Lessons in balance

When it comes to cuisine, balance can mean different things to different people. ANNE HASEGAWA explores the concept across six unique Asian cultures.

- ANNE HASEGAWA

Balance isn’t just about flavours, textures and colours on a plate. It’s not just following steps on a page or ensuring perfectly precise measurements. Rather, balance comes from within. It is shaped by our experiences, environments and memories.

In eastern Asia, seeking harmony is a way of life. It is what gives the multitudes of cuisines a complexity that makes them so strikingly distinct from the Western palate.

Philosophies rooted in balance may be impossible to grasp without lived experience, but putting them into practice in the kitchen is an easier task. To help us better understand how, we speak to six experts who share the guiding principles for their region’s cuisines. From flavours and ingredients, to history and culture, here are some key lessons.

KOREA

Bibimbap. Japchae. Gujeolpan. Banchan. Korean food is known for its distinct vibrancy and expertly harmonised dishes. Its roots can be traced back to Obangsaek – the Korean colour spectrum, which consists of white, black, blue, yellow and red, and represents the five natural elements of the universe. It is said that cooking with these colours ensures a healthy and varied meal.

Obangsaek isn’t just an approach to food, it extends to having balance within life. These colours can be found across Korean culture from hanbok (traditional attire) to architecture, paintings and symbols.

Kenny Yong-soo Son, manager of Sydney’s popular Korean restaurant Sáng by Mabasa, explains that Obangsaek isn’t necessarily actively considered when cooking. Rather, it’s something innate, a concept that’s deeply embedded in Korean culture.