The Venerable Jeong Kwan Seunim, dubbed “The Philosopher Chef” by The New York Times, is a Buddhist nun and renowned expert on Korean temple cuisine. 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 been cooking at her hermitage ever she became a nun at the age of 17. Jeong Kwan Seunim was featured in a 2017 screening of her appearance on Chef’s Table Season 3 on Netflix, at the Berlin Film Festival in the category of documentary film series. Since then, much of her philosophical wisdom in temple food cooking and eating practices has 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 Seunim. Jeong Kwan Seunim became the recipient of the prestigious Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Icon Award 2022.
In this video, she shows us three different tofu dishes and talks about Buddhist temple cooking and sustainable eating practices. Watch the full Asian Plant-Forward Kitchen: Korea documentary and find plant-forward recipes at https://www.plantforwardkitchen.org/korea