Kimchi is a side dish traditionally made in Korea. It is made up of fermented cabbage, but can also be found with other vegetables like radishes, spring onions, carrots and cucumbers.
It recently exploded into the vegan world due to its incredible flavours and gut-friendly properties. Whilst Kimchi isn’t always vegan-friendly, it is really easy to get your hands on vegan Kimchi. Or you can even make your own vegan kimchi.
My favourite vegan kimchi
So, you’ve made or bought yourself a jar of vegan kimchi. What next? Well, now it is time to discover the many ways in which you can cook with vegan kimchi.
1. Vegan kimchi fried rice
In my opinion, this is one of the best ways to eat vegan kimchi. It is incredibly comforting and really easy to knock up. Whenever I am cooking rice I make sure to cook a little bit extra and set it aside in the fridge ready to make some vegan kimchi fried rice whenever it takes my fancy.
Simply fry off some vegetables, like leeks, onion, and carrot, add in some chopped up vegan kimchi and cooked rice. Fry off until the rice crisps up and is fully heated through. Mix in some fresh chopped up kimchi and gollop it all up!
You could also add in some fried tofu or tempeh to include some protein in the dish.
2. Kimcheeze Toastie
Who doesn’t love a vegan toastie?! And, if you like kimchi then you are going to love vegan kimchi cheese toasties even more. It is quite a mouthful so some clever sod came up with ‘kimcheese’ which I have veganised to ‘kimcheeze’.
Create a sandwich with vegan cheese, vegan kimchi, and a few dollops of your favourite vegan mayonnaise inside, and place inside your toastie maker. Not got a toastie maker? You can always get a frying pan on a high heat and fry off the sandwich on both sides. Just beware, this method can get a little messy.
This works really well with slices of this spelt bread loaf.
3. Vegan kimchi pancake
This is a traditional Korean dish known as Kimchijeon (김치전). It isn’t the healthiest dish, due to the amount of oil needed to get it super crispy, but it makes for a great treat. It is like a hug in a plate.
Traditionally it is made up of flour, chopped up kimchi, and vegetables. Although, beware some recipes do use egg and meat. But these aren’t necessary, as shown in my favourite vegan kimchi pancake recipe comes from Lisa at Okonomi Kitchen – I urge you to give it a try!
Want to make it gluten-free? Then sub all purpose flour for a gluten-free plain flour.
4. Vegan kimchi stew
Another classic Korean dish, the kimchi stew (Kimchi-jjigae). This is often made with meat or seafood, but you can easily leave this out and just make it with silken tofu instead.
There are many variations of this staple Korean recipe but my favourite is from The Korean Vegan.
5. Vegan kimchi fried noodles
Much like the vegan kimchi fried rice, this is a comforting and moreish way of eating your vegan kimchi. Pick your favourite noodles and veg. Fry off some vegan kimchi and veg, and add in your cooked noodles. Make sure to mix in some fresh vegan kimchi at the end to add in some sourness to the dish.
6. Vegan kimchi as an accompaniment
I thought it was worth mentioning one of the easiest ways of eating vegan kimchi, and that is as it is. Serve it up in a little side dish bowl and eat it on the side of your meal.
Keeping it fresh will mean you are making the most of its gut-friendly bacteria. And it will help bring some tang and spice to your meal.
It works perfectly served up alongside most Asian dishes. I was actually often served it as a side dish when I lived in Vietnam, proving the popularity of this incredible food!
7. Vegan kimchi burger
Last but not least, I recommend adding kimchi to your next vegan burger. You can do this two ways, either by making your own vegan burger patties and mixing some chopped up vegan kimchi into the mix, or adding it as a topping on your favourite pre-bought burger patty.
I would recommend mixing some chopped up kimchi into your favourite vegan mayonnaise and topping that on a vegan chicken burger patty. Serve in a fluffy bun.
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