Every week, The Washington Post Food staff field questions about all things edible. Recently they were joined by TikTok star Joanne Molinaro, "The Korean Vegan." Here are edited excerpts from that chat.

Q: I've been following Joanne on social media for about six months and really enjoy her blend of seductive food preparation and commentary. I wonder if she can comment on the most challenging Korean dish she veganized? Also, any thoughts on eggplant would be welcome too!

A: Thank you so much for your kind words!

Luckily, many of my childhood favorites were pretty easy to veganize — simply remove the fish sauce! Others, however, were a little more challenging. Ironically, the simpler the dish, the harder to veganize — perhaps because there are fewer ingredients, each ingredient is required to do more heavy lifting. I would say one of the harder recipes to veganize was a good broth. Typically, Korean stews (or chigaes) are based in either pork or beef broths. A good doenjang chigae or a refreshing naengmyeon starts with the broth. Accordingly, coming up with a broth that could really go toe-to-toe with the flavors I remember when my grandmother would cook for me was very hard!

For my veggie stock recipe, I start by cooking the vegetables in a little sesame oil, which really takes the flavor to that next level of complexity. Adding the dashima and the mushrooms also ground the broth in a way that makes it hearty. Finally, the radish — the humble radish! — carries this broth home, and I mean right back to Skokie, Illinois where my grandmother spent so much of her time bent over the stove.

As to eggplant — I LOVE eggplant. I used a lot of eggplant when I first started veganizing my favorite foods. However, eggplant can be very tricky to cook with, simply because of its somewhat "love-hate" relationship with liquids, lol! I spent much of the summer experimenting with eggplant and feel much more confident about how to cook with it (a light coating of starch seems to be the key) and hope to share more eggplant recipes going forward!

Q: My question is what/who are your inspirations when it comes to your amazing cooking and creating your recipes?

A: I'm so glad you enjoy my recipes!

There are so many people who inspire my cooking. I'd say first and foremost are my parents. I like to make things my Dad likes to eat (like jjajangmyeon and naengmyeon and doughnuts, lol). I like to make things my mother makes for me (like miyeok guk and gyerranmari).

I am also inspired by the amazing Korean food bloggers and food writers out there who continue to show the world that Korean food isn't just about Korean BBQ and bibimbap. People like Maangchi, Korean Bapsang, and KimchiMari. I'm also inspired on the daily by non-Korean food bloggers and chefs, folks who cook with intention and obvious love, like Nisha Vora, Padma Lakshmi and, now, Stanley Tucci!

But mostly, I'm inspired by my own appetite! If I see something or smell something or even just remember something and it makes my stomach rumble - well, that's what I'm going to make that day!

Q: You are such a wonderful storyteller. I wonder if there are any writers and/or creatives who have influenced and inspired your work?

A: Many, many great writers have inspired me. I've been reading ever since my mother handed me a copy of "Anne of Green Gables" when I was in third grade. I've since read every single book that Ms. Montgomery has ever written, so she has certainly influenced my work! I grew up reading many great authors - Jane Austen, Dostoevsky, Bronte, Kipling - many of whom were introduced to me by my mother and as a result, I think my penchant for storytelling came from loving the stories they wrote so beautifully, immersively, joyously.

More recently, the works of RO Kwon and Min Jin Lee have inspired me a great deal. I love how they write about things that I grew up experiencing in a way that is both transportive and tactile. They are incredible women, and their ferocity in life has challenged me to remain true to my convictions, while remaining open to where compassion can lead me.

Q: I noticed that in your recipes you are using rice or maple syrup as sweetener. Can syrup be always replaced by sugar in all cases? If so, can syrup be substituted by sugar 1:1 (1 tablespoon sugar = 1 tablespoon syrup)?

A: In all the savory cooking recipes - yes, you can replace the syrup with sugar. Sugar is actually less sweet than syrup (believe it or not!), so depending on your preference, you may want to add a bit more sugar than a 1:1 ratio. I would do 1-1/3 tablespoons to 1-1/2 tablespoons of sugar for every tablespoon of syrup; however, it truly is more about your own preference for sweetness.

For the baking/sweets recipe, it can get very complicated to switch things out. For example, in the pecan paht pie recipe, replacing the syrup with sugar will almost certainly change the texture of the filling and may alter the cooking time for it to "set" (which, if you've made pecan pie before, you know is the SCARIEST part about baking it!).