Eumsikdimibang: The First Cookbook Written by a Woman in East Asia

Jang Gye-hyang, the writer of Eumsikdimibang was born in Geumgye-ri, Andong, Gyeongbuk in the 31st year of King Seonjo's reign and passed away in Seokbochon(Dudeul village), Yeongyang, Gyeongbuk at age 83 during the 6th year of King Sukjong's reign. In her later years her third son, Galam Yi Hyeon-il was recognized as Salrim, a great scholar who had been living in seclusion, and was later appointed to Ijo Panseo, minister of Personnel. Therefore, she was conferred with a Pumgye of Jeongbuin.

Lady Jang Gye-hyang left paintings, grass characters and embroidery works that implies her excellent talents, besides poetries about human cultivation of one's mind, right studies and training of one's character.

Jeongabocheop (handwriting scrapbook) is an 8-page scrapbook for poems which Lady Jang Gye-hyang wrote when she was around ten years old. It is also called Palryong Sucheop since auspicious clouds and eight dragons are embroidered on page four and five. Lady Jang's Seongineum and Sosoeum are found in here. And Yi Hyeon-gyeong and Mok Man-Jung, scholars of Namin school in the late 18th century added epilogues admiring her writings.

Japchae

Prepare raw chopped cucumber, radish, Cham mushroom, manna lichen, pyogo mushroom, and mung beans plant. Boil and tear chinly balloon flower, clover, dried slices of young pumpkin, shepherd's purse, dropwort, spring onion, edible shoots of a fatsia, bracken, spinach, gourd, egg apple and pheasant meat. If there is no ginger, use dried ginger or vinegar-pickled ginger. Season with pepper, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, flour and chop all sorts of ingredients to thin pieces. Fry each with oiled soy sauce and put on a wide bowl by mixing some together or separating. Sprinkle an adequate amount of chopped pheasant meat on it and cheoncho, pepper and ginger as well. Filter thick paste to have moderate taste. Add sesame oil and flour. If the taste is good, boil it over once. Do not make the source thick. As for wax gourd, parboil quickly when it is fresh. For coloring, use ballon flower and cockscomb for red or wild grapes. There is no need to get all those materials above. Just do with the materials that you can get easily.

Yeongyejjim

Prepare a spring chicken that has tender flesh and wash thoroughly removing the internal organs and feathers. Filter sweet paste through a sieve and season with shredded Jaso leaves, spring onion, rakkyo, ginger, pepper and cheoncho. Mix it with flour and soy sauce. Put this into the stomach of the chicken and wrap with rice cloth. Put this in an earthenware and double boil it in an iron pot. When it is cooked tender, take out and cool down. When steaming, use light flour sauce seasoned with several spices. The sauce should be light to soak chicken in.

Sujunggye

Remove feathers and bones from a chicken and pound hard the buttocks and the middel of the chest. Fry it with a half small bowl of oil to cook and then boil it. Add diced taro. When the meat gets tender, take out hte meat and the taro. Season the soup with soy sauce and put the meat into it again. Boil it over to remove the smell of intestine. Mix two scoops of flour with water. Shred cucumber. Put thin spring onion and Korean leek by a fistful amount. When the powder gets thick and begetables are cooked, arrange begetables and meat side by side on a wide plate. Shred fried egg and put on a bowl of soup. Also, season with ginger and pepper befrore serving.

Gajeyuk

Chop pork to thick and short pieces and season with oil and soy sauce. Cover it with flour and fry. Season it with pepper before serving.

Eomandu

Cut fish into thin slices. For stuffing, pound manna lichen, pyogo mushroom, pine mushroom, raw pheasant meat and pine nuts together and fry with soy sauce and oil. Put it into the slice of fish and make dumplings. Cover them with mung bean powder and steam.

Donga nurumi

Slice old wax gourd thinly and season. Boil shreded fig and season with manna lichen, pyogo mushroom, cham mushroom and pepper. Wrap it with the sliced wax gourd. Ske it and steam. Mix soy sauce with oil, flour and pheasant meat juice, pepper and cheoncho. When serving, remove the skew bar and add the sauce on it.

Yeongeunchae

Pick lotus root sprout in summer and early autumn and wash thoroughly, Parboil quickly and remove the fibroid material. Shred it to 2.5cm-long pieces and mix with oil sauce and vinegar. Do same to the root. Add soy sauce, oil and flour sauce and roast it.

Deagu Ggeopjil nurumi

Wash cod skin and dice. Chop manna lichen, pyogo mushroom, cham mushroom, pine mushroom, and pheasant meat to be thinner than vegetables and season with pepper and cheoncho powder. Then mix it with the diced cod skin. Then dissolve flour in water and boil with pheasant meat sauce and flour. Panfry it with chive and it will be tasty.

Seopsansam

Pell off raw deodeok and pound it. Then put in water until the bitter taste gets lessened. Pound it again and soak it in the water coming out. Cover it with glutinous rice flour and fry it in boiling oil. Then preserve in honey.

Chakmyeon

Grind mung beans with millstone and soak in water. After a while, peel the husk off and grind with millstone again. Then pass it through fine fabric and leave. If it is separated to powder with water on it, pour away the water. Do it again and dry the remains. When it is completely dried, pound once and pass it through a sieve. When cooking it, knead a hop of the powder with water. Be careful not to make it too thick. Put it into a large brass bowl by a spoonful and float the bowl on hot water. When the spoonful of dough is cooked, put it into cold water and chop. Serve it with iced Omijacha. If you have no Omija, fry and pound sesame and pass it through a sieve. If cooking soup with the sesame powder serve with the cooked dough in it. With 18 liters of mung beans, you can make three measures of mung-bean powder.

Hwajeon

Mix the petals of azalea, rose, and peony with glutinous rice flour and buckwheat powder and then knead it with water. Fry it on an oiled pan little by little and then cool it down for a while. Spread honey on it for serving.

Gamhyangju

Wash a doe of non-glutinous rice and pound. Make cake with the powder and cool down. Add a bowl of water and a doe of nuruk(it contain yeast and saccharogenic amylase) powder to the cake and knead thoroughly. Wash 18 liters of glutinous rice and steam to be done 4 days later. When it is still warm, draw the crude liquor and put this into a jug. Wrap the jug with blankets and leave in a warm place and wait till it is done. If you want a bitter taste, do not wrap the jug and leave in a cool place. For more amount, measure the materials according to this instruction.

Eumsikdimibang Exhibition Center

51 food items that are featured in Eumsikdimibang are made into models and exhibited, along with their recipes. A video that gives an explanation on Eumsikdimibang can also be watched in four languages (Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English).

Traditional House Experience Hall

Traditional house experience hall in Dudeul village is a unique place where you can taste Korean traditional cuisine including a Joseon noble family's cuisine which is reproduced based on Eumsikdimibang, the oldest cookbook in Hangeul in Korea. Only fresh vegetables and seafood which grow in a clean environment are used, and healthy, simple foods are presented nicely. You will be also served with Korean tea with a mild aroma and flavor, and open up your hearts and look inside. Why don't you try wellbeing diet with nutrient, fresh ingredients, prepared with a cook's whole heart.

Jeongbuin Lady Jang Courtesy Training Center

Named after Lady Jang Gye-hyang, the courtesy center have provided programs for students and adults so that they have a chance to learn traditional culture such as etiquette and tea ceremony.

Seokgye Goteak

Seokgye Goteak is an old house of Seokgye Yi Si-myeong who lived in the reigns of King Injo and King Hyeonjong of the Joseon. The house is layed out with an earthen partition between-shaped Sarangchae (men's part of the house) and Anchae (inner part of the house). This layout gave a feeling of ‘teuljip’(a house with a square garden at the center). It also has a structure of 'Samryangga' (a style of roof) and a 'Gamsil' (a place for keeping a spirit tablet) was installed in the back of Sarangchae. This 320-year-old house has been designated as Forklore Material No. 91 by Gyeongsangbuk-do province.

Gwangsan Literature Research Center

Established on May 12, 2001, the Center seeks to conduct more systematic research on literature and foster academics in the field. Dudeul Village was used as a background of Gwangsan’s literature and has set the stage for life’s dramas in his works, most notably ‘That Winter’, ‘You will no longer be able to return to your hometown’, ‘Geumshijo’ and ‘For the Emperor’. The center houses 6 classrooms, an auditorium and study and serves as the venue for various lectures on literature and literary discussions, as well as meetings with writers.