Plant Based Traditional Korean Food, Temple inspired

Temple inspired Jeon and braised Shiitake

Simple, familiar, and one of the easiest ways to make vegetables feel generous.

This plate is a small plant based jeon set.

Hobak jeon (zucchini)Gaji jeon (eggplant)Paengi beoseot jeon (enoki mushroom)

And the dipping sauce is soy sauce made with chopped ssukgat stems.

Temple inspired.

The batter is very simple.

Flour and potato starch, 2:1.Then add enough water until it becomes slightly thicker than cream.

That texture matters. Too thin, and it feels weak.Too thick, and the coating gets heavy.

For me, jeon is best when the batter helps the ingredient instead of hiding it.

For frying, I used canola oil mixed with a little perilla oil.Sesame oil also works.

One small tip for the enoki jeon:

Press it down as much as possible while cooking.

If you do that, it gets much crispier, and the fibrous texture becomes strangely satisfying.A little like meat, or even dried fish, but in a good way.

The braised shiitake on the side was inspired by the venerable Jeong Kwan Sunim cooking.

I simmered it with water, Joseon ganjang, perilla oil, and rice syrup.

Joseon ganjang(homemade soy-sauce) is especially important here.It gives a cleaner and deeper flavor than regular soy sauce.

Simple food, but very satisfying.