Traditional KOREAN Temple Food: YEONNIPBAP (Stuffed Lotus Leaves)

Korean temple cooking is primarily based on seasonal plant-based ingredients, which are either organically grown in temple grounds or harvested from nearby fields and mountains. As such, temple dishes are vegan!  That said, temple dishes are only flavored with natural seasonings to keep a “clean” taste and they cannot use garlic and onions because they are considered stimulants that hinder spiritual meditation.  We will be tweaking our use of these items in our version of this dish.

The lotus flower offers many different benefits such as an antioxidant, fighting inflammation, antimicrobial effects against bacteria, lowering blood sugar and a variety of uses in food.  As a source of food, the lotus offers its entirety, from the root to the flower, for nutritious cooking. The most popular dish is Yeonnipbap using the lotus leaf. It is known as temple food that monks would eat while going through discipline. Yeonnipbap, which translates directly into ‘lotus leaf rice,’ is traditionally glutinous sticky rice, lotus root, and pine nuts steamed together in a lotus leaf wrap. Over the years, this has expanded into a number of different variations including those with meat and those that are strictly fruit/nut/vegetable based.

In this class, you are going to be rehydrating these large and beautiful, dried lotus leaves to create a flavor-packed dish of Yeonnipbap.  This version will include several traditional components including several types of rice (glutinous, black and medium grain), cashews, raisins, fruits, vegetables and spices.  You’ll build your seasoning profile for this dish along with learning how to stuff the lotus leaf and steam it to perfection.  The leaves are such amazing tools for cooking – helping to keep moisture in and offering the ability to freeze them without fear of the dish being altered.  You will not be disappointed with the culinary knowledge you are going to gain!