Eating Out:  

Eating out as a vegetarian in many cities can be trying, but Seoul takes the cake. Seoul ’s restos offer some fine fare for the less particular amongst us, but the majority are hardly vegetarian friendly. Not only is there little to offer to veggies, but quite often they’ll find themselves persona non grata. Restaurant staff will refuse to change the menu saying things like, “We don’t serve green salads here. You must buy the seafood salad and pick it off yourself.” While we may find this incredibly annoying, it is simply another of the cultural skirmishes between the Western concept of individuality and the Korean concept of the group. It is very unKorean to ask for a change in the menu. Try not to get too irate when problems arise. Remaining calm will help things resolve themselves quicker.

Don’t despair, keep the faith and take solace in this.  Although few and far between, there are vegetarian options in Seoul They are often faith-based, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a healthy meal. Generally these restos are buffet style, with fake meat dishes (made of gluten and soy products) and other Korean style veggie foods. SM restaurant in Yangaie (02-511-2402), Country Life Health Cafeteria in Sinsa-dong (02-511-2402), Sanchon (02-735-0315) and So Sim Vegetarian Restarurant in Insa-Dong, and Salem in Bundang (031-711-3668 ) are excellent vegetarian/vegan options. 

Veggie-specific restos are not abundant in Korea , so what can you do when eating with workmates? The key is to remember, vegetarian is not a Korean concept. Although you may think that your new Korean friends are trying to poison you with seafood and ham, remember that the Korean language is very specific about meat. Gogi is beef, dalk is chicken, ham is ham, haemul is seafood, mul-gogi is fish; think of it like this, to a Korean saying “I don’t eat meat” means “I don’t eat don’t eat beef, but for everything else I’m good to go”.    

So, what can you eat? There are plenty of side dishes that are veggie friendly: Ya-chae twiggim (fried veggies), gamja twiggim (fried potatoes), sha-gimshi (salty spinach), bap (rice), kim (seasoned seaweed), tu-bu (tofu) walnuts and peanuts. As a meal you can always have bi-bim-bap (rice with veggies, seaweed and hot chilis), salad kim bap (a rice and salad seaweed roll), bibim neum myung (cold noodles) and shin lamyeon (ramyeon noodles). Be forewarned that most Korean soups have either a beef or fish base and Kimchi has salted shrimp in it; if you are fundamentalist steer clear from them. If you are the type of person who carries a backpack or purse with you, keep almonds or sunflower seeds with you and in a jam you can add them to rice or bi-bim-bap (this may bother your colleagues, but it’s better than starving). 

Eating in  

You’re busy, you work hard and, frankly, don’t have the time to come home and cook vegetarian food from scratch. Back home it was easy, being lazy meant cooking healthy and quick veggie burgers, tofu dogs or veggie dinners (not to mention the delivery). Let’s face it, cooking tofu and pulses can be time consuming and tedious at the end of a long day. Not to mention that Korean tofu is much softer than Western tofu. In your average Korean grocery store, you will be hard-pressed to find: lentils, chickpeas, extra-firm tofu, Indian spices, coconut milk, good cheese and other staples of the vegetarian diet.  

There are several grocery stores that cater to the foreign pallet: Hannam Market and Hadden House, both are located in Hannam dong. In upscale department stores, there is usually a foreign food section. Costco’s selection used to be better, nevertheless they still carry a fair selection of foreign veggie food (their spinach cheese ravioli is a super healthy, quick and yummy dinner). The Islamic grocers up near the mosque in Itaewon offer a good variety of lentils, chick peas, pomadoms, curry powders and more.  

Some of the vegetarian restaurants previously mentioned also sell faux meats. SM has the best selection by far, with “beef”, “ham”, “fish” and “chicken”; try the “tofu chicken nuggets” they’re great. Salem carries canned veggie burger, tofu dogs and a selection of organic products. 

The Korean market is opening up to new ideas as well. Pulmoune makes “Soga Tubu” which is their version of American tofu. It’s the firmest tofu to date. When you can’t find Soga, here’s some advice: make sure you are buying bu-chim (for steak) tofu and not je-gae (for stew), then press the excess water out of it by cutting it into even sections and placing it on an angled cutting board (into the sink), place another cutting board or plates on top of it and gradually add more weight. This takes a while, but is healthier than frying the water out. 

Keep in mind that being a vegetarian means that you need to follow a basic food plan that includes whole grains like brown rice, protein like tofu and a variety of colored fruits and vegetables. It takes more work to maintain a healthy veggie lifestyle in Korea , but it’s worth it in the long run! 

      There is a group of expat vegetarians who meet once a month and go to veggie restos en masse. If you are interested, please email soluxury@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the mailing list for upcoming events.

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