A Dish on a Lotus Flower Awakens Reflection

A unique culinary collaboration in Beijing brought together China's vegetarian restaurant Lande and South Korea's fine dining establishment Onjium for an evening titled 'Deep Roots, Deep Flavors.' The first course featured a bite-sized dish nestled within a blooming lotus flower, offering a familiar yet novel taste of fermented dongchimi broth with the crisp texture of young lotus root.

The two restaurants consciously preserved their distinct identities while creating a harmonious dialogue between Korean cuisine's clear, restrained flavors and Chinese cuisine's deep, diverse tastes. They went beyond simply placing representative ingredients or sauces on a single plate, instead crafting dishes that embodied the concept of gathering diverse "roots of flavor," "different climates, and memories," showcasing how each tradition is understood and reinterpreted for the present day.

This culinary event also served as a reflection on the contrasting approaches to culture in China and South Korea. In China's online spaces, some extreme nationalists repeatedly claim Korean cultural elements like kimchi and hanbok as Chinese, erasing the context and achievements of Korean cultural development. Conversely, "easy hate" towards Chinese people and culture is spreading in South Korea, with criticism of the Chinese government often devolving into mockery of Chinese people and culture as crude or backward.

The meal emphasized differences more than similarities, illustrating how fermentation and ingredients can be prepared in distinct ways. The collaboration demonstrated that mutual respect and the acknowledgment of boundaries, rather than their erasure, are key to successful cultural exchange. A Chinese diner, Li, noted his surprise at how well Korean and Chinese noodles harmonized in a royal japchae dish, highlighting that traditions can shine without diminishing others.

While food cannot substitute for diplomacy, the article suggests it can illuminate attitudes often overlooked in international relations. It prompts a critical look at whether South Korea, while criticizing China's cultural hegemony, is itself leaning on cultural superiority. The piece concludes that pride maintained by despising another's culture is closer to anxiety than confidence, and that the minimal cultural dignity lies in criticizing accurately without gratuitous insult, distinguishing between genuine pride and the confusion of hate with self-assurance.

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I did not expect the two types of noodles to go so well together in one dish.