After her early morning meditation follow and breakfast, she tends to her backyard inside Baekyangsa, a temple on the scenic Naejangsan Nationwide Park, south of Seoul.
The air is full of the scent of blooming coriander flowers. A wild deer nibbles on the leaves within the backyard.
The eggplants and inexperienced peppers are rising. The cabbages she planted within the winter are plump and able to be harvested.
“It’s lovely as a result of it has plenty of power — it has grown by the chilly winter,” the monk tells CNN Journey by a translator, pulling her palms aside to reveal the scale of this 12 months’s cabbages.
The unintentional star chef
Jeong Kwan devoted herself to Buddhism when she was 17 years previous.
Courtesy Asia’s 50 Finest Eating places
But little has modified in her world.
“I’m extraordinarily honored to obtain the Icon Award… As you already know, I’m a monk, not a skilled chef. It is fantastic to listen to that folks all around the globe are considering Korean delicacies,” says Jeong Kwan.
“Even with such accolades, I want to remain humble and never let pleasure into my coronary heart. Real sincerity is how I greet each individual I meet.”
The chef devoted herself to Buddhism in 1974, although says she nonetheless seems like a young person at coronary heart — even when her age and her spirituality have grown.
In contrast to many, she already had a way of the life she needs to stay at a younger age. She was in elementary faculty when she advised her father that when she grows up, she would stay alone with nature.
When Jeong Kwan was 17 years previous, her mom handed away.
“I grieved and after 50 days I went to a temple. There, I met different monks who grew to become my new household. I discovered enlightenment and pleasure in practising Buddhism. I then determined that that is the place I needed to spend the remainder of my life, practising Buddhism,” she says.
Three years into her follow, she moved to her present residence, Baekyangsa.
“The trail to the temple was very light — not bumpy or steep. I felt very calm and peaceable. It was like returning to my mom’s arms,” Jeong Kwan remembers of her first stroll to Baekyangsa.
That was 45 years in the past.
What’s temple delicacies
All of Jeong Kwan’s dishes are vegan.
Courtesy Asia’s 50 Finest Eating places
In 2013, Jeong Kwan determined to open the doorways of the temple to guests so she might join with individuals who need to study Buddhism — particularly by its delicacies.
“Temple meals is the connection that brings bodily and psychological power collectively. It’s about maximizing the style and vitamin from plant-based elements with restricted seasoning or added condiments,” she says.
“Temple delicacies is a part of my Buddhist follow and the journey of discovering one’s self. The individuals who prepare dinner and the individuals who eat the temple meals are all on a journey to search out out ‘Who am I?’ I feel Korean temple delicacies connects individuals collectively and can proceed to play that function.”
All of Jeong Kwan’s dishes are vegan and made with out garlic, onions, scallions, chives or leeks. (It is believed that the 5 pungent elements would disturb the thoughts’s peace by evoking anger and fervour.)
Her meals is made with the freshest natural elements in addition to fermented sauces and dishes like bean paste and kimchi — all grown or made within the temple.
There isn’t any set menu — she works with no matter produce is contemporary that day so dishes differ broadly.
Jeong Kwan believes that meals will help steadiness components in our our bodies by restoring our moisture or reducing our physique temperature to a harmonious state. One instance is doenjang — Korean fermented bean paste — which the monk makes use of typically to create this steadiness in her meals. However making doenjang is a protracted course of.
She and the opposite temple residents start by boiling and mashing soybeans in November. Then they’re molded into meju — soybean bricks — for drying and storing. In April, salted water is added to the meju. In Might, the monks within the temple separate the salted water — which at this stage is now soy sauce — from the bean paste.
“In the event you come go to, you will note the a part of the temple the place we retailer all the standard elements — pastes and sauces — in pots. I’ve all of them labeled so they’re very organized. It’s a very lovely place,” says Jeong Kwan, her eyes lighting up as she talks about her meals.
“This 12 months’s bean paste may be very scrumptious as a result of the climate has been good. It’s tremendous sunny within the daytime and nonetheless fairly chilly within the evenings.”
She has jars of soy sauces, bean pastes and picked radishes which have been brewing in jars for greater than 20 years now. These are her most treasured creations within the temple.
“I’ll carry them if I’ve to maneuver to a different temple at some point,” jokes Jeong Kwan.
“It’s the work of nature. It is magical how by fermenting, you alter the power of the unique ingredient. The picked radishes now not have the power of the radishes however they’ve integrated the power of the fermented sauces after which they harmonize our our bodies.”
Buddhism and human connections by meals
“For me, meals is so necessary. It might probably carry such a powerful connection between individuals,” says Jeong Kwan.
Courtesy Asia’s 50 Finest Eating places
Jeong Kwan realized she had a ardour for meals from a younger age, when she would watch her mom prepare dinner.
In 1994, she determined to totally dedicate herself to temple cooking.
“For me, meals is so necessary. It might probably carry such a powerful connection between individuals,” says Jeong Kwan.
Certainly one of her most cherished recollections is a temple go to from her father.
“‘Why would you need to keep right here — you’ll be able to’t even eat meat right here?'” she remembers him asking.
“I made a mushroom dish for him and after he tasted it, he mentioned, ‘I’ve by no means tasted one thing so scrumptious. In the event you can eat one thing so tasty right here, I will not be anxious about you. I am joyful so that you can keep within the temple.'”
However not all of her greatest food-related recollections came about in her personal kitchen. Jeong Kwon has been capable of get pleasure from some unimaginable meals whereas touring abroad.
One time at Paris restaurant Alain Passard, the famed French chef of the identical identify cooked a vegan meal for her.
“As I used to be consuming, I felt like that is my meals. There was no barrier in meals. It is vitally comforting and I felt very at residence,” says the monk.
She additionally holds a particular place in her coronary heart for Le Bernardin’s Ripert.
“Chef Éric was one of many those who had actually set me free with my meals. He helped break down any ideas that folks might need had towards temple delicacies or vegan meals. He actually helped me get away of my shell,” says the monk.
To be free is not about “doing no matter you need,” Jeong Kwan provides.
“It isn’t feeling caged by regret and guilt since you’re not following the practices you imagine. So following all of the virtues of my follow is what makes me really free,” she says.
One primary instance for her is cooking with an understanding of the pure life cycles in addition to following the Buddhist virtues and teachings.
‘Cooking is just not about being fancy’
Jeong Kwan hopes she will be able to use her newfound affect to encourage others to be extra environmentally acutely aware.
Courtesy Asia’s 50 Finest Eating places
Jeong Kwan feels her philosophy is particularly necessary within the present world, full of challenges just like the pandemic, worldwide conflicts and local weather change.
“We had pandemics and epidemics earlier than. I imagine that is all correlated to our actions going towards nature,” says the monk.
She thinks society ought to deal with three necessary issues: to deal with local weather change, be extra environmentally pleasant and respect all lives.
“[By doing all three,] it is going to be capable of assist set us again heading in the right direction,” says Jeong Kwan.
Consuming and cooking mindfully will allow us “to do every thing we want spiritually and bodily” even at instances of adversity.
She hopes that she might use her new discovered affect to unfold these necessary messages to the world.
“To me, cooking is just not about being fancy or displaying off troublesome abilities however turning into one with the elements. When I’m cooking, I consider the elements as if they’re part of me. When utilizing water and hearth to prepare dinner greens, I really feel we now have develop into one.
“The guts and soul put into the meals will likely be obtained by the individuals who eat it and create a constructive and sustainable cycle,” says Jeong Kwan.
Her intention? To see others undertake a life-style that honors and respects nature and our surroundings, promotes a sustainable life-style and has a constructive impact on local weather change and saves lives.
“As a way to do that, I want to vary. Small actions begin from myself and I hope I can share this with extra individuals around the globe, together with the fantastic cooks within the Asia 50 Finest neighborhood,” says Jeong Kwan.
