Check animal ingredients in stock, sauces and garnishes
| Dish | Animal ingredients to ask about |
|---|---|
| 김치 (kimchi) | Many recipes use fish sauce (액젓) or salted shrimp (새우젓); vegan versions are also available. |
| Soybean-paste stew (된장찌개) · kimchi stew (김치찌개) | Anchovy stock (멸치 육수), often clams or pork too |
| Soft-tofu stew (순두부찌개) | Anchovy or beef stock; often seafood in the pot |
| Rice-cake soup (떡국) · spicy rice cakes (떡볶이) | Beef bone or anchovy stock; fish cake (어묵) in 떡볶이 |
| Banquet noodles (잔치국수) · knife-cut noodles (칼국수) | The stock may contain anchovy or another animal ingredient. |
| Mixed rice bowl (비빔밥) | Fried egg, minced beef, sometimes beef stock in the rice |
| Seaweed rice rolls (김밥) | Ham, crab stick, egg |
| Any seasoned-vegetable (나물) side dish | Check the dressing and stock; ingredients vary by dish. |
| Fried-tofu rice pockets (유부초밥) | Check the rice seasoning and filling, which may contain fish-based ingredients. |
| Instant ramyeon | Most flavour sachets are beef or seafood based |
Ordinary kimchi uses fish sauce made from shrimp or anchovy, with garlic, spring onion and onion as standard; vegan kimchi swaps the salted seafood (젓갈) for salt and a stock of shiitake, radish and onion root, or kelp water — and you will only meet it where a kitchen has chosen to make it.
The single sentence that saves the most meals: 육수에 멸치나 고기 들어가요? — is there anchovy or meat in the stock?
Explore Korean Buddhist temple food
Korean Buddhist temple cooking offers a substantial tradition of plant-based dishes. 사찰음식 (temple food) is the cooking of Korean Buddhist monastic practice, developed across roughly 1,700 years. It uses no meat, fish or dairy — and it also excludes the 오신채, the five pungent vegetables, which the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism names as spring onion (파), garlic (마늘), wild chive (달래), Chinese chive (부추) and asafoetida (흥거). So temple food is not simply Korean food minus the meat, and it will not taste garlicky.
Two addresses, both in Jongno (종로), both at 우정국로 56 near Anguk station (안국역):
- Korean Temple Food Cultural Experience Centre (한국사찰음식문화체험관) — the second floor of the Anguk building, with short cooking experiences you can book as a visitor.
- Balwoo Gongyang (발우공양) — the only temple-food restaurant the organisation runs itself, upstairs in the same building. Lunch runs in two sittings, 11:30–13:20 and 13:30–14:50 with last orders at 14:00; dinner is 18:00–20:20 with last orders at 19:10; closed Sundays. Course menus, and busy enough at lunch that booking is the norm.
Beyond Seoul, most temples that run overnight stays serve monastic meals as part of the programme. Check the programme’s menu and discuss any specific dietary requirements before booking.
Explain the ingredients you avoid
Hankook Research (한국리서치) asks 1,000 Koreans the same questions every year. In 2025, 17% said they practise or aspire to vegetarianism and 4% called themselves outright vegetarians. Then it asked those self-described vegetarians what they eat in an average day:
| Among Koreans who call themselves vegetarian | Eat it |
|---|---|
| Eggs | 92% |
| Meat | 87% |
| Fish and shellfish | 85% |
| Dairy | 84% |
| Poultry | 74% |
This survey includes people with different approaches to reducing animal products. It does not establish that every Korean speaker uses “vegetarian” to mean the same thing. Explain your own requirements clearly rather than assuming that a label tells staff every ingredient you avoid.
What "vegan" means on a Korean package
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's guideline on vegan labelling, published in March 2023, defines a vegan food as one using no animal-derived ingredient at any stage of manufacture, processing or cooking — additives and processing aids included — and not animal-tested. It names milk, eggs, fish and shellfish, meat, lactose, honey, propolis, beeswax and bird's nest as animal-derived, bans frying in animal fat, and requires a label to say where a culture may have been grown on an animal medium. Three limits matter to you:
- It applies to packaged food, additives and supplements — not to restaurants.
- It has no legal force. It is the regulator's guidance and a minimum standard, not a binding rule. Korea has no single vegan law; the system runs on voluntary labels, private certification and this guidance together.
- A product may be labelled vegan and still carry a cross-contamination warning such as 달걀 혼입가능성 있음 ("possible egg carry-over"). If you avoid animal products for allergy reasons rather than ethical ones, check cross-contact warnings and your specific allergen separately.
Ordering, in practice
Name your diet and the ingredients you avoid. For example, 고기, 생선, 계란 다 안 먹어요 means “I do not eat meat, fish or eggs”. Adapt the list to your needs and ask about stock and seasonings too.
Ask before ordering. A prepared stock or sauce cannot have an ingredient removed, so the restaurant may need to suggest another dish.
Search in Korean. 비건 (vegan) and 채식 (vegetarian) are the terms that return results on Korean map apps; "vegan" in Latin letters returns far less. Add the district name — 비건 성수 for vegan in Seongsu, 채식 홍대 for vegetarian in Hongdae (the nightlife and student district around Hongik University).
Convenience stores are a decent fallback, because you can inspect the ingredient list before buying. Check the complete label for your requirements.
