The Korean Vegan on Culture, Compassion, and Cooking: Joanne Molinaro’s Path to Success

Bestselling author and James Beard Award winner Joanne Molinaro, AKA The Korean Vegan, joins Our Hen House to discuss her new book, Korean Vegan: Homemade. She traces her journey from a health-driven plant-based diet to animal-centered veganism, and unpacks how she navigates preserving Korean culinary tradition while reshaping it around compassion. The conversation ranges from confronting cultural assumptions about meat to the surprising rise of Korean food and identity on the world stage.

• How Joanne’s vegan journey shifted from health and environmental motivations to a deep commitment to animal welfare
• Why Korean “temple cuisine” offers a naturally plant-based framework rooted in Buddhist philosophy and gentleness
• Strategies for veganizing traditional family recipes without erasing cultural identity or history
• The unique challenges of confronting immigrant family narratives around meat, sacrifice, and tradition
• How Joanne turned viral TikTok storytelling into two bestselling cookbooks that transcend the “vegan cookbook” category

ABOUT OUR GUEST

Joanne Lee Molinaro, known as The Korean Vegan, is a New York Times–bestselling author and James Beard Award winner whose work reaches more than six million followers worldwide. What began as a pandemic-era experiment has evolved into a global platform, where viral plant-based Korean cooking videos intertwine food, storytelling, and cultural reflection.

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