From Temple Cuisine to Campus Dining and Home Cooking: Korean Temple Food — Flavors & How-Tos

Hosted by the Stanford Food Institute 

Instructor: Alice Pyo, Sous Chef, Central Production Kitchen and Special Projects, R&DE Stanford Dining 

Guest Speaker: Ven. Jeong Kwan, World-Renowned Chef and Buddhist Nun 

A tasting of the dishes demonstrated during the presentation will be provided. 

We invite the Stanford campus community to join us for an educational culinary demonstration and tasting event that will explore traditional Korean flavors and how they are incorporated into the Korean way of plant-based cooking for temple cuisine. Jeong Kwan, a world-renowned chef and Buddhist nun–who has been featured on the hit Netflix series Chef’s Table, among other accolades–presents an overview of Korean temple cuisine and a few dishes that have been handed down over generations but have been creatively reinterpreted.

Tickets are provided on a first come, first served basis, so register today! 

Students are invited to register here; staff and faculty can register here.

 

In this educational presentation and tasting experience at the educational farm, you will learn about the benefits of plant-based cooking for both human and environmental health, history of Korean temple food, as well as the benefits to nutrition and wellbeing of eating fermented foods such as those shared in the presentation.  

About our guest speaker: 

Ven. Jeong Kwan 

Chunjinam Hermitage, Baekyangsa Temple; Jangseong, South Korea 

Ven. Jeong Kwan is a Buddhist nun, selected as one of the Plant-Forward Global 50 by Eat Forum and the Culinary Institute of America and known as “The Philosopher Chef” by the New York Times. She has made influential insights into the field of Buddhist temple cooking methods focused on the future of sustainable eating practices. Her Buddhist cultural approach to eco-friendly eating practice has been shaped over centuries and handed down based on the foundation of Buddhist philosophy. Although first and foremost a Buddhist nun, not a chef, she has had great opportunities to be involved in Buddhist temple food cooking practices ever since she became a nun at the age of 17. Jeong Kwan, appearing in Chef’s Table Season 3 by Netflix, has been featured in the screening of the 2017 Berlin Film Festival in the category of documentary film series. Since then, much of her philosophical wisdom in temple food cooking and eating practices have been spread out to the world. The Chunjinam hermitage, at Baekyangsa monastery, has received a great number of visitors who travel there from around the world, seeking to learn from Jeong Kwan. She has also been featured in various publications, including The Guardian, the Washington Post, The Independent, The Sunday Morning Herald, EATER and Food & Wine. Most recently, Ven. Jeong Kwan became the recipient of the prestigious Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Icon Award 2022.