Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick pan on high heat. You can reuse the leftover oil from frying the black bean paste. Add your protein of choice and sauté until lightly golden. If you’re using a ground vegan mock meat, use a spatula to break it down into a crumble. If you’re using tofu, season it to taste with salt and pepper.
Once the protein is lightly browned, add mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms until golden.
Lower the heat and move the protein and mushrooms off to one side of the pan, then add 1 tablespoon of oil and minced ginger to the other side. Let the ginger infuse into the oil for about 30 seconds, then add gochugaru and let the gochugaru infuse into the oil for 5-10 seconds. Add carrots, cabbage, potato and zucchini and stir fry everything together for about 2 minutes.
Stir the sauce mixture thoroughly and pour into the pan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Stir the sauce until all the clumps of black bean paste have dissolved. Simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t burn or stick to the pan. If your sauce looks too dry, you can add an extra ¼ cup of water to loosen it up.