Vegetarianism in Korea.

As my loving friends and family all know, I’m one of those really annoying people who make dinning a pain in the back-side with my vegetarianism. And have been for the past… almost 5 years O.o. Before I came to Korea I knew that being vegetarian was going to be hard from the get go, especially since that would mean that I wouldn’t be able to eat the vast majority of regular Korean food. But I figured some how it would sort itself out. Upon arriving in Korea, boy did I realise how wrong I was.

If you ask for a meal without meat, well first you’ll get a funny look and then maybe they’ll ask why, but still that doesn’t mean that you’ll get a meal that’s free from meat even if they agree to do it for you. If there’s no meat actually visible, chances are it’s still meaty (hidden meat evilness). The chances are it was still prepared with meat in some way. A dish without meat is still likely to be prepared in either a beef broth or in like a prawn brine or something to that effect.  Dokbokki, for example, is vegetarian in itself, but when it’s being prepared, it’s boiled with fishcakes for flavour. Sure you could just pick out the fish cakes but then you’re still eating all the fish juice. You may as well eat the fish right? Depending on how disciplined you are, as a vegetarian this either is or isn’t acceptable. Coming from my uni days where I was so strict I had my own fridge, plates, and cutlery to prevent cross contamination, this is a far cry! D;

Now there are a couple of places in Korea…mainly in Seoul, like “Loving Hut“, that do do vegetarian and vegan food, but I don’t live in Seoul. =/

So, I gave it plenty of thought before I came to Korea, if I found it to be this difficult and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to have to give up being vegetarian. *sigh* I'm sure the family will cheer >.>