Korean temple cuisine facts for kids
| Korean temple cuisine | |
Korean temple cuisine at Sanchon, a restaurant located in Insadong, Seoul.
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Quick facts for kids Korean name |
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| Hangul |
사찰음식
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| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | sachal eumsik |
| McCune–Reischauer | sach'al ŭmsik |
Korean temple cuisine is a special kind of food that started in Buddhist temples across Korea. When Buddhism came to Korea a long time ago, it really changed how people cooked.
During the Silla kingdom (from 57 BC to 935 AD), special dishes like chalbap (a bowl of sticky glutinous rice), yakgwa (a sweet fried cookie), and yumilgwa (a puffed rice snack) were made for Buddhist ceremonies. These foods later became types of hangwa, which are traditional Korean sweets.
Later, during the Goryeo Dynasty, foods like sangchu ssam (lettuce wraps), yaksik (a sweet rice dessert), and yakgwa became popular. These dishes even spread to China and other countries! By the time of the Joseon Dynasty, temple food had become a well-known part of Korean cooking, with different styles in various regions and temples.
Interestingly, Korean temple cuisine is also connected to food made for the king and queen. In the past, older royal maids called sanggung, who worked in the royal kitchen (called Suragan), would often leave the palace and become nuns in temples. They brought their cooking skills and recipes from the palace with them. This is how many royal cooking techniques became part of temple cuisine!
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Special Dishes by Region
Different parts of Korea have their own unique temple dishes. For example, in the Gyeonggi and Chungcheong Province areas, you might find Baek kimchi (white kimchi) with pine nuts, bossam kimchi (a wrapped kimchi), and gosu kimchi (kimchi made with coriander).
In Jeolla Province, famous temple kimchis include godeulppagi kimchi (made with a plant called Youngia sonchifolia), gat kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi), and juksun kimchi (bamboo shoot kimchi). These often include deulkkaejuk (a porridge made from perilla seeds).
A key rule for all these temple foods is that they do not use garlic, scallions, or jeotgal (salted fermented seafood). This is because traditional Buddhist monks and nuns in Korea, China, Vietnam, and Japan avoid plants from the Allium family (like garlic and onions) and animal products.
Dishes from Famous Temples
Some temples are especially known for their delicious food.
Tongdosa Temple's Specialties
Tongdosa temple, located in Yangsan, is famous for several dishes. These include dureup muchim (sauteed shoots of a plant called Aralia elata), pyeogobap (shiitake mushroom rice), and nokdu chalpyeon (a steamed rice cake made with mung beans). They also make tasty kimchi, saengchae (cold salads), twigak (fried dishes without a coating), and jeon (pancakes). Many of these are made with young shoots of the Toona sinensis tree. This tree is sometimes called chamjuk (meaning "true bamboo") because its shoots can be eaten like bamboo.
Haeinsa Temple's Delights
Haeinsa temple, in Hapcheon, is well-known for its amazing collection of Buddhist scriptures called the Tripitaka Koreana. But it's also famous for its unique temple cuisine! Some of their special dishes are sangchu bulttuk kimchi (a type of lettuce kimchi), gaji jijim (pan-fried sliced eggplant), gosu muchim (sauteed coriander leaves), and sandongbaekip bugak (fried leaves of a plant called Lindera obtusiloba). You might also find meouitang (a soup made from Petasites japonicus), songibap (rice with matsutake mushrooms), and solipcha (tea made from Pinus densiflora pine needles).
ko:사찰음식
