Is kimchi vegetarian? Not always.
According to the 2022 iteration of the Codex Alimentarius international food standards, kimchi is vegetarian in that it’s simply “prepared with Chinese cabbage as a predominant ingredient and other vegetables which have been trimmed, cut, salted and seasoned before fermentation”. Sure enough – no mention of meat products here.
Another international organisation seems to disagree. According to the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list, “[k]imchi is the Korean name for preserved vegetables seasoned with spices and fermented seafood” – an interpretation fishy enough to make vegetarians think twice about trying the dish.
In 2018, researchers at Brown University in the United States noted that traditional kimchi often contains traces of jeotgal (fermented seafood) such as anchovy sauce, salted shrimp, or fish paste.
It’s this fermented component that contributes to the rich umami flavour kimchi is known for, explains their study, which is published in Food Microbiology.
With vegetarianism growing in parts of the world such as Europe and the United States, some artisanal kimchi producers have decidedly swapped out jeotgal for miso paste – a fermented soybean paste that’s just as flavourful – to accommodate vegetarian consumers.
Interestingly, the 2018 study concludes that vegetarian versions can contain the same probiotic properties as kimchi made with jeotgal, since both are fermented with probiotic lactic acid bacteria.
All that being said, as far as discussions around kimchi’s history and health benefits go, one thing’s for sure: it can certainly be vegetarian-friendly, provided its seafood components are adequately substituted.
