[Temple to Table] Invigorating seasonal food for spring: Dureup jeon and green tea rice

An encyclopedic classic of Korean medicine titled “Donguibogam (Principles and Practice of Eastern Medicine)” refers to spring as “release of the old.” It also recommends taking care of one’s health according to the natural cycle of seasonal changes as the human body is part of nature’s creation. That’s why eating seasonal food is important.

With new buds and sprouts at their peak, it is time to eat green leafy veggies. Having endured the unforgiving cold of a harsh winter, spring veggies represent the tenacious life force and boost our physical and mental energy. 

Dureup jeon

With a pleasantly bitter taste and savory flavor, dureup jeon is full of flavor and nutrition.

The saponin in dureup prevents springtime drowsiness and restores energy.

With this recipe, you can forget about blanched dureup with chogochujang, the most common way of eating dureup.

Ingredients

150 grams dureup

⅓ cup flour

¼ cup water

1 tsp house soy sauce

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp perilla oil

2 tbsp cooking oil

Chogochujang

1 tbsp Korean chili paste

1 tbsp Asian apricot syrup

Directions

1. Trim off the stems of dureup and rinse well.

2. Boil water in a pot, add pinch of salt, and blanch dureup. Cool blanched dureup in cold water and squeeze out excess water.

3. Mix flour, water and house soy sauce to make batter.

4. Put blanched dureup in the batter and coat well.

5. Heat a pan, put perilla oil and cooking oil in the same ratio, and fry dureup

pancakes.

6. Make chogochujang by mixing Korean chili paste and Asian apricot syrup.

Green tea rice

As an iconic “health food,” green tea helps relieve tension around the eyes and relaxes nerves and muscles. Catechin, the main component in green tea, has 20 times more antioxidants than vitamin C.

Ingredients

5 grams young tea leaves

1½ cups soaked rice

½ cup soaked glutinous rice

2 cups water

Directions

1. Put tea leaves in a tea pot and brew tea. Make enough tea water to cook rice.

2. Put soaked rice and soaked glutinous rice in a pot and add your tea water. When it begins to boil, let it simmer 5 minutes on medium heat, and then 10 minutes on low heat.

3. Put tea leaves, left from step 1, on top and let sit for 5 minutes.

4. Mix the rice well with tea leaves and serve warm with side dishes.

Provided by Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism

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Temple food is food of the ascetics who express gratitude for all forms of life and wish for peace for the whole world. The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism operates the Korean Temple Food Center where guests can learn and experience temple food. -- Ed.