Ven. Seonjae is the first Korean Temple Food Master certified by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

Having entered the monastic community at age 25, she has worked hard for over 40 years to make temple food accessible and enjoyable to the public. For three years until 2021, she served as chairman of the board of directors for the Korean Food Promotion Institute, and promoted the excellence of Korean food widely, beyond the boundary of temple food, her area of expertise.

“What we eat produces reactions in our body and mind. When sick people come to me, I first ask them to write down what they enjoy eating in daily life. Most of them eat meat or meat products, processed foods and carbonated drinks, and men usually include alcoholic beverages too. Salty, spicy and sweet foods usually dominate. When I show them my simple analysis, they feel embarrassed. It is not simply a matter of which foods are good or bad. What is revealed is that their food choices are driven by desire and laziness. Our food choices reveal how we live. What we eat today determines what we are tomorrow. If one feels heavy and low in energy, I recommend keeping a food journal.”

What Ven. Seonjae loves to eat every day is rice and kimchi. In addition, she picks veggies from her neighborhood in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and makes side dishes from them. She picks cockscomb to make water kimchi; picks arrowroot shoots which grow profusely in the mountain foothills to make kimchi, and arrowroot flowers to make tea. Red perilla leaves are preserved with salt to use as syrup.

Braised green chili pepper

Chili peppers are full of vitamins and minerals. In fall their nutritional value is enriched, and they are regarded as a good ingredient to eat to recover from the fatigue one has accumulated during the hot summer. When you braise them with soy sauce and grain syrup, the dish tastes so good that you will want more.

Ingredients

- 200 g green chili peppers

- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil

- 2 tbsp soy sauce (ganjang)

- 2 tbsp grain syrup

Instructions

1. Wash green chilies and halve them lengthwise. If too long, halve them crosswise too.

2. Oil a pan with grapeseed oil, add peppers and stir-fry.

3. When peppers are cooked, add soy sauce and grain syrup. Stir-fry further so that the seasonings are absorbed.

Provided by Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism

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Temple food is food of the ascetics who express gratitude for all forms of life and wish for peace for the whole world. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism operates the Korean Temple Food Center where guests can learn and experience temple food. -- Ed.