With creativity, vegetarians thrive in Korea

Pictured at top are Korean side dishes prepared vegan-style, or without using animal-derived products. Vegans and vegetarians are finding creative ways to maintain their lifestyles in Korea. In the middle photo, a vegetarian plate at Garobee, a new veggie-only buffet restaurant in Gangnam, southern Seoul. At bottom, slices of faux meat, marinated and cooked Korean style. / Courtesy of Alien's Day Out

By Kim Young-jin

It's a common, almost comical predicament for vegetarians in Korea: co-workers head out for a night of food and camaraderie and inevitably end up at a barbeque joint, frying meat on a sizzling griddle.

It's understandable, of course, as marinated pork and beef dishes go hand-in-hand here with alcoholic drinks and inter-office bonding. Still, the herbivore is left quietly munching on rice and side dishes in the dense smoke of cooking meat.

It's one of the biggest challenges of going vegetarian in Korea.

But despite such hurdles, life has gotten much easier for the growing number of vegetarians living here. With a bit of effort and know-how, they are able to thrive.

"A lot of people think it is harder than it is", said Sean Bienert, a vegetarian from the United States who teaches in Seoul. "But if you cook or speak enough Korean to communicate what you don't want, it's not that hard. It all depends on how far you are willing to go".

The number of vegetarians and vegans here ― those who avoid all animal-derived products ― is growing in line with global trends. They opt for the lifestyle for a number of reasons, including the environment, health and compassion towards animals.

Here are a few tips from longtime vegetarians on maintaining a healthy diet in Korea.

Looks can be deceiving

At first glance, Korean cuisine seems rife with vegetarian options ― tables overflow with vegetable side dishes including kimchi, the fiery-red pickled cabbage dish that has become popular worldwide.

But many of the side dishes, or "banchan", including kimchi, are made with shrimp, anchovies or other seafood products that aren't usually visible. Many soups contain meat- or fish-based broth.

Learning a few key phrases in Korean can go a long way in clearing up misunderstandings.

The most important is "gogi ppeh-joo-seh-yo", literally meaning, "Please remove the meat". "Whan-jeon-hi chae-shik" or "chae-shik juuija", meaning completely vegetarian, are also helpful.

Armed with such phrases, vegetarians have little trouble eating at neighborhood restaurants, leaning on veggie-based dishes such as bibimbap, rice with mixed vegetables, or gimbap, rice and vegetables wrapped in dried seaweed.

It is also important to learn Korean characters in order to scan ingredients while shopping as some products may not be exactly what they seem.

For instance, some soy milk products include the D3 vitamin that is made from sheep, Bienert said. Some packaged puffed-rice products, a sweet traditional treat, are made with gelatin derived from animal bones and hooves.

Know your resources

Those from countries with greater concentrations of vegetarians often take for granted how easy it is to get a well-rounded diet. While trickier in Korea, it can be done by availing oneself of some helpful resources.

"You have to be educated and take care of yourself", said Mipa Lee, who operates popular vegan blog Alien's Day Out. "It's important to make sure you get enough vitamins and proteins".

Items that round out the diet, such as flax seeds, oatmeal and faux meat made from wheat or soy are hard to track down or overly expensive.

Lee, who also runs an online vegan bake shop (www.aliensbakeshop.com), said sites such as Iherb.com offer a wide range of natural products that can be shipped here. Korean site Vegeland.com sells veggie burgers and made-up Korean-style beef.

One place to track down a wide variety of vegan products is Happy Hut, an international chain of vegan restaurants opened by followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai, an advocate for vegetarian living.

For restaurants, the essential Happy Cow website (www.happycow.net) reviews over 70 vegetarian restaurants nationwide.
After researching online, good vegetarian eats are easy to find, especially in Seoul.

The best area is around the foreigner enclave of Itaewon in the capital city. Pubs on the main strip offer veggie burgers, Indian and Mediterranean restaurants have traditionally meatless dishes and veggie-friendly bistros are beginning to appear in bunches.

Bienert recommended the Noksa Cafe in his neighborhood of Haebangcheon that serves scrumptious falafel and grilled veggie sandwiches.

Elsewhere, several establishments near Buddhist-influenced Insa-dong are either vegetarian or have such options, and a new buffet in southern Seoul's Gangnam called Garobee garnered a positive review by Lee.

Build community

Bienert, who became a vegetarian after rescuing a stranded dog, and Lee, who initially went vegan for environmental reasons, said it was important to meet likeminded people go avoid getting trapped in Korea's omnivorous social culture.

The American hosted a dinner with his vegan girlfriend at which guests were treated to traditional Korean dishes made with faux meat.

Lee, meanwhile, will host a vegan bake sale to raise funds to help alleviate the famine in East Africa on Sept. 17 at Suji's Restaurant near Noksapyeong Station in Seoul.

They both recommended vegetarians check out the Facebook page of the Seoul Veggie Club, which meets twice a month to explore new veggie-friendly restaurants and exchange recipes and tips on how eating well in Korea.

Of course, the inevitable party among co-workers or friends will occur and the Korea-based herbivore will find him or herself in the midst of all that meat.

"You have to be patient", Lee advised. "These days, I just tell them we will meet up later and just cook at home".

Advertisement