Must-try vegetarian Korean dishes

There are plenty of plant-based Korean dishes waiting to be tried, and they’re usually packed with flavour.

Korea has plenty of vegetarian friendly dishes. Image: Unsplash.

Korean cuisine is well-known for its meat-based dishes such as samgyeopsal (삼겹살), galbi (갈비), and bulgogi (불고기). If you’re a vegetarian, these dishes are obviously not for you, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on Korean food altogether. 

A word of warning – beware of sauces

Sometimes a Korean dish will appear vegetarian. However, fish sauce is often a component of sauces and marinades, including that used within a lot of authentic kimchi recipes. So, if you’re eating out you may want to check the ingredients within sauces before ordering, depending on how strict you are with your vegetarianism.

Vegetarian Korean dishes to try

A typical Dolsot Bibimbap dish. Image: Unsplash.

1. Dolsot Bibimbap (돌솥비빔밥)

Bibimbap is a lunchtime staple, and you’ll find it on the menu of most restaurants. It’s a nice introduction into Korean food if you’ve never had the cuisine before because you’ll be familiar with a lot of the ingredients. 

Essentially, it’s a bowl of rice with a selection of veggies such as carrot, courgette, and mushrooms. It’s also often topped with a raw egg. Squeeze gochujang 고추장 (chilli sauce) onto your bibimbap and then generously mix to combine all the ingredients and cook the egg. No chopsticks are required here as it’s usually eaten with a spoon. It also tends to be served in a sizzling hot stone bowl which creates a crispy layer of rice (called ‘nurungji’) to enjoy when you get to the bottom.

Jeon is the perfect dish to eat on a rainy day. Enjoy with some Makgeolli. Image: Unsplash.

2) Jeon (전)

Jeon are next-level pancakes. They’re usually a crispy outer shell of batter encasing savoury ingredients. And perfect for dipping in the accompanying sauce you’ll receive when ordering at a restaurant. 

There are many different types of jeon and a lot of them are vegetarian. For instance, pajeon (파전) is predominantly spring onion. While, gamjajeon (감자전) is potato, and hobak buchin (호박 부친) is courgette. There’s also kimchijeon (김치전) which is one of the most common to find in Korean restaurants, however you might want to check if the kimchi has fish sauce. 

Jeon uses very few ingredients, so it is definitely one you can try making at home as long as you use a generous glug of oil and get your veg/batter layering technique down.

3) Beoseot Gangjeong (버섯강정)

We couldn’t put together a vegetarian food round-up without including mushrooms. They seem to be a common meat substitute due to their dense texture and are certainly a regular feature within Korean cuisine. Beoseot Gangjeong is deep-fried crispy mushrooms which are coated in a sweet, sour, and slightly spicy glaze (an adventure for the taste buds). You’ll find this kind of food at street stalls. However, if you can’t find any to buy, they’re pretty quick to make.

4) Dubu Jorim (두부 조림)

A lot of people don’t like tofu due to its lack of flavour. But bland isn’t in the vocabulary of Korean cooking. 

Dubu Jorim is braised slices of tofu coated in a sauce that combines all the classic Korean flavours including soy, sesame oil, gochugara, and garlic. It’s typically a side dish so you may want to order this alongside a bowl of rice and some other veggie sides such as sigeumchi namul (시금치나물) and oi muchin (오이무침). 

Not only is Dubu Jorim probably the most tasty way you’ve ever eaten tofu, but it’s also a great source of plant-based protein.

5) Deulkkae Soondubu Jjigae (들깨 순두부 찌개)

Korea has notoriously cold winters and as such its various stews offer comfort. However, vegetarians tend to miss out because a lot the popular stews such as kimchi jjigae (김치 찌개), ge jjigae (게 찌개), and Dwaejigogi-jjigae (돼지고기찌개) contain meat. 

Deulkkae soondubu jjigae is a good option if you’re plant-based. It usually contains shiitake mushrooms, dashima and tofu floating in a broth of flavours including garlic, soy, perilla oil, and spring onion. Sometimes the broth used can be fish-based so do check if you’re ordering from a restaurant. Otherwise, chuck the ingredients in a saucepan at home and get stewing!

Japchae is a popular Korean dish that most Korean restaurants will stock. Image: Unsplash.

6) Kongamul Japchae (콩나물잡채)

Japchae is a popular Korean dish and you’ll probably find it in most Korean restaurants. However, its most common form is not vegetarian as it usually includes beef strips as well as veg. 

Kongamul japchae is a vegetarian variation of that. It still uses the same dangmyeon (당면)  noodles as regular japchae, which are glass noodles made from sweet potato starch. However, the main ingredient is bean sprouts instead of beef. It’s usually stir-fried with other vegetables like carrots, spring onions, and mushrooms and is coated in a light soy sesame sauce.

7) Yeongeun Jorim (영은조림)

Fancy a veggie dish packed with flavour and nutrients? Then Yeongeun Jorim is for you. It’s basically lotus root which is an incredible superfood. In this dish, it’s braised with classic Korean flavours like garlic, soy, and rice syrup. 

Yeongeun Jorim is usually a banchan (반찬) dish (so a side dish rather than a main). So, if you’re in a restaurant, order lotus root alongside a steaming bowl of rice and other side dishes like kimchi (if it’s vegetarian) and perilla leaves. If you’re not in an Asian country, you can also frequently get lotus root from Asian supermarkets to make this dish at home.

Mandu doesn't just come with meat! Vegetable mandu is a popular option between veggies and non-veggies alike! Image: Unsplash.

8) Mandu (만두)

Mandu is another popular Korean dish with many variations including vegetarian options. The overall favourite is probably gogi mandu (고기만두) because Korean cuisine tends to favour pork, but of course that’s not an option if you’re plant-based. 

However, you could go for yachae mandu (야채 만두), which is a mixture of veg and nearly always on Korean restaurant menus. Otherwise, perhaps try hobak mandu (호박만두) which is courgette and can be made vegan. Mandu is frequently available in restaurants and in the freezer section of most Asian supermarkets. Sometimes people make a big batch of mandu and freeze it for a later date. However, you may need to dedicate some time to learning how to shape and pinch dumplings if you’ve never done it before.

Is vegetarianism popular in Korea?

A lot of dishes in Korea are meat-based and when going to a Korean restaurant there will be fewer vegetarian options than you may expect elsewhere. That being said, plant-based diets are becoming popular in Korea and as such vegetarian alternatives to classic dishes are also slowly emerging. It was reported by The Korean Herald that the number of vegans in South Korea has tripled within 10 years. And you only need to look at the menu at Millennial Dining in Seoul to see what can be done with meat substitutes. However, vegetarians and vegans only make up 3-4% of the South Korean population, according to Korea Vegan Union.

That being said, Korea isn’t devoid of plant-based dishes. As a country with roots in Buddhism it actually has a lengthy history of non-meat dishes. These are typically categorised separately from Korean cuisine as ‘temple cuisine’ but they use similar ingredients and flavours. While it’s much harder to find temple cuisine in the West, do try and seek out what dishes it has to offer if you visit Korea.

Useful phrases when ordering vegetarian food:

• I’m vegetarian -  저는 채식주의자예요 (jeonun chaeshikjueja yeyo) 

• I don’t eat meat - 고기 안 먹어요 (gogi an mokeoyo)

• Delicious - 맛있어요 (mashisseoyo)

Edited by Chelsea Cheetham.