Vegetarian dishes

[chasmmi]

Firstly you kind of need to employ an 'ignorance is bliss' style attitude to eating if you don't want eating out life to be an absolute chore.

It easy to avoid dishes that contain actual bits of meat either by ordering things like bibimbap or memorising the phrase X- peh-go (ham peh-go is one of the first things I learnt in Korea for use in Kimbap places and for ordering fried rice dishes etc.)

For stocks etc it is a lost battle. If you truly cannot make yourself pretend you don't realise that tofu stew has anchovy paste and some bibimbap vegetables can be marinated in meat based marinades or that kimchi has shrimp extract etc then you will literally have to live off white rice if you are eating out with people and cannot persuade them to go to the temple restaurant for the 50 straight evening.

Vegetarianism in Korea I see as doing what you can and letting some things slide by just not asking.

I do not eat any cup ramens because they all contain beef powder, I will of course ask people to leave out the ham in kimbap, fried rice etc and the pork in kimchi stew and so forth. But asking about stocks and oils, well there's nothing the restaurant can do to change that so there's nothing I can do except accept it.

Just remember one golden rule: In korea ham is not meat so be specific when you ask about contents.

[w4z]

Gyeran Jjim (steamed egg porridge) is usually a side dish and is vegetarian. All it is is eggs and a bit of green onion.

Nope, generally anchovie broth.

Why not use moving to a new country as an opportunity to rid yourself of the vego religion? If you want to save cute animals, OK (though, growing soy beans for your tofu kills lots of cute animals too). If you are doing it for your health, you are utterly misguided I'm afraid. Get a feed of hanwoo cow or eels or raw fish or gamja tang and try to tell me not eating meat isn't a mistake.

Troll much?

[RachelTibai]

Lol! There aren't many options (unless your aren't a strict veg). If you are though the best thing to do is cook for yourself:) also it is healthier and cheaper! There are vegetarian restaurants in Seoul (My fave is in Insadong). Also, there are Indian restaurants everywhere and they usually cater to vegetarians quite well. Good luck!

[Hadrian360]

I would also advocate cooking at home and employing an "ignorance is bliss" attitude when out at Korean restaurants. When at a Korean restaurant, I usually just get a Dolsot Bibimbap (veggies and rice in a hot stone bowl that fries the rice) and say "Gogi Obsoyo" (and "Gyaerun Obsoyo" if vegan). They mean "No meat" and "No egg" respectively. You have to be specific on each different thing you don't want. Dolsot Bibimbap is my personal fave so it works out well for me. I would also suggest attempting to order a kimbap and saying Ham Obsoyo and Haemil Obsoyo (No Seafood) and (Gyaerun Obsoyo, again, if vegan). It might be a little frustrating depending on the server. Anytime I get an older Korean lady I get confused looks, even when I've written it down for them, but it always works out in the end.

I've noticed that Emart sells prepackaged Bibimbap and Japchae without any animal products, as far as I can tell. (Again, ignorance is bliss...)

http://aliensdayout.com/ - Alien's Day Out, a blog run by a vegan living in Seoul.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/seoulveggieclub/ Facebook group for Veg people in Seoul, but anyone can join.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/veganKOREA/ - Vegan Korea Facebook group.

[justanotherwaygook]

Japchae always has small pieces of pork fried with it.

It's beef, typically, not pork.  It's not always in there, but usually is.

Actually, I've only seen it with pork, with the exception of an awesome dumpling place near my apartment that serves vegetarian japchae filled mandu.

I think I've always had it with beef or none.  From a little research, it seems both are used.

A search on google in Korean for Japchae recipes led me to the following results from the first 10 links:
5 called for beef
2 called for pork
2 called meat but didn't specify in the text which kind (1 had picture of pork, 1 had a picture of beef)
1 didn't call for meat

[w4z]

Fair enough. Only 3 of my Korean girlfriends cook, and all of them (and their moms, obviously) use pork. Also, the shop that makes japchae near me uses pork, so I just assumed that it was standard.

I didn't look at your gender and assumed you were a man.  Was disappointed when I found out the truth...  Then I lol'd.

[red dog]

The OP got great advice re: Alien's Day Out and the two FB groups. (Relying on phrasebook Korean in a regular restaurant seems like asking for trouble, though.)

The disinformationists might like to check out this link:

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/2003_ADA_position_paper.pdf

[matthews_world]

As I posted in the Green Smoothie thread:


Simply steaming your own vegetables at home is an easy alternative, especially for those who can't yet put down their fast food regimens or are too lazy to cook. Veggies in Korea are quite wonderful here, plentiful and cheap. 

What I do are cabbage leaves, asparagus, and broccolli.  Sweet potatoes/yams are a chawked full of anti-oxidants.  Tofu is a great source of protein which can be served along side. 

I also make my own hummus from chickpeas which also contain protein.  Have them sent from home or find a foreign food market near you.  Hummus already prepared is available on EZshopkorea.com.  Serve with pita bread.

Cottage cheese topped with sliced tomatoes, bean sprouts, and chopped green onion/scallion makes a great dish.

Being raised on a cattle farm most of my childhood, I've become somewhat of a flexitarian over the years. 

Along with the eat meat that is served with my school lunches, I might eat it maybe for two or dinners per week. Other times, I'll eat either raw or steamed salmon which is high in omega-3. 

My only weakness is the snacks during prep time at work.  Thank God for the gym.

[squid]

The Loving Hut is an all-vegetarian (and vegan) chain that has some locations in Korea. Their menu has a lot of Korea food made veggie-style on it. Also, they have a small grocery section with vegetarian meats, condiments, etc.

http://lovinghut.kr/kr/index.php?&lang=_en