Monk Seonjae Demonstrates Pine Nut Noodles, Says Food Should Be Medicine

Monk Seonjae demonstrates 'Seungso' pine nut noodles during a temple-food media event at the Korean Temple Food Culture Experience Center in Seoul. [Photo provided by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism]

Biting into the small dumplings, a clean cucumber aroma filled the mouth.

A hands-on event where participants made and tasted Monk Seonjae’s pine nut noodles — a dish praised by chef Ahn Sung-jae on Netflix variety show “Culinary Class Wars” — was held Feb. 26 at the Korean Temple Food Culture Experience Center in Seoul.

The event, organized by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, featured Seonjae demonstrating how to make “Seungso” pine nut noodles.

She toasted pine nuts in a pan, finely chopped them and blended them with water to make the broth. She kneaded flour dough mixed with blended blanched zucchini and spinach, then pulled thin noodles. She added grated cucumber and shaped small, round dumplings. Thinly sliced cucumber and Korean melon, lightly salted, were used as garnish.

A bowl of 'Seungso' pine nut noodles made by Monk Seonjae. [Photo provided by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism]

“Seungso” (僧笑) refers to a dish tasty enough to make a monk smile. The noodles highlighted the ingredients’ natural aromas and colors, combining pine nut fragrance with the freshness of cucumber and Korean melon.

Reporters attending the session were divided into four teams of four to five people and prepared the noodles following Seonjae’s recipe, including pulling noodles and shaping the dumplings.

Seonjae repeatedly stressed that “food is medicine.” She said the hardest part of cooking is deciding who will eat it.

“You have to make food that fits that person — food that becomes medicine,” she said. “The scriptures say all food is medicine. People usually call seasonings ‘flavoring,’ but in Buddhism it’s the idea of adding taste and medicine. It’s not food that just tastes good; it should suit the palate and also be good for that person’s body.”

She said thinking, taste and the body are connected.

“Your taste changes only when your thinking changes,” she said. “When your taste changes, your body changes. To avoid wasting food, you have to think the food is precious.”

Seonjae said visitors who want to eat her cooking should come one to two hours before mealtime.

“We have to make the food together,” she said. “You need to know what went into it to understand its value.”

She also said ingredients should align with Buddhism’s view of life.

“You can only become healthy by eating ingredients that respect life in nature — not ones that pollute the land, water and air,” she said. “We don’t know enough about great ingredients like banga and jaso. Banga makes soybean paste stew sweet and delicious. We should teach children about this.”

Seonjae emphasized learning Korean traditions first.

“If our children don’t know how to make fermented sauces or kimchi, our culture will disappear,” she said. “Then even our DNA will have no choice but to change. We have to work to protect our culture.”

The Jogye Order said it plans to step up efforts to promote temple cuisine.

Ilhwa, head of the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, said it was meaningful that temple food has recently drawn attention through media as an important cultural phenomenon.

“The corps will keep working steadily to globalize temple cuisine by cooperating with various countries, including France and the U.K.,” Ilhwa said.

Ilhwa, head of the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism, speaks at a temple-food media event in Seoul, pledging continued efforts to globalize temple cuisine. [Photo provided by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism]

* This article has been translated by AI.

Yoon Juhye