The first time I went to South Korea was in August 2022. It was my first time outside of Europe and I was very excited about what I would experience in a country that was so far away and so different from my own. Knowledge about Korean culture is widespread and Korean food, pop culture, media, lifestyle and history enjoy a high popularity. One of the first things being emphasized about South Korea is the cuisine. Bibimbap, Korean BBQ, gimbap, tteokbeokki, kimchi, stews, pancakes – the pictures on the internet display a variety of delicious food choices, often in vivid colours. I had read a lot about Korean food, eaten it several times and was looking forward to this new culinary experience. There was just a minor issue. I am vegan. 

Whenever I spoke about “Korean food” and “vegan” in the same sentence, people who had been to Korea and experienced Korean food there usually raised their eyebrows in skepticism. In South Korea, meat is everywhere and in pretty much everything. The number of vegetarians and vegans in South Korea is on the rise (see Statista, number of people who follow a vegan diet from 2008 to 2021), however, having less common eating habits, whether by choice or necessity, can be challenging (especially when a language barrier exists). So, even before I boarded the plane, I knew how to say, “I am vegan”, “I don't eat this or that” and “Can you please leave this or that out” in Korean. However, a few of the books, articles and documentaries I had consumed before embarking on my adventure eastward, mentioned a fascinating and less-known cultural heritage: The Korean temple kitchen.

The origin of Korean temple food lies in the Goryeo dynasty (919-1392), a period in which Buddhism was accepted as the state religion and eating meat was prohibited. Temples developed techniques to prepare vegetarian dishes and preservation methods, like the process of fermentation and seasoning of vegetables required to prepare Kimchi (Moon 2008). In Korea, the word for temple food is Sachal eumsik, a term that today is associated with vegetarianism, health benefits and improved well-being in Korean society (Choi 2023). Over the last decades, the Korean diet has drastically changed towards more meat and ultra-processed foods. Korean temple food has gained increasing attention since the 1990s (ibid). Even though temple food has existed for centuries, it is spreading in popularity and is a rather recent phenomenon due to rising concerns for public health. Scholarly, the consumption of food has not received as much attention, which is explained by scholars of food studies as“[…] due, in part, to the dualistic and hierarchical tradition in Western philosophy that prioritizes the mind over the body and rationality over materiality“ (Choi 2023). This circumstance has been changing now with rising interest and popularity. 

Korean temple food is strictly vegetarian, but its sense of vegetarianism differs from a secular understanding. From a secular perspective diet is often understood as an individual endeavour and identity while temple food embodies a spirit of coexistence and sharing (Choi 2023). Secondly, temple food emphasizes natural flavours from flowers, roots or leaves and prohibits alcohol. There are five ingredients, which are banned from the cuisine: garlic, scallions, chives, wild rocambole and dropwort are considered to have negative impacts on the body and meditation. The preparation of temple food involves both spiritual and technical skills, entangled with a deep notion of respect for all sentient beings and combines the material and the spiritual (Choi 2023).

The ingredients are harvested and processed seasonally and many of them are preserved, using traditional preservation methods such as fermentation, pickling or drying (Choi 2023). Upon visiting a temple site, one might find piles of clayware, the so-called onggi, used to keep fermenting or pickling ingredients inside. Some sauces, pastes and Kimchi in the onggis have fermented for several decades. It’s a true treasure in terms of the art of tastes and culinary skill, passed on from mothers, mother-in-laws or mentor nuns to younger generations. 

This example highlights the importance of time and patience in the cuisine as the cooking process does not happen at a fast pace and the fermentation of the ingredients requires a lot of time to witness the transformation. When I lived in Korea and walked through the streets, one could see stacks of onggi in the yards of some houses and restaurants. 

A simple definition of temple food can be found in “the food that Buddhists seek on their journey to enlightenment”. It aims to serve its consumers’ physical and mental health and create a harmonious and ethical living between humans and nature (Choi 2023). Preparing it is a part of the enlightenment of the cook and serves as a form of meditation. Additionally, it functions as a symbol of connection, not only between humans and nature but also between humans. The nun Jeong Kwan, who appeared in “Chef's Table,” once walked with New York Times food critic Jeff Gordinier in nature and told him to stop and listen. After a while, she spoke the word “orchestra” in English and continued walking. Gordinier interpreted this word in the sense that nature is an orchestra, with individual parts harmonizing and collaborating, which creates what humans are and the food they consume (Choi 2023). 

The protagonists of the spread of Korean temple food are Buddhist nuns. They appear increasingly in national and international media and publish cookbooks. A few examples are the Netflix show “Chef´s Table”, “A Diary of a Nun´s Abundant Kitchen” or “The Asian Plant-Forward Kitchen: Korea” from the Culinary Institute of America in cooperation with the company Pulmuone. 

One must know that cooking in temples is by no means a solely feminine task. It is practised by monks and nuns equally in their respective monasteries. However, of the 20 estimated experts on Korean temple food, only one is a monk and experts on temple food who appear visible in the media, are almost exclusively women (Choi 2023). This circumstance is surprising for various reasons. The patterns and rituals of the institutions of Buddhism in South Korea reproduce gender inequality, especially when looking at administrative bodies and education. Many nuns were hesitant before stepping into the (public) role of temple food experts. Ironically, even though it was the gendered divisions that ascribed domestic duties like cooking to women, they “have also utilized those ideals as a vehicle for taking up a public role on the global stage, challenging and appropriating the very boundaries of gendered domains, whether intended or not” (Choi 2023). Whilst nuns dealt with hierarchical and gender-biased structures within the monasteries to take on their role as temple food experts, monks also faced social challenges on their part. Due to the patriarchal Korean society, cooking was still broadly associated with being a feminine task and most likely contributed to significantly fewer monks being temple food chefs (Choi 2023).

Korean temple food embodies values of patience, coexistence with nature and humans, as well as thoughtful consideration of a healthy body. In today´s time, with an increasing consumption of highly processed food that is prepared - or not even - very quickly, Korean temple food forms a contrast of a slow and conscious culinary nourishment for body and mind. In many restaurants in Korea, it is very typical to eat after the Korean motto of balli balli – quickly quickly. Stemming from my experience, Koreans are rather fast eaters and the eating process is done quickly, leaving a feeling of haste and fleetingness in the atmosphere of most Korean restaurants. In those moments where I got to have temple food – I got to enjoy it. The atmosphere in the restaurants that serve temple food is slower and conveys a notion of peace and awareness, which was very enjoyable, just as much as the food. The restaurants I visited served temple food that was vegan, rather than vegetarian. There, I got to enjoy the tastes of some of my favorite Korean dishes, which are jeon (pancakes), sujebi (a hand-torn noodle soup), a tasty variety of banchan (side dishes) and dried vegetables and seaweed, as well as bamboo sprouts in an amazing (!!!) sesame sauce, which I am still craving today. One of my dear friends, Seungmin, does regular temple stays and told me that temple food is so close to the typical Korean dishes that every Korean frequently consumes, that nobody complains about them being vegan or vegetarian during their stay in a temple. She is a very determined and kind supporter of my veganism in Korea and I owe a lot of knowledge and culinary experiences to our friendship. Thanks to the spirit of temple food, the meals of Korean temple food in my memory are very warm, soothing, and full of harmony.

Choi, H. (2023). Zen Buddhist Nuns Go Global: Temple Food in South Korea. Food, Culture & Society, 26(3), 709-724.

Moon, S. (2008). Buddhist temple food in South Korea. Communicating Food in Korea, 91.