaar event where people can enjoy Japanese food and culture.

The Tacoma Buddhist Temple will once again hold its annual Fall Bazaar, happening on November 12th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A special tradition, the temple will prepare Japanese style food items like beef curry, udon noodles, and more while using secret temple recipes for some dishes. 

The Reverend of the temple, Tadao Koyama, said it’s an important event that the temple looks forward to every year.  

“Members of our temple make nearly all of our food from scratch in our temple kitchen,” said Rev. Koyama. “We spend hours the day before and day-of cooking and preparing for this big event. People who have been here for several years, even decades, come by to create a delicious Japanese dish that people will love. It’s not easy and requires a lot of dedication and hard work to put on this event. Together, we are able to come up with a day that supports both the temple and Japanese culture.”  

Tacoma Buddhist Temple’s Japanese style Udon. | Photo by Rachel Meatte

The main dishes at this event are Japanese beef curry and don noodles. Japanese beef curry is similar to Indian curry but has a thicker consistency. It’s much sweeter in taste and usually uses beef or pork as its meat of choice. They tend to use curry powder with less spices and is not as spicy as many Indian curries. The thick delicious sauce is a classic Japanese favorite that is beloved by many people.  

Udon is a famous Japanese dish that is similar to ramen but has thicker chewy noodles. Ramen tends to have a rich salty flavor while udon is simpler and lighter in taste. They use a secret temple recipe for all their noodle broths that make it a delightful flavorful dish recipe.  

The event also celebrates Asian culture with its famous temple rummage sale.  

“We sell all kinds of Asian décor like, dishes, home supplies, Japanese dolls and more” said Rev. Koyama. “It’s a great way to showcase ourselves to the public show our temples culture. Tacoma has been a loyal group of people who continue to stop by and enjoy themselves at our events. Obon and Sukiyaki dinner are the biggest events we have, however, I always happen to see familiar faces at our Bazaar event which is nice. We welcome them once again and urge anyone new to stop by the temple and pick up a beef curry or Udon dish! You will not regret it!” 

Tacoma Buddhist Temple member making Japanese “Daifuku Mochi”
Tacoma Buddhist Temple member making Japanese Daifuku Mochi. | Photo by Rachel Meatte

The temple holds this event inside, where people can stop by and sit down to eat their dinner downstairs in the social hall. However, the temple will hold its annual Bazaar through take-out this year. People can order their food from the Tacoma Buddhist Temple’s website and then pick it up in person downstairs in the social hall at the temple.  

The event will be held on November 12th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. To order your meal or learn more about the Tacoma Buddhist Temple, visit their website: https://www.tacomabt.org/