Korean temple cooking is primarily based on seasonal plant-based ingredients. As such, temple dishes are vegan. Beoseot gangjeong is deep-fried crispy mushrooms tossed in sweet and sour sauce with a hint of heat. I tried to recreate the restaurant version and as this is a temple cuisine inspired dish, I did not use any garlic here. Gangjeong is a traditional Korean confectionery that’s deep-fried and coated with a sticky syrup. The same technique is used to make many other sweet and savoury dishes such as dak gangjeong (sweet crispy chicken). This preparation only takes a few minutes!
Ingredients
1. 100 grams mushrooms See note
2. 1 cup bell pepper red, orange or yellow or a combination
3. ½ cup cornstarch
4. Oil for deep frying
5. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
6. 1 ½ tablespoons gochujang
7. 1 ½ tablespoons vinegar (rice wine vinegar or any other clear vinegar)
8. 1 ½ tablespoons honey