Korean Royal Court Cuisine food fit for a Queen’s 60th Birthday Party!! Join me for another amazing 8 course Royal Degustation Course at Jihwaja restaurant in Seoul.
Korean Royal Court Cuisine ( 궁중음식 Gungjung Eumsik) meal that was reconstructed from the actual banquet menu for Queen mother of King Jeongjo at her 60th birthday party which was actually in 1795. That was what I was treated to – at Jihwaja 지화자 – during my most recent visit to Seoul.
Back in 2016, I wrote a post about my visit to Jihwaja with my friend Insook. It was the first time I was treated to a full Korean royal court cuisine meal and I was so impressed that I wrote a long post about it. Well, few months ago, Mr. Hwang who is the director of the restaurant, sent me email to let me know how much they appreciated my post and how it was bringing many foreigners to their Jihwaja restaurant. YAY!!! Always so happy to hear that my posts bring guests!! And he was also so kind enough to extend an invitation for me to be their guest the next time I was in Seoul!!
Traditional Korean Food
Thank you so very much Mr. Hwang for appreciating my post! I only did it because your restaurant has truly amazing Korean Royal Court cuisine food with awesome service to match the quality. I am more than happy to recommend your restaurant to my readers.
Before we get to the food, a quick note about how this restaurant came about. Mr. Hwang explained it to me and it was a fabulous story.
“Hwang Hae-sung (1920~2006) inherited the art of preparing royal cuisine from Han Hui-sun (1889~1972), a royal court lady who prepared meals for King Gojong and King Sunjong, the last two kings of the Joseon Dynasty and of Korea. Han Hui-sun was later designated as the 1
What Meals Were Like For The King During Korea's Joseon Dynasty
Jihwaja restaurant first opened its doors in March 1991 and served Korean royal court cuisine dishes under the direction of Royal Culinary Art Master Hwang. Today, 19 years later, it is still run by the same Hwang family.
So, are you now ready to join me for a quick time travel back to the days of the kings and queens, palaces and royal court??
Hmm..now who should I bring with me to the restaurant?? Well, I decided to bring my husband with me because he totally deserves to be awarded for putting up with all my blogging work including my dirty dishes.. hahaha.. Yes, he is my forever live-in dishwasher 😝 😜.. Thank you yeobo! 😍
Korean Dinner — Aug 12
Anyway, I think my husband enjoyed it very much and was so happy with the food that he even took photos for me voluntarily – which he rarely does. And so this photo of me and Mr. Hwang is courtesy of my husband.
This menu was prepared according to the historical materials such as Jinchanan (Recipes for the 60th Birthday Banquet of Lady hyegyeonggung 1795), Sangayorok (Ancient Recipes 1450) and Eumsik Dimibang (First Korean Recipes 1670)
Deluxe Dry Snacks consisting of (left top to right) : pumpkin seed dasik in the shape of butterfly, walnuts rolled in persimmon, raw chestnut with cham namul, 3 gingko nuts skewered, 3 pine nuts on pine needle sticks, Korean beef jerky (육포 Yukpo), and dried octopus flower. Each and every one of these snacks were such a joy to eat. A great mix of nutty, sweet, crunchy, salty and savory flavors. Certainly an exciting start for what’s to come!! Pumpkin seed dasik was extra special to me because I had made dasik before but never with pumpkin seeds. The dried octopus flower (어화 Eohwa) was just so pretty and intriguing as I looked at the backside and realized that the whole flower was carved from one single piece of octopus!
Myongdongjeong Royal Korean Cuisine
Chrysanthemums and cherry blossoms were often cut out from dried squid and/or octopus and used in Korean royal court cuisine. I saw them in books before but to actually have it served to me was a real treat!
. The water kimchi is always such a great palate awakener and I loved having both cucumber and cabbage water kimchi in one bowl. The candied fruits were a great addition of sweetness to what could be kind of a bland porridge (as porridges usually are). The kumquat was wonderful with the rind giving a burst of bitter, sweet and sour flavors. I also loved the rose decor on what I think was doraji but I could be wrong. My memory is kind of fading on that one.
Means skewered something and this was made with beef and garlic scapes which was unusual but was simply lovely. You know how I adore garlic scapes…. 😉 love them any which way.
Monthly Korea] Preserving Royal Cuisine
Was surprisingly yummy with the sea salt, instead of the usual soy sauce. I’m not a real fan of ginseng and especially when it’s served randomly in Korean meals, just to be fancy. But this was really and truly good. Now, the little red root veggie look like thing? Well, it’s actually not a root vegetable but jujube dates rolled with the green leaf (sorry, I forgot what this was) stuffed in the center. That was a lot of work for one mouthful but I certainly appreciated all the handiwork that went into making it. So cute!
It’s hard to believe that this yummy beef is served cold or rather, at room temperature. I feel like Korean food especially shines with these types of dishes. It’s pretty easy to make meats or veggies taste good when they are served really hot or really cold. But, it’s not easy to create foods that taste good at room temperature. This cool, sweet, refreshing and citrusy fruit salad made with julienned apples and topped with Yuzu Cheong syrup (유자청) matches so incredibly well with the paper thin slices of savory beef and cucumbers. It totally wakes up the flavors of the beef in your mouth. A beautiful balance of fresh and cooked elements that simply brings a smile on your face as you eat it.
A lovely rich seafood course of cod fish grilled perfectly with a citron soy sauce glaze, then served sizzling on top of a bed of green onions. Jihwaja has this fantastic way of serving sizzling foods at the table with a live burner candle below which is much like having your own individual chafing dish. I am quite picky about having foods at the right temperature and there’s nothing more delicious than grilled meats and fish served piping hot, still sizzling on the plate and continues to sizzle while you eat.
Korean Table Setting And The Royal Cuisine
보김치 or sometimes also called Bossam Kimchi. This brought back fond memories of my childhood when my family made it for Kimjang every fall. Unlike most other kimchi, this kimchi wrapped in large cabbage leaves is very delicately seasoned (not at all spicy) with seafoods like abalone, shrimp, baby octopus, and oysters. The fresh seafood adds an extra layer of belly clearing flavor and is the ultimate fancy kimchi that was served mostly for special occasions. Many Korean homes stopped making this scrumptious kimchi because I think it is just too labor intensive to make. So I was very happy to see and taste my old time favorite Kimchi again.
Geumjungtang 금중탕 is a chicken soup with abalone and various vegetables like shitake mushrooms. It comes in a special Korean hot pot, boiling like crazy. The flavors of the broth is so complex because it has seafood, chicken, vegetables and even a little mini meat ball. This dish requires a lot of preparation and is truly a dish fit for the queen filled with ingredients that promote health such as gingko nuts, walnuts and other goodies. I have had Shinseonro 신선로 before which is similar to this but this Geumjungtang was extra yummy because it had my personal favorite – abalone. 😉
Time for a break! As with any respectable degustation menu, there’s the palate cleanser. I am not sure if this was part of the original banquet meal. 😝 I don’t think they had freezers back then 😜 but it is always a much needed relief after tasting a lot of different flavors.
Vegetarian Korean Food
Neobiani Gui (너비아니구이) or marinated beef grilled with Ginseng Vegetable Salad. I think the best way to describe Neobiani Gui is to say that it is a thicker, heavier set cousin of the Bulgogi. It uses basically the same marinade and is also grilled, much like bulgogi. Except the beef is much thicker and thus requires a bit more care – a bit more tenderizing than your regular bulgogi. Although similarly seasoned, it has a totally different texture – having more bite in each mouthful.
With the beef, a Ginseng Vegetable Salad was served to go with it. This is very similar to how I suggested in my latest post that you should make a Green Onion Salad for all your grilled meats, This combination does not just balance the different flavors of heavy vs light but nutritionally, it is also very smartly balanced.
Here you have a choice between Abalone porridge (전복죽 Jeonbokjuk) or Chilled Buckwheat Noodles (배동치미메밀면
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