For some people, cooking is simply a necessity, a lifelong duty that allows them to be fed and nourished. For others, time spent in the kitchen is a hobby or passion, time for fun and creativity. There are also those for whom cooking is a more spiritual practice, a tool that allows for deeper contact with themselves and the world. For example, in the Buddhist faith, the diet is embedded in a philosophy focused on self-enlightenment. This approach has actually yielded rewards Chef Ji Hye Kim build your culinary career and a dynamic restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan Mrs. Kim around the Buddhist temple kitchen.
Kim’s love for food started at home. Born in South Korea, she explains that growing up, her home was always full of family and delicious meals. “I am the firstborn of my generation, my mother is the firstborn and my father is the firstborn,” Kim explains to TZR. “This information is essential because it meant that every holiday was at home for me.” As the best cook in the family, Kim’s mother was usually the designated chef on most occasions. But during special holidays, everyone got involved. “All the cousins, uncles, aunts gathered at our house and we spent two or three massive holidays, preparing a lot of food together. We made dumplings for the Recent Year, and we prepared stuffed rice cakes for the Moon Festival.
After moving to the United States as a teenager, Kim pursued a career in political science and economics. earning degrees in each from the University of Michigan. The chef then claims that her education allowed her to keep her student visa and eventually find a job that would allow her to obtain a green card. “I never had the chance to ask myself What I want to do?” Then, in her twenties, she had an epiphany while working outside the home at one of her first “clerky” office jobs: she missed her mother’s cooking. In an attempt to tranquil down, Kim began recreating the home-cooked meals she raised herself, discovering a true passion for the culinary arts.
In making the sudden decision to change the direction of her career, Kim also decided to forego typical culinary education. “I didn’t want to go to culinary school in the United States because it was clear to me that I wanted to make Korean food,” she says. “So my way of exploring this was to look at different types of Korean food and study it closely. I looked through age-old Korean cookbooks from the 15th, 16th, 17th centuries, and into the early 20th century, trying to decipher the stories behind the foods we eat today.
It was during this research that Kim, who grew up in a Christian home, came across the age-old principles of Korean Buddhist temple cuisine. He was originally followed by monks and rooted in Mahayana Buddhism (which reached the Korean Peninsula from China in the 4th century), this diet is commonly understood as vegan and vegetarian, based on the dharmic concept ahimsa, Or non-violence. “The mindful eating of Buddhist monks includes only organic foods,” explains food and beverage research analyst Sagar Kasturi. “There is saying from a Buddhist monk [Gurdev Singh]“A lion can fight for up to three hours straight, but it gets tired quickly. However, an elephant can fight continuously for 20 hours. That’s why green food is more powerful than meat.”
Kim is quick to explain that while a plant-based approach to eating is common in the Buddhist diet, that’s “not the whole story” and that Korean Buddhist cuisine actually focuses on being rooted in where you are. “Buddhists often have their own garden and get everything near the temple,” he explains. “They don’t operate a whole bunch of pricey imported ingredients, for example. So they are very connected to their local bubble.”
And yes, the Buddhist faith emphasizes avoiding killing, but this does not always mean that meat completely disappears from the table. “It’s more about making sure no one dies because they want to eat a bowl of food,” Kim says. “Buddhists used to provide them with food. So if it was donated food and had already been prepared, I think it was okay. I don’t want to give this example, but let’s say there was a roadkill and he was already dead by accident, that’s fine too, because it wasn’t unnecessary killing just for food. So this stuff really intrigued me.”
Buddhist cuisine may include limiting the consumption of certain strong-smelling vegetables, especially alliums, such as shallots, garlic, onions, chives and leeks (“the belief that eating them raw will arouse anger and, when cooked, will stimulate sexual desire,” says Kasturi). . therefore, methods such as fermentation are often used to extract flavor from foods. This was another point of interest for Kim. “They’re not trying to make up for the lack of meat, they’re just looking for a deeper flavor and really delving into the existing fermentation traditions of Korean cuisine,” he says. “So they make their own sauces, they make their own syrups and they can pick their own spices. So I think it’s all true to conventional Korean food.”
With a newfound interest in this niche food category, Kim got to work, experimenting with different recipes and ingredients and using the principles and limitations of the conventional vegan Buddhist diet to expand her creativity and skills as a culinary artist. “I avoid allium, but there are many ways to deal with it,” she says. “A lot of it is using ginger more and making good operate of different peppers. So, between these things, you actually get a lot of energy in your food without having to operate garlic.
In addition to vegan and allium-free ingredients, Kim says sourcing ingredients as locally as possible is another Buddhist tradition she follows at her restaurant, which she opened in 2016. “I really try to source local vegetables and local produce for what I call vegetarian dishes. as “Buddhist” [on the menu]– explains Kim. “But I’m not saying it’s 100% local because we get the rice either from Korea or California, and it’s definitely not local. Michigan is not a rice growing state. Therefore, I make every effort to operate as many local ingredients as possible, but I do not claim that these dishes are 100% local.”
This last statement is crucial because it is consistent with Korean Buddhist philosophy, which states that one should avoid taking anything to an intense or all-consuming level. “The practice of connecting with the land and connecting with the ingredients, then connecting vessels wholeheartedly to serve your family and community, [is important]– says Kim. “But [Buddhists] also emphasize that it’s not an obsession, don’t take it to the extreme, because now you kind of worship this obsession. So don’t turn it into your desire and obsession, but still commit 100%.
Sticking to these principles, Miss Kim offers a wide range of Korean dishes. While many of them are not inherently related to Buddhist cuisine, a good portion are vegan and follow the conventional diet of the faith. There is also Lotus Roots, i.e. roasted cashews in doenjang and green pepper sauce, served with lotus roots. Every May, in honor of Buddha’s birthday, the place offers vegan bibimbap with Californian or Korean rice. “All the vegetables are very local,” Kim explains, noting that she works with various farms for fresh produce. “So it has microgreens, beets and spinach. We try to source as many local vegetables as possible and avoid garlic. We throw it all into a bowl that is airy, pretty and nutritious.” (Miss Kim also serves Buddhist-friendly gochujang sauce, or ramp soy sauce, which does not contain garlic.)
Much of the menu is also inspired by the home-cooked Korean dishes that Kim grew up eating (e.g. rice with soy butter), as well as other dishes that have inspired the chef along the way, such as the pickled fried green tomatoes that are offered at the restaurant at the end years and Cacio e Pepe Tteokbokki. “The fact that it’s vegan, that it’s local, seasonal, and lightly fried, for me, is a continuation of how we work with ideas for Buddhist cuisine in my restaurant,” Kim explains of the age-old, conventional Southern-style dish. “But we don’t advertise it like, ‘It’s Buddhist fried green tomatoes.’ At Miss Kim, 56% of all the dishes we sell are vegan and vegetarian. We are not a vegetarian restaurant, but we have a lot of vegetables on the menu and they are popular all over the world, whether you are a meat lover or people who come as vegetarians.
