Choose Chuseok: Celebrate Korean Cuisine with Yondu Vegetable Umami

Yondu Vegetable Umami, a 100% plant-based umami seasoning sauce, is helping you celebrate the thanksgiving festival of Chuseok with these two delicious, authentic Korean recipes that will spice up your midweek meals.

So, what is Chuseok? As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of traditional food. A major custom is to prepare the family’s ancestors their favourite meals as an offering, such as these popular bibimbap or jumeokbap.

These healthy recipes are perfect for midweek cooking with loved ones, just as the festival of Chuseok intends. They add colour and variety to our diet and are the perfect way to introduce kids to the fabulous flavours of Korean cuisine, including moreish umami.

Korean culture has blossomed in the UK, so much so that V&A’s all-new ‘Hallyu!’ exhibition, opening on 24 September, explores the global explosion of K-culture. From PSY to Son Heung-Min, BTS to Bong Joon-ho, now another one of South Korea’s finest exports, Yondu Vegetable Umami, is set to take centre-stage on your plate.

Yondu launched in the UK in January 2021 and has since been recognised as a highly commended vegan and vegetarian cupboard product in the Veggie Awards 2021. In 2022, Yondu was awarded an acclaimed 2-stars by the Great Taste Awards – ‘above and beyond delicious’.

This Korean vegetable umami seasoning comes from fermentation experts Sempio Foods, South Korea’s number one household brand. Sempio has spearheaded the study and innovation of Korea’s plant-rich cuisine for over 75 years and is committed to encouraging a healthy yet delicious vegetable-centric diet.

Check out these amazing Chuseok-inspired recipes below:

Bibimbap

Minimalist and delicious Korean weeknight staple.

• 30mins
• 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 300g cooked white rice
• 1/2 Carrot, peeled and cut into thin sticks
• ½ Courgette cut into thin sticks
• 4 Shiitake mushroom, sliced
• 50g Soybean sprouts
• 2 Tbsp Yondu
• 50g Kale, roughly chopped
• 250g ground beef, lean (Optional)
• 2 eggs (Optional)
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• Sesame seeds (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. Gochujang

Recipe

Place the hot cooked rice in two serving bowls.
On a pan over high heat with a drop of vegetable oil, sauté vegetables one by one for about one minute. Starting with the carrot sticks, followed by shiitake mushroom, courgette sticks, soybean sprouts and kale. Finally, add an extra drizzle of oil and stir fry ground beef until browned.
When each vegetable is cooked, season with a few drops of Yondu instead of salt.
Place all the sautéed vegetables and the beef one by one over the rice and towards the edge of each bowl, leaving an empty space in the middle.
Fry the eggs sunny side up and place them in the middle of each bowl.
Sprinkle some sesame on top to decorate and serve. At the table each person just season the dish with Gochujang to taste.

Note:

Why not get rid of the eggs and beef for a vegan bibimbap?

Jumeokbap

The perfect snack for a healthy family dinner that kids will love

• 30mins
• Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 200g sushi rice, cooked (600g cooked white rice)
• 2 Tbsp Yondu
• 2 Tbsp. Sesame oil
• 25g dried seaweed snack, chopped
• Sesame seeds and chives to decorate
• 2 Tbsp. Gochujang chili paste (optional)

Recipe

In a bowl, combine rice, Yondu, sesame oil and seaweed and mix well
Using your hands, form into little balls of a size of a table tennis or a golf ball.
Serve topped with sesame seeds and chopped chives
If you want to add a spicy touch and an extra interesting flavour, add a drop of Gochujang Korean chili paste on top of each ball.

Notes:

When mixing the ingredients in the bowl, you can also add a chopped hardboiled egg, or a drained can of tuna and also a tablespoon of mayonnaise!

Yondu is available to purchase via its UK website and Amazon, retailing at £7.99 for 275ml. Visit www.yondu.co.uk/recipes/ for cooking inspiration.

Follow the brand on Instagram: @yondu.uk and Facebook: @yondu.uk.