Culture Tuesday is a weekly column in which Best of Vegan Editor Samantha Onyemenam explores different cultures’ cuisines across the globe through a plant-based and vegan lens. Before you start exploring vegan Korean recipes, you might want to click here to read her original column about Korean cuisine.
Culture Tuesday – 5 Vegan Korean Recipes You Need To Try
This is a complementary piece to the article on Korean cuisine. This piece, which is split into two parts, consists of 10 vegan-friendly Korean recipes from Korean foodies and recipe developers. It includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes as well as treats/snacks and side dishes. This complementary piece will introduce you to 5 delicious vegan Korean meals this week, and 5 others next week, through history and recipes. Click here for part two of this article.
Jjigae
Jjigae, also sometimes romanized as, ‘Chigae,’ is a stew of Korean origins. It is often made with meats. However, there are vegetable-based jjigae variants as well as meaty ones which have intentionally been made plant-based for affordability or to meet the demand for vegan foods as the population of vegans in Korea and diaspora increases.
A jjigae is often named after its main seasoning or ingredient which is cooked in a seasoned broth. Thus, we have doenjang jjigae, dubu jjigae, sundubu jjigae, and kimchi jjigae.
Dubu jjigae and sundubu jjigae are both tofu stews although the type of tofu used to make them varies. Dubu jjigae is made with firm to extra firm tofu while sundubu jjigae is made using silken tofu (as their translated names suggest). Although these types of jjigae are named after the tofu in them, tofu is not limited to jjigae dishes named after it. Thus, the other jjigae dishes found in Korean cuisine often also contain tofu, especially when in vegan-friendly forms.
The creation of doenjang (the main seasoning/paste for doenjang jjigae) dates back to before the Three Kingdoms. It is actually mentioned in the historical record of the wedding of King Sinmun of Silla in February 683 as well as during wars and in less affluent communities where protein deficiency might be greater found (to combat the deficiency).
Doenjang is a fermented soybean paste that is a byproduct of the production of ganjang (soup soy sauce). It is made by fermenting meju (a soybean brick made from cooked soybeans) in brine (saltwater) over a prolonged period of time. Over time, the brine darkens as it becomes soy sauce. After the desired level of fermentation is reached, the mixture is heated to kill bacteria and increase concentration then the meju is mashed into a paste and, sometimes, flavorful spices, thickeners (usually wheat flour), flavor enhancers, salt, and/or alcohol are added for a fuller flavor and to preserve freshness.
Doenjang jjigae is made by sautéing onions, garlic, and ginger in a hot oil and gochugaru (Korean chili powder) mixture then combining them with tofu, potatoes, and, possibly, other vegetables, before mixing in the doenjang and water or vegetable stock (for a vegan version). This mixture is left to stew/cook down till the potatoes are cooked through then served with freshly cooked white rice and a range of banchan (side dishes).
In this video, Joanne of The Korean Vegan, shares step-by-step instructions on how she makes her doenjang jjigae (ingredients and instructions available in the caption).
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Gochujang (the main ingredient in gochujang jjigae) is a spicy pepper paste. It is believed that historically, especially in the mid-9th century recounts of a pepper paste in Korea, this paste was originally made of chopi (an aromatic citrusy peppercorn native to Korea) and black peppers. However, in the 16th century, chili peppers were brought to Korea from parts of South America colonized by the Portuguese (and possibly other Europeans). The chilies were cultivated in Korea and the variety known as, ‘taeyang-cho,’ (also known as, ‘gochu pepper’) was created. This chili pepper is primarily used to make gochugaru (Korean red chili powder). However, spicier gochugaru is made using cheongyang chili peppers.
Gochugaru is the foundation of gochujang. It is combined with glutinous rice flour, fermented soybeans, salt, barley malt powder, and sometimes, spices such as onion or garlic powder to make a thick paste which, after fermentation, is sweet, tangy, spicy, and savory (umami flavor) with a distinct bright red color.
Gochujang jjigae is a stew that is very similar to doenjang jjigae. However, in place of the doenjang, gochujang is used. Gochujang also often features in other stews such as duba jjigae, sundubu jjigae and budaejjigae (army base stew).
It is believed that budaejjigae was created shortly after the Korean Armistice Agreement which brought about the cessation of the Korean War. It was created during a period of impoverishment when food was scarce across South Korea by the people living closer to the U.S. Army Bases. The people begged for food, smuggled some out of the Army Bases, or collected donated surplus food (if any was freely given) and combined them together to make a filling meal which is believed to have once been a stir fry but is now known as a stew made from a gochujang broth.
In this recipe, Rose of Cheap Lazy Vegan shows how she makes her delectable filling budaejjigae.
Kimchi
Kimchi is a fermented condiment and side dish made by salting vegetables such as baechu (Napa cabbage) and mu (Korean radish), seasoning them in a mixture including gochugaru, garlic, ginger, spring onions (green onions/scallions), and leaving them to ferment at room temperature for a few days before refrigerating them.
Historically, the kimchi was made in an onggi (a brown clay pot) which would be buried in the ground during the winter we w way to preserve the vegetables. This kimchi was not spicy like modern-day kimchi is (we chilies we’re not in Korea yet) neither was garlic used.
It should be noted that kimchi is traditionally non-vegan as it contains fish sauce or anchovy broth. However, vegan versions exist both as homemade and commercial/storebought kimchi. In this recipe, Sue (also known as MommyTang) shares her vegan recipe for delicious kimchi.
Kimchi bokkeum bap, also known as, ‘kimchi fried rice,’ is a fried rice dish made using day-old/leftover rice, overripe kimchi, gochujang, sesame oil, spring onions (green onions/scallions), and kim (roasted seaweed). However, some cooks also include a host of vegetables to bulk up the meal and make it more nutritious.
In this recipe, Joanne shows how she makes her flavorsome veggie-filled kimchi fried rice:
Tteok
Tteok is the Korean name for rice, especially a class of rice cakes made from a mixture of grains, including glutinous and/or non-glutinous rice. There are various types of tteok due to the range of ways rice cakes can be prepared for different dishes. These types include hwajeon, gyeongdan, sirutteok, jeolpyeon, and garaetteok:
- Hwajeon is a pan-fried variant of tteok. They are made from a sweetened glutinous rice flour batter which is pan-fried to form circular chewy rice cakes.
- Gyeongdan are also known as, ‘shaped tteok.’ They are made from a mixture of glutinous rice flour and sorghum flour which a mixed with water to form a dough. The dough is shaped into bite-sized balls or rounded squares (small cubes) before being boiled to form the rice cakes.
- Sirutteok are steamed tteok. Like hwajeon and gyeongdan, it is made from fine rice flour. However, more like gyeongdan, the flour is combined with just enough water to make a dough. It is shaped into rectangles/cuboids and steamed.
- Jeolpyeon is a pounded variant of tteok. Rice is steamed until it’s cooked then pounded until a smooth, somewhat shiny, and stretchy “dough” is created. The “dough” is shaped using a wooden tray, cut, and stamped to make the tteok.
- Garaetteok is also a pounded tteok. However, it is made from a steamed rice flour and water mixture (as opposed to steamed rice) and it is this steamed mixture that gets pounded before it is rolled or extruded (using tools/machinery) to form long cylinders that get cut to inch-long pieces (or slightly longer/shorter) or into relatively thin angled pieces to make the rice cake. This, especially the longer, thicker cylindrical garaetteok, is the type of rice cake used to make tteokbokki.
Tteokbokki is a rice cake dish in which garaetteok is simmered in either a spicy gochujang sauce or a non-spicy ganjang sauce. Although both types of the dish are known as, ‘tteokbokki,’ the latter is also referred to as, ‘gungjung tteokbokki,’ or ‘royal court tteokbokki,’ and both can be found in various forms (such as rabokki which is tteokbokki made with the addition of instant noodles (ramyeon/ramen noodles).
In this recipe, Atuliya of ChefAtuliya shows how she makes tteokbokki. The version in this recipe is gochujang tteokbokki which is a vibrant red saucy tteokbokki made using a vegan-friendly broth of soy sauce, mushroom seasoning, tomato paste, and water (some cooks might opt for a broth made of the water from rehydrating kelp/seaweed, vegetable stock, and/or the water from rehydrating shiitake mushrooms or mushroom powder). The tteok is cooked in the broth with the gochujang, a bit of sugar, and oil till it reaches the desired level of softness and chewiness then served with a garnish of sesame seeds, spring onions, and/or thin slices of perilla leaves.
