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The Korean Vegan

I veganize Korean food. I Koreanize everything else.

I made this healthy broccoli gnocchi and it was gone in SECONDS.

Hey Reader! I hope you're having a great week. But, if you're like me: you cannot wait for the weekend to begin! If you're on my IG Stories, you know that I spent last weekend developing a recipe for Strawberry Cake. Don't get too excited--there were a couple of BIG wrinkles with my first go-round, so that isn't quite ready yet. Still, in order to cheer me up, I made a really quick and easy gnocchi recipe, using store-bought gnocchi (no shame here!). We are still on the broccoli theme,...

Do you have an "everyday friend"? And make this soup for Lunar New Year!!

Hey Reader, Recently, I started having monthly Zooms with a friend who lives on the opposite side of the country. I don't normally schedule these types of regimented chats, but this particular friend is brilliant, empathetic, and extremely well read. He is also an incredibly talented writer (which often happens when you read a lot of books). I like surrounding myself with people who challenge me to be better at things--things I actually care to be better at, and he does exactly that. On our...

Do laws even matter anymore? Creamy Broccoli Soup, and an Epic Cookbook Club.

Hey Reader, It's been a whirlwind of activity in Casa Molinaro the past week. Yes, we are back home, largely back in the groove, and this morning, we even had a bit of rain. I've never in my entire life been so relieved to see the tiny, shallow puddles collecting on our patio. I want to thank all of you who reached out to me last week to check in on our safety. For some reason, though, they all went to my spambox (weird!) and I didn't see them until yesterday, so please excuse my delay in...

Thoughts from inside the LA wildfires and how you can help.

The Palisades Fire (view from our window while driving on the freeway). Hey Reader, I had just settled into my preferred nook at our kitchen table. My laptop was open. I planned on using some of its precious battery to edit chapter 2 of The Memoir, per the comments I'd just received from my agent. This was, I concluded, a good use of my time. I didn't have enough energy (mental, physical, or electrical) to edit videos or photos for a recipe. Still, I knew in the same way the birds knew to fly...

Book 2 Cover Test Shots? And an excerpt from my current writing project...

Hey Reader, I don't have anything really pithy to write here this week, as I spent much of last week cooking and doing little else! A few weeks ago, my editor sent me potential mock-ups for the cover of Book 2 and suffice it to say, none of them stood out to me as the immediate winner. I didn't panic or anything, because for Book 1, none of them really stood out to me as the immediate winner either. But there are probably many of you reading this right now being like, "I mean, how could you...

Korean Vegan Rice Cake Soup for New Year's.

Hey Reader! Happy New Year! For this week's Recipe Roundup, I bring to you my homemade Korean Vegan Rice Cake Soup or Vegan Tteokguk. It's what we eat for New Year's and guess what? This year, Lunar New Year isn't until January 29, so you have plenty of time to procure your ingredients and make one of my favorite Korean dishes of all time! In addition to Vegan Tteokguk, I've pulled together The Korean Vegan's Top 10 Recipes of 2024. As you know, we only just started blogging regularly this...

My Top 10 Recipes of 2024 and a Note On Resolutions.

Hey Reader, I've been thinking about what to write in this space for several days now. As 2025 looms, I feel obligated to write something reflective of the year we've had, with intentions about the year ahead. But I don't want to...? The hoopla surrounding New Year's, while understandable, is still a wildly arbitrary ritual. Time continues to march forward at the same, pedantic rate, and it seems strange (absurd?) that the replacement of one calendar for a new one should dictate the...

Everything I'm making for my Holiday Dinner.

Hey Reader! This missive comes a day early (for most of you) and will be the only one you'll see in your inbox this week! I figured even I deserve a break for the holidays, so in lieu of a longer newsletter that includes my Weekly Musings, today's newsletter will be this week's Recipe Roundup--Holiday Edition! Here, I will share with you what I'm planning on making for my Holiday Dinner (we celebrate Christmas) this year! As promised, the lineup will include my mother's Baek (White) Kimchi,...

Carrot Soup and Vegan Kimchi--Yes, they can go together.

Hey Reader! As the temperatures continue to drop (even here in SoCal), I thought I'd deliver to your inbox both a soup recipe and a kimchi recipe. This Gochujang and Roasted Carrot Soup will warm you right to your toes. But also? It tastes better with kimchi (I mean, doesn't everything?). Plus, now's the perfect time to make kimchi. It's a fairly labor intensive process and therefore, the cooler weather will ensure you're not pouring sweat into your pickled cabbage (I mean, unless you want it...

Gochujang and Carrot Soup and The Anatomy Of Friendship.

Hey Reader, If you're new here, you're probably interested in This Week's Recipe Inspo: Gochujang and Carrot Soup. If so, scroll on down towards the middle and you'll find it. Otherwise, the beginning of this email will include my weekly musings on this or that--today, we're talking about The Anatomy of Friendship, which includes a new Korean Vegan Podcast episode with my dear friend, Nabiha Basathia. But if you're really only interested in the recipes, I get that. Click here and from this...