Korean temple cuisine refers to a type of cuisine that originated in Buddhist temples of Korea. Since

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

was introduced into Korea,

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

traditions have strongly influenced

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine reflects a complex interaction of the natural envi ...

as well. During the

Silla period Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of Ko ...

(57 BC – 935 AD), ''chalbap'' (찰밥, a bowl of cooked

glutinous rice Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

) ''yakgwa'' (약과, a fried dessert) and ''

yumilgwa ''Yumil-gwa'' () is a variety of ''hangwa'', a traditional Korean confection. Different varieties of ''yumil-gwa'' can be made by combining a wheat flour dough with various ingredients such as: honey, cooking oil, cinnamon powder, nuts, gin ...

'' (a fried and puffed rice snack) were served for Buddhist altars and have been developed into types of ''

hangwa ''Hangwa'' () is a general term for traditional Korean confections. With ''tteok'' (rice cakes), ''hangwa'' forms the sweet food category in Korean cuisine. Common ingredients of ''hangwa'' include grain flour, fruits and roots, sweet ingredien ...

'', Korean traditional

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

. During the

Goryeo Dynasty Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificati ...

, '' sangchu ssam'' (wraps made with lettuce), ''

yaksik ''Yaksik'' or ''yakbap'' (literally "medicinal food" or "medicinal rice") is a sweet Korean dish made by steaming glutinous rice, and mixing with chestnuts, jujubes, and pine nuts. It is seasoned with honey or brown sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce, ...

'', and ''yakgwa'' were developed, so spread to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and other countries. Since the Joseon Dynasty, Buddhist cuisine has been established in Korea according to regions and temples. On the other hand, royal court cuisine is closely related to Korean temple cuisine. In the past, when the royal court maids called ''

sanggung was an official title of the senior 5th rank (; ), the highest attainable for ''gungnyeo'', a lady-in-waiting during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. Female officers with the title were assigned to govern the inner affairs of the palace. When a regul ...

'', who were assigned to ''Suragan'' (hangul: 수라간; hanja: 水剌間; the name of the royal kitchen), where they prepared the king's meals, became old, they had to leave the royal palace. Therefore, many of them entered Buddhist temples to become nuns. As the result, culinary techniques and recipes of the royal cuisine were integrated into Buddhist cuisine.

Dishes by region

Baek kimchi Baek-kimchi * () or white kimchi is a variety of kimchi made without the chili pepper powder commonly used for fermenting kimchi in Korean cuisine. ''Baek kimchi'' has a mild and clean flavor, which appeals to children and the elderly, to whom t ...

'' (white kimchi) to which

pine nuts Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trade ...

have been added, ''bossam kimchi'' (보쌈김치),'' and gosu kimchi'' (고수김치,

coriander Coriander (;

kimchi) are famous in Buddhist temples of

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

and

Chungcheong Province Chungcheong (''Chungcheong-do''; ) was one of the Eight Provinces (Korea), eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea. The provincial capital was located at Gongju, which had been the ...

. In

Jeolla Province Jeolla Province (, ) was one of the historical Eight Provinces of Korea during the Kingdom of Joseon in today Southwestern Korea. It consisted of the modern South Korean provinces of North Jeolla, South Jeolla and Gwangju Metropolitan City as wel ...

, ''godeulppagi kimchi'' (고들빼기김치, kimchi made with ''

Youngia sonchifolia ''Crepidiastrum'' is an Asian genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Co ...

''), ''gat kimchi'' (갓김치, kimchi made with ''

Brassica juncea ''Brassica juncea'', commonly brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard, is a species of mustard plant. Cultivar ''Brassica juncea'' cultivars can be divided into four major subgroup ...

'' var. integrifolia), and ''juksun kimchi'' (죽순김치,

bamboo shoot Bamboo shoots or bamboo sprouts are the edible shoots (new bamboo culms that come out of the ground) of many bamboo species including ''Bambusa vulgaris'' and ''Phyllostachys edulis''. They are used as vegetables in numerous Asian dishes and b ...

kimchi), all of which include ''deulkkaejuk'' (

perilla ''Perilla'' is a genus consisting of one major Asiatic crop species ''Perilla frutescens'' and a few wild species in nature belonging to the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus encompasses several distinct varieties of Asian herb, seed, and vegeta ...

congee) as an ingredient, are famous. None of these varieties of kimchi contain

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

scallion Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, ch ...

s, or ''

jeotgal ''Jeotgal'' () or ''jeot'' (), translated as salted seafood, is a category of salted preserved dishes made with seafood such as shrimps, oysters, clams, fish, and roe. Depending on the ingredients, ''jeotgal'' can range from flabby, solid piece ...

'' (salted fermented seafood), as foods in the genus ''

Allium ''Allium'' is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes hundreds of species, including the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. The generic name ''Allium'' is the Latin word for garlic,Gledhill, Davi ...

'' are generally avoided by traditional Buddhist monks and nuns of China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

Dishes by temple

Tongdosa Tongdosa (, "Salvation of the World through Mastery of Truth")Le Bas, Tom :"South Korea" pg 244, Insight Guides, 8th edition 2007 is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and in the southern part of Mt. Chiseosan near Yangsan, Sout ...

located in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province is known for its ''dureup muchim'' (두릅무침, sauteed shoots of ''

Aralia elata ''Aralia elata'', the Japanese angelica tree, Chinese angelica-tree, or Korean angelica-tree, is a woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants furthe ...

''), ''pyeogobap'' (표고밥,

shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...

rice), ''nokdu chalpyeon'' (녹두찰편, steamed ''

tteok ''Tteok'' ( ko, 떡) is a class of Korean rice cakes made with steamed flour made of various grains, including glutinous rice, glutinous or non-glutinous Japonica rice, rice. Steamed flour can also be pounded, shaped, or pan-fried to make ''tt ...

'', a rice cake made with

mung bean The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...

s) are well-known dishes as well as kimchi, ''

saengchae ''Saengchae'' is a kind of Korean salad generally consisting of uncooked mixed seasonal vegetables such as radishes and other ingredients such as chicken or jellyfish. There are many types of ''saengchae'' depending on ingredients. For example, cu ...

'' (생채, cold salad), ''twigak'' (튀각, a fried dish with without coating), and '' jeon'' (pancake) made with young shoots of ''

Toona sinensis ''Toona sinensis'', commonly called Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, Chinese toon, beef and onion plant, or red toon (; hi, डारलू, d̩āralū; ms, suren; vi, hương xuân) is a species of ''Toona'' native to eastern and southeast ...

''. The species is called ''chamjuk'', literally meaning "true bamboo" in Korean because its shoots can be eaten like bamboo shoots. However, the dishes are prefixed with either ''chanmjuk'' or "gajuk" (가죽, literally "false bamboo") according to region.

Haeinsa Haeinsa (해인사, 海印寺: Temple of the Ocean Mudra) is a head temple of the Jogye Order (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗) of Korean Seon Buddhism in Gayasan National Park (가야산, 伽倻山), South Gyeongsang Province, So ...

, located in

Hapcheon Hapcheon County (''Hapcheon-gun'') is a county in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Located in northwestern Gyeongsangnam-do, the county is surrounded by Changnyeong as well as Euiryeong to the Southeast, Geochang as well as Sancheong-gun ...

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World ...

, is not only famous for the

Tripitaka Koreana The (lit. ) or ("Eighty-Thousand ''Tripiṭaka''") is a Korean collection of the (Buddhist scriptures, and the Sanskrit word for "three baskets"), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century. It is the oldest intact vers ...

but also specialty of the temple cuisine such as ''sangchu bulttuk kimchi'' (상추불뚝김치, lettuce kimchi), ''gaji jijim'' (가지지짐, pan-fried sliced eggplant), ''gosu muchim'' (고수무침, sauteed coriander leaves), ''sandongbaekip

bugak ''Bugak'' () is a variety of vegetarian ''twigim'' (deep-fried dish) in Korean cuisine. It is made by deep frying dried vegetables or seaweed coated with ''chapssal-pul'' (; glutinous rice paste) and then drying them again. It is eaten as '' ...

'' (산동백잎부각, fried leaves of '' Lindera obtusiloba''), ''meouitang'' (머위탕 ''

Petasites japonicus ''Petasites japonicus'', also known as butterbur, giant butterbur, great butterbur and sweet-coltsfoot, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to China, Japan, Korea and Sakhalin and introduced in Europe and Nor ...

'' soup), ''songibap'' (송이밥, rice dish made with

matsutake , ''Tricholoma matsutake'', is a species of choice edible mycorrhizal mushroom that grows in East Asia, Europe, and North America. It is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinct spicy-aromatic odor. Etymology The common name and specifi ...

), ''solipcha'' (솔잎차, tea made with leaves of ''

Pinus densiflora ''Pinus densiflora'', also called the Japanese red pine, the Japanese pine, or Korean red pine, is a species of pine tree native to East Asia. Distribution and habitat ''P. densiflora'' has a home range that includes Japan, the Korean Peninsula, ...

'').

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

Cultural Research Center for Korea Traditional Temple Cuisine

at buddhaclub.co.kr

at Munhwa Ilbo {{DEFAULTSORT:Korean Temple Cuisine Vegetarian cuisine Korean cuisine ko:사찰음식

Dishes by region

Dishes by temple

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links