Today’s recipe video features delicious and lazy Korean-inspired recipes you should try! Check out the video below for the live version and don’t forget to scroll down for the written recipes~
I was born and raised in South Korea (before I moved to Canada) and therefore, grew up eating lots of Korean food (some of you who have been long-time followers already know this, but I thought I could do a little intro to those who are new here!). Unfortunately many Korean recipes contain animal products but traditional Korean recipes can be very easy to veganize as animal products used to be more rare and seen as a luxury.!
The one thing with Korean food is that sometimes, it can be a lot of work. There are a lot of intricacies to Korean cooking so it can be intimidating.
Hence, here I am with a batch of delicious and LAZY vegan Korean recipes! I wanted to show you some easier recipes that you can start with, especially if you’re new to Korean-style cooking. Say hello to the (1) gochujang fried rice, (2) sweet potato jeon, and (3) mini kimbap (featured in my previous mukbang video!).
Excited to try out these recipes? Don’t forget to watch the video above and let’s get cooking and check out the recipes below!
Gochujang Fried Rice
Ingredients:
- 1/2 tbsp oil
- 1/4 onion, diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (see my minced garlic HACK)
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 cup cooked day-old short-grain rice
- 1/4 cup chickpeas
- 1 – 1.5 tbsp gochujang
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- Optional add-ins:
- roasted seaweed
- roasted sesame seeds
- green onions
Instructions:
- Heat oil in a large pan or wok on medium-high heat and sauté onion for a couple of minutes.
- Add mixed vegetables, cooked rice, chickpeas and gochujang. Mix well.
- Turn heat off and add in sesame oil. Mix well.
- Add optional add-ins such as roasted seaweed or roasted sesame seeds.
- Enjoy warm!
Sweet Potato Jeon
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1/2 cup of flour
- 3/4 cup water (1.5x the amount of flour)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 tbsp oil (per batch, add more oil as needed)
Instructions:
- Cut sweet potato horizontally into thin pieces that are less than 1cm thick (see video).
- Mix together flour, water & salt to create a simple batter.
- Heat oil on a pan on medium-low heat. Coat the sweet potato slices in the batter and cook on one side on low heat for around 8-10 minutes (or until nice and golden). Keep the heat low to allow the sweet potato to cook on the inside without burning the outside.
- Flip and cook for another 8-10 minutes or until nice and golden. To check if the sweet potato is cooked on the inside, poke with chopsticks or a fork to see if it goes in easily.
- Enjoy!
Mini Kimbap
Ingredients:
- 1 medium carrot, julienned
- 8 long pieces (3-4 inch) of thin pickled radish (danmuji)
- 2 cups spinach
- Salt as needed
- total of around 1.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 nori sheets
- 1 cup cooked short grain rice
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions:
- Pan-fry carrots with some water or a little oil then add in a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil. Set aside.
- In the same pan, cook the spinach until just wilted, then add a pinch of salt & 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil. Set aside.
- Prepare any other vegan protein to add into your kimbap (I recommend my vegan spam recipe).
- Into a large bowl of warm cooked short-grain rice, add a generous pinch of salt and 1 tsp of toasted sesame oil and mix well.
- Prepare nori sheets by folding them and cutting them into 4 squares.
- Assemble each mini kimbap by adding a small amount of the rice and spreading it across, leaving a small empty space at the top.
- Place carrots, spinach, pickled radishes and your favourite plant-based protein and roll.
- To seal, add a small amount of water at the end of the nori sheet to stick it on (watch video for reference).
- Spread some extra toasted sesame oil on top of each kimbap and top with some sesame seeds.
- Enjoy!