Jewels of the Palace teaches how to cook Korean Royal Cuisine – no chillies, no carrots, no onions

It shouldn’t surprise anyone who has watched Korean period dramas that the dishes that were served to the country’s royal family are not the kind of fare you find in Korean restaurants today.

Even the fiery, spicy flavours that many people think of as essential to Korean cuisine are not native to the country; the Portuguese introduced chillies to Korea only in the 16th century.

Han Bok-ryeo, chair­woman of the Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine, who was named a “Human Cultural Asset” by the Korean govern­ment for her work in preserving royal cuisine, writes in the preface that the book Jewels of the Palace (2017) was inspired by K-drama Daejanggeum (“Jewel in the Palace”).

Released in 2003, the drama is based on the life of a female physician, Jang-geum, during the reign of King Jungjong (1506-1544). Great care was taken to ensure that everything, from the food and costumes to the sets and speech, was historically accurate, and Han was retained by the producers to recreate period recipes.

It wasn’t just chillies that were unheard of in 1506. Han writes, “In those days, many ingredients we take for granted today, such as carrots and onions, were not available in Korea. Cooking methods were simple – such as boiling and steaming. With these constraints, it required a huge effort to make all the dishes on the show look tasty for the cameras. And many unusual and rare ingredients had to be substituted: pork belly with thick rinds stood in for bear’s paw, while beef, which has a texture similar to whale meat, was the substitute for whale.”