FINE DINING
Vegetarian in Seoul…
V.R. DEVIKA
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Founded by a former monk, the Sanchon Korean Temple Cuisine Restaurant in Seoul not only offers a divine vegetarian spread but a rich cultural experience too.
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Photo: V.R. Devika
Taste of temple food: At the Sanchon Korean Temple Cuisine restaurant.
You get no vegetarian food in South Korea” I was warned. So the last things that went into my boxes as I packed for the trip to Seoul and Gwangju were a few packets of precooked food. The sealed packets could just be put under hot water in the bathroom sink and cut open to eat after 10 minutes.
But I was in for a pleasant surprise. My hosts, the organisers of the conference “Imagination is National Competitiveness”, the Institute for Media Arts of Yonsei University, pulled out all stops to see that I got quality, lip-smacking Korean vegetarian food but the best experience was a visit to the Sanchon Korean Temple Cuisine Restaurant in Seoul.
Amazing experience
It was Andreas Schnider, a German art designer living in Tokyo, who told me about the restaurant and took me there. And what an experience it turned out to be!
Sanchon gives one an experience of divine Korean temple food in a magical setting. Kimchee pots and fuchsia-coloured lotus lanterns greet you at the entrance. Behind the reception desk is a dark place where home-made fruit teas are sold alongside antique Korean knick-knacks. Candles with Korean prayers written on them burn mysteriously on the shelves and the waiters are real monks dressed in traditional temple garb! It is also the first restaurant in the country to provide guests the combined joy of eating tasty food while watching performances of traditional dance and music.
Authentic temple food
Sanchon was founded by a former Buddhist monk Kim Yun-sik, 56, who spent 17 years living in a temple as a monk during which time he learned how to cook temple food and research various temple cuisines around the country. He has recently published his third book, Eye-pleasing Temple Cuisine, which is a combination travelogue and cookbook featuring healthy and tasty temple dishes
Korean temple food is made with roots, herbs, plants and vegetables which can be found growing in forest and mountain areas. Chemical additives and stimulant spices are not used in temple cuisine. A full course meal can include things made with tofu, mushroom, potatoes, rice, and mugwort beans. Vegetable pancakes, different kinds of stews and steamed veggies are oftentimes part of the set menu. Some of the food even has medicinal purposes. The home-brewed fruit wine is a good accompaniment to your meal. I was told there would be 16 different dishes in a set dinner but it was more like 32. They are all served in temple wooden cups, some kept in a closed bamboo box with flowers on them, all served together at your table, including: Potatoes glazed with soy sauce and taffy; seven wild vegetables, each with its own seasoning; deep-fried vegetable pancakes; rice and Kimchi (the Korean national dish); vegetables wrapped in vermicelli noodles; wild sesame and rice gruel; Tofu and Seasoned wild mountain roots.
If you’ve still got any appetite left after the main course (which I seriously doubt), you are also offered some Korean rice cake snacks and a cup of traditional temple tea made from five oriental herbs. All the food is naturally seasoned with no chemical additives, and with the obvious exception of the deep-fried pancakes, is extremely nutritious. The menu is subject to seasonal alterations. But only one course meal is served. There is no a la carte menu, just single prix fix menu. But a meal really worth it. There are sweet, crunchy, boiled, fragrant, stinky, spicy, mild and salty vegetables. It depends upon the chef’s ingredients. I had a great meal that I could not finish.
Impressive setting
The interior of Sanchon is extremely impressive. You enter a little courtyard (take off your shoes here) and are then taken into the main dining area which is decorated with carved wooden beams, paintings, calligraphy and traditional Korean musical instruments. There are approximately 25 low tables with cushions (Koreans traditionally sit on the floor to eat) surrounding a small central stage where performances take place between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
As I browsed the shop for some rice sweets, Kim Yun-sik offered a genuine smile and an elaborate Namaste. “I loved travelling in India,” he said “I loved Indian food. Paper Dosa is the best food in the whole world”!
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