# @thekoreanvegan on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DNjhplcSHZ8
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/33541876-thekoreanvegan-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/a8e013f7d0.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-08-19T23:30:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Joanne L. Molinaro, The Korean Vegan (@thekoreanvegan) — https://gondola.cc/thekoreanvegan

## Caption

To clarify—my grandmother’s story comes from a time shortly after the Japanese occupation of Korea, during which it was actually ILLEGAL for Koreans to speak Korean. Hence, the understandable backlash against speaking Japanese once the occupation ended. Unfortunately, my grandmother was accused of being a Japanese collaborator for knowing Japanese too well (an accusation that could carry life or death consequences for people back then in North Korea), which is what led to her fear. My reference to this memory is merely to make the point that the suppression of language can have long-lasting effects on a person. Decades after she fled North Korea, my grandmother remained too terrified to teach us Japanese on the living room floor of our house all the way in Skokie, Illinois.

When I was little, my mother used to hide the kimchi, doenjang, and kkenip when non-Korean friends came over. She was worried about “the smell.” Years later, when I started bringing Korean food to the office, Omma asked me, “But aren’t you worried about the smell?” As a cookbook author whose most popular recipes are doenjang jjigae and kimchi, I thought I could tell her, definitively, no, “I’m not worried about the smell, Omma.”

I was grocery shopping earlier today and had to ask a store clerk, “where can I find the tofu?” It was hidden in a tiny corner of the fresh produce area. On the way there, I passed the “International” aisle, chock full of Korean instant ramens, gochujang, Korean BBQ sauce. I wondered how many of the patrons (non-Korean) would be ok with trying a Shin ramen but would balk at tofu in favor of “a good ole’ American meatloaf.”

It continues to surprise me how many people still view me as “not American enough.” There’s a temptation to prove my Americanness, wearing my credentials like papers clipped to my lapel—speaking English and not Korean, telling everyone my name is “Molinaro” instead of Joanne Lee Molinaro, replacing my tofu with something more “palatable.” But even feeling that temptation makes me angry, makes me want to eat MORE kimchi and MORE doenjang and MORE tofu.

Recipe for this salad is in the Preorder Portal (link in bio). 💕

#thekoreanvegan	#homemade

## Stats

- **Views:** 127,110
- **Likes:** 72,709
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 319

## Tags

homemade, thekoreanvegan

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