CJ CheilJedang releases Buddhist temple-style vegan dumplings

South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang Corp. has rolled out Buddhist temple-style dumplings without meat and the five vegetables banned in Buddhism of wild chives, garlic, leek, green onions and asafetida.

The company on Friday released Sachalsik Wanggyoja (Temple-style King Dumpings) that it jointly developed with Doban HC, the holding company for the business operations of the nation's largest Buddhist order Jogye.

The development of this product required around two years of R&D on the food eaten by Buddhist monks and believers to accurately reflect traditional Buddhist taste. Monks who are experts in temple food provided consulting.

Instead of meat and the five banned vegetables, other greens like cabbage, bean sprouts, radish and famous chili pepper from Cheongyang County, South Chungcheong Province, were added to enhance the texture along with the vegetable juice, salt, pepper and sesame oil used. Hailed for having a recipe and taste faithful to authentic temple food, the dumplings received good reviews from the Buddhist community at a tasting event before the product's launch.

To mark the national holiday Buddha's Birthday, CJ CheilJedang on Saturday will hold a tasting event for the dumplings at the Buddhist-themed store Doban Seungso near Jogye Temple in Seoul. Buddhists and visitors to the temple can try the food, which will also be sold on-site and via the online Seungso Mall (www.seungso.co.kr).

CJ CheilJedang will also release temple-style versions of japchae (glass noodles stir-fried with vegetables and meat), porridge, soy meat and rice. To churn out more related products, it signed an agreement last month with Doban HC on joint development of temple food.

Write to Kyeong-je Han at hankyung@hankyung.com