Contemporary Korean vegetarian restaurant Soil to Soul is celebrating Dragon Boat Festival with Hong Kong’s first Korean ‘Temple Food’ tribute to the sticky rice dumpling tradition of the annual boat racing. The unique collection of ‘zongzi’ dumplings is commemorating the ‘Double Fifth’ in accordance with their ancient monastic vegetarian philosophy.
Priced HK$98 each, the ‘zongzi’ dumplings are available for sale from 1 May 2021 at the restaurant at K11 MUSEA in Tsim Sha Tsui East, redeemable from 24 May 2021 ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, which falls this year on 14 June 2021.
Two savoury dumplings and one sweet version are crafted using naturally cultivated vegan ingredients, while strictly avoiding five ‘Forbidden Pungent Roots’ believed to distract minds with impure thoughts – garlic, green onion, leek, chive and onion.
Rather than traditional bamboo leaf wrapping, Soil to Soul’s versions are also uniquely wrapped in aromatic lotus leaf, from the symbolic flower of Buddhism with a multitude of medicinal and culinary applications, including purification corresponding to the restaurant’s temple food concept. Also unlike famously stodgy traditional ‘zongzi’ dumplings, ‘World Master Chef’ Gu Jin Kwang, a certified specialist in eco-friendly vegan cuisine, has crafted lighter and healthier recipes, using premium ingredients.
Fried Kimchi Sticky Rice Dumpling is a unique, creative twist on traditional ‘zongzi’ themed after Korea’s iconic kimchi pickle, although milder and more refreshing with exclusion of ‘Forbidden Pungent Roots’, with spicy notes and the distinctive nutty aroma of perilla seed oil to the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf.
Sesame Sticky Rice Dumpling is mixed seasonal vegetables including mushroom and zucchini spiced by chili sauce with the earthy, nutty flavour of sesame oil.
Yakgwa Sweet Sticky Rice Dumpling is a variation of a traditional Korean festival sweet of mixed nuts, grain, natural plum extract and sweet spiciness of ginger and cinnamon, with a salty hint of Korean temple aged soy sauce and nutty twist of sesame oil.
All three versions are freshly made and recommended steamed for 20 minutes before enjoyment, within five days of collection.
“As we celebrate our first Dragon Boat Festival since opening in Hong Kong, Soil to Soul is delighted to pay tribute to the tradition with our own unique light and healthy version of sticky rice dumplings for the enjoyment of vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike,” said Chef Gu, Executive Chef of Soil to Soul.
Soil to Soil is a monastic-style tribute to Korean temple tradition – conceived as a calm, meditative spiritual journey as well as a culinary experience that pre-dates today’s ‘farm-to-table’ trend and vegan eco-consciousness by 2,000 years.
At Soil to Soul, Chef Gu interprets the ancient temple food wisdom with a wide variety of nourishing a la carte specialties, lunch sets and dinner tasting menus, alongside contemporary bar snacks.
Seating 106, the refined 3,380 sq. ft. restaurant and bar is styled as a contemporary Korean monastic oasis evoking the humble, meditative aesthetics of a temple dining chamber for Buddhist monks or nuns. Blending traditional and modern with a touch of the theatrical intimacy, the Chinese philosophy of “Wuxing” – the five phases of fire, water, wood, metal and earth – correspondingly inspired natural wooden chair and bench seating, tables, floors and wall fixtures.
Soil to Soul is located next to the Avenue of Stars at 704, 7/F, K11 MUSEA, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Hong Kong – open daily from 12noon – 10pm with car parking at K11 MUSEA car park.
For more information, please visit www.soiltosoulhk.com/ ; for enquiries, please email [email protected] or call (852) 2389-9588.
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