Is it easy to be a vegetarian in S. Korea>?!
Is it easy to be a vegetarian in S. Korea>?
Hi !
I may be moving to s. korea soon and was wondering
if its difficult to be a veggie there..heard theres lots of good
and fresh veggies !
thanks !!
Answers:
Hi. Good luck and hope you enjoy Korea loads. Whether you will be able to live comfortably in Korea as a vegetarian may depend on several factors. (1) First and foremost it will depend on whether you are a strict vegetarian. In Korean cooking, many of the vegetarian options will be made from a fish stock base. Usually this will be made from a dried minnow base. (2) Second, communication, if you do not speak the language. To express the specific restrictions of your diet may be somewhat of a challenge at a lot of the restaurants. (3) What context you are going there in. As with many other Asian countries, many friends, colleagues, clients, co-workers or business partners will envision themselves as hosts, so they may feel the need and the responsibility to share and educate you about the offerings and intracacies of Korean cuisine. Because of the last situation, it is important that you share your dietary restrictions before being invited out. Otherwise, you may have a healthy portion of "bulgoki" (Korean marinated beef) brought to you.
There are a wide variety of vegetables and there are some restaurants that have an entirely vegetarian selection of food cooked in sauces or marinated and they are yummy!
You can find any and all fruits and vegetables that you find here and more!
Hopefully, you enjoy spicy food, because "gochoojang" (red chili paste-not as spicy as it sounds) is a staple in many of their dishes. If you like "kimchee" (Korean pickled cabbage), then you are ready to be a Korean already!
Good luck again and enjoy!
Source(s):
5 years of living in Korea,
28 years of living as a Korean.
26+ years of eating Korean food.
No problem. They eat a lot of pork but also have lots of tofu and interesting meat-substitute products available like soy-chicken and gluten-meats. I'd imagine they'd import Chinese products too and the Chinese have lots of vego goodies. My favourite Korean dish is sizzling Kim Chi Tofu on a hot metal plate. There could be some fish or shrimp products in many of the sauces or seasonings - if that bothers you then you might need some ingredients translations to be on the lookout.
you'll probably be able to get veggies right from the farm, check out local farmer markets!! http://www.ota.com/pics/documents/korean...