Korean food is famous for its spiciness, vegetables but meat is present in many, many dishes.

In Seoul, eating the so-called junk food is really very easy and for how I was raised, in an environment where the meat at home comes very little and the quality of food is really very important, here in Seoul everything seems to be relatively healthy. Yes, it is true that food such as tofu, seitan, miso, and seaweed are very present in Korean cuisine, but the way they are “mixed” with the rest (as much as I like it) still leaves me some doubts. And the thought of being able to make my mother eat those same things, with foods of dubious origin, meat and so on, sent me a lot of paranoia.

Korean dishes that do not contain meat

물 냉면 / 비빔 냉면

Korean noodles usually eaten in summer, because served with ice. The 물 냉면 is the version with the broth, half hard-boiled egg, sesame seeds, and pieces of cucumber or turnip, sometimes you can find also a piece of pear inside.

The 비빔 냉면, instead, is the version without stock; also here is half of the hard-boiled egg, small pieces of cucumber or turnip and, more importantly, the Korean red sauce, the spicy one. The difference between the two dishes, in fact, in addition to the presence of broth in the first, is the spiciness. The 물 냉면 are not absolutely spicy, while the 비빕 냉면 could be.

비빔밥

It is a dish of rice and vegetables cut, also in this, there is the spicy red sauce and an egg, which can be hard or fried. Beware – some 비빔밥 contain meat (usually chicken), so it is always good to inquire before ordering it!

김밥 

This is the Korean version of maki, sushi that can be salmon, wrapped in seaweed. The kimbap can be of many different types, yes you can find tuna, bulgogi, and even vegetarians. Generally, inside there are “basic” condiments such as an omelette, salt, sesame oil and a piece of ham.

순두부 찌개

It is a spicy soup whose basic ingredient is a very soft tofu and is served in a bowl of hot stone, there are various versions of this soup, and care must be taken in asking if the broth was made with meat or not. Sometimes it happens to order the basic sundubu (just spicy soup with tofu) and to find small pieces of meat in it. This dish is always accompanied by a bowl of white rice.

된장 찌개

This dish is also served in a bowl of hot stone, in the hot water soybean batter is melted, in which then are cooked zucchini or other vegetables. Be careful to always ask if there are pieces of meat or tuna inside the soup.

잡채

sweet potato noodles sautéed with sesame oil, seasoned with various vegetables.

김치 파전

The so-called Korean pizza! It is a mixture of flour, eggs, salt, water, oil and an ingredient to taste, all fried as a single large omelet.

라면

The Korean ramen is mainly instantaneous and can be bought in any supermarket (even in the convenience store open 24 hours a day), the one served in restaurants is usually the shin ramyeon. Dish not very healthy but without meat and at the same time easy and quick to cook. Not to say delicious!

Useful phrases

To be able to make the waiters understand that you can not / want to eat meat, here are some useful phrases you can use:

I am vegetarian.
저는 채식주의 자 입니다

Among the dishes that you have which are vegetarian?
요리 중 어떤 것이 채식 요리 입니까?