water
juice

soft drink (can)
soft drink (bottle)

227g pot
per person
195ml

3 x 200g
500g
2kg

coffee
filter coffee
Nescafe instant

mini vending cup
500g
226g jar

300-400
13000
8500

cherry tomatoes
apples
oranges
banana
melons
pineapple tinned
corn oil

Korea's staple crop is rice and the cuisine certainly reflects this. It also utilises noodles, tofu and a wide variety of vegetables, which are quite commonly served raw in a salad or zested up in a pickled brine. In fact, Korea is quite famous for this latter method of preservation. The most popular being kimchi, which is without a doubt served at almost every meal. The most common recipe uses baechu [napa cabbage], fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, scallions, and chilli pepper, but there are endless other varieties using daikon, cucumber, winter greens and other seasonal vegetables.

Fermented vegetable recipes were developed early on in Korean food history as a means of providing the population with the necessary proteins and vitamins during the bleak winter months. Traditionally, kimchi is made with a salty shrimp, but these days there are clearly marked varieties on supermarket shelves produced especially for vegetarians. (The little sticker will help you out here). Another type of kimchi, known as mulgimchi [water kimchi] is salted in a broth clear of any fish paste what so ever.

Adding to the excitement of Korean food, the customary spice kitchen is full of rich and delicious seasonings, mostly in the form of pastes and oils: doenjang [fermented soybean paste], gochujang [red chili paste] soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sesame oil. And lucky enough for the vegetarian, suitable cookery can be traced back to strong Buddhist influence and hence there are small vegetarian establishments dotted all over the country. Not all of them, however, are well advertised.

The Korean monastery restaurants are obviously a safe haven for vegans and vegetarians alike, whose cuisine apart from using honey, is completely animal and dairy free. In recent times, it has become relatively trendy to eat in these places so it can prove an expensive exercise. HappyCow has a list of some restaurants in the larger cities, though most of these are limited to a buffet style arrangement.

So far everything sounds pretty good for the vegetarian, but here come the problems you'll face as a non-meat eater in South Korea. Firstly, although vegetarianism is becoming ever so slightly popular, most people do not really understand the concept of not wanting to eat meat. If you ask for your dish to be prepared "no gogi" you could well expect seafood to be included, or worse still that the dish is prepared as per usual and the obvious chunks of meat removed before you get it. One way around this is to say you are a chaesikjuwija: a person who only eats vegetables.

Bibimbap
Sometimes referred to as bibimba; bibimbab; b-bop; or even bibimbop, this straightforward Korean dish literally translates as "stirred meal". What is really boils down to, is a simple bowl of warm white rice, which you mix together with the namul and gochujang, [sautéed vegetables and chilli pepper], topping.

Namul can contain a selection of the following vegetables when in season: oi [cucumber, hobak [zucchini], mu [daikon], carrot, any of the numerous beoseot [mushroom] varieties available, doraji [bellflower root], sigeumchi [spinach], kongnamul [soybean sprouts], or gosari [bracken fern stems]. Furthermore an egg, either raw or fried, might compliment the dish as can fresh dubu [tofu]. More often than not though, sliced meat comes along with the deal and vegetarians will need to ask for this addition to be left out.

An offshoot version is Kimchi bokeum-bap: a garlicky fried rice with kimchi [fermented spicy cabbage] and sesame seeds. Also served with a fried egg and traditionally ham or sausage, but it is easy enough for non-meat eaters to ask for this dish minus the meat elements.

Gimbap
Occasionally dubbed the Korean Sushi, this totally healthy seaweed roll is modestly filled with sesame oil flavoured rice, sigeumchi [spinach], carrot or oi [cucumber], sesame seeds. Rolled and sliced it is accompanied with either and danmuji [pickled radish] or kimchi [fermented spicy napa cabbage]. And it doesn't stop here: not only a pick-me-up snack but served with some with saengchae or sukchae (see below), a couple of gimbap make a nutritionally delicious meal at any time of day.

In earlier times it was deemed that wealthy people ate meat while the underprivileged ate bindaetteok or bindaebyeong: the later literally translating as "poor man's pancake". This type of jeon is made with ground mung beans, pa [scallions], kimchi, sesame oil and chilli pepper. Lightly fried in an oiled pan and served piping hot, it is commonly accompanied with a dipping sauce of slightly sweetened vinegar, soy sauce and chilli flakes.

Other popular varieties include: hobakjeon: made with squash; yeongeunjeon: made with lotus root; gochujeon: made with chili peppers; dubujeon: made with tofu; and nokdujeon: made with mung beans. Plenty of choice for the hungry vegetarian.

Tguk Hangwa [Korean Confectionary]
Koreans are certainly known for their sweet tooth and there are many different types of desserts and confectionary available in supermarkets or in specialty shops. For a quick understanding of the selection available take a look at the very informative Food in Korea website.

One all time dessert favourite is tteok. While there are several varieties to chose from, in a nutshell, they are chewy rice-flour cakes filled or smothered with sweetened bean paste, nuts, pumpkin and/or honey. Delicious as an energy boosting snack or just something a little sweet after your meal.