비건 한식 레시피
Vegan Korean recipes — what is safe, what needs one swap
A working list of vegan Korean dishes: what is plant-based by default, what needs one swap (fish sauce, anchovy stock, egg), and how to ask in a restaurant.
The two hidden animals
Korean home food is vegetable-heavy, but two things hide in “vegetable” dishes: anchovy-kelp stock under most soups and stews, and salted shrimp or fish sauce in most kimchi. Fix both at home with a kombu + dried shiitake stock and a jar labelled 비건 김치 (or make kimchi with soy instead of jeotgal). Egg is the third: bibimbap and kimbap use it, but neither needs it.
Vegan by default
- Sigeumchi-namul 시금치나물 — sesame spinach
- Kongnamul-muchim 콩나물무침 — seasoned soybean sprouts
- Oi-muchim 오이무침 — spicy smashed cucumber
- Gamja-jeon 감자전 — potato pancake (no egg needed)
- Kongguksu 콩국수 — iced soy-milk noodles
- Dongchimi 동치미 — water radish kimchi (skip any jeotgal)
- Songpyeon, injeolmi, hotteok, tteok-kkochi — rice-cake snacks
- Sikhye, sujeonggwa — the two banquet drinks
Vegan with one swap
- Doenjang jjigae — use kombu-shiitake stock instead of anchovy.
- Sundubu jjigae — same stock swap; leave out the egg and clams.
- Bibimbap — skip the egg; the gochujang-sesame dressing is already vegan.
- Kimbap — pickled radish, spinach, carrot, cucumber; no egg, no ham.
- Japchae — leave out the beef; mushrooms carry it.
- Tteokbokki — skip fish cake, use vegetable stock; check the gochujang label for none of the rare fish-sauce brands.
- Kimchi jjigae, kimchi fried rice, kimchi-jeon — only if the kimchi itself is vegan.
- Pajeon — drop the egg from the batter; icy water and starch keep it crisp.
- Mandu — tofu-cabbage filling; check wrappers for egg.
The temple mindset
Korean temple food is vegan and free of the five pungents (garlic, onion, scallion, chive, leek). That is a stricter rule than most Western vegans keep, and it is why temple dishes taste “quiet.” You do not have to adopt it — but if a restaurant advertises 사찰음식, it is the safest vegan menu in the country.
Say it
Restaurant Korean is blunt and works better than a paragraph of explanation. Say 고기 안 먹어요 (I don’t eat meat) and, if you can, 멸치 육수 빼 주세요 (without anchovy stock). Full script with audio: restaurant phrases.
Say it
Shopping
- kombu (dashima)
- dried shiitake
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- gochugaru
- vegan kimchi
FAQ
Is kimchi vegan?
Usually not. Most commercial and home kimchi contains salted shrimp (saeujeot) or fish sauce. Look for 비건 김치 on the label or make a batch with soy sauce and a strip of kelp in the paste.
Is bibimbap vegan?
Almost. The vegetables and gochujang-sesame dressing are vegan; ask for no egg (계란 빼 주세요) and confirm the namul were not seasoned with fish sauce, which is rare but happens.
Is tteokbokki vegan?
Street tteokbokki usually has fish cake and anchovy stock. At home, use rice cakes, vegetable stock, gochujang, and gochugaru — the sauce itself is plant-based.
What Korean stock can replace anchovy stock?
Simmer a piece of dashima (kombu) with a few dried shiitake for 15 minutes, then remove the kombu before it turns bitter. It carries doenjang and sundubu stews without tasting like a compromise.
Story behind it
Also cook
Also read
Updated 2026-09-04