For a taste of Korea’s most folksy and casual foods, go to the streets and alleys. The great assortment of street foods are delicious and inexpensive.
POJANGMACHA (STREET VENDORS)
Literally covered wagon, these are small tented eateries where people go for a quick bite to eat.
TTEOKBOKKI, SUNDAE, EOMUK
Smothered in a spicy red Korean chili sauce, tteokbokki is often eaten with Korea’s blood sausage called sundae. Another very popular accompaniment to tteokbokki is skewered eomuk, which is made of ground fish meat, and eomuk broth.
TWIGIM
Popular fritters include sweet potatoes, squid, shrimp and vegetables. Crispy fritters are usually dipped in soy sauce, or tteokbokki sauce.
GIMBAP
The most basic gimbap contains eggs, pickled radish, carrots, spinach, and ham, but there are also other popular variations such as kimchi gimbap, tuna gimbap, cheese gimbap and more. Gimbap is a very popular item for picnics.
SEASONAL TREATS
Delicious winter treats that actually make you miss winter, and frozen treats that will help you get through the hot summer days.
GYERANPPANG
Gyeranppang contains one whole egg, making it ideal as a meal replacement. These buns are popular among young students living on a tight budget.
BUNGEOPPANG
This sweet pastry is crispy on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside due to the sweet red bean paste filling. Because they are made by pouring batter in goldfish-shaped cast iron molds, all bungeoppang are identical, which is why when siblings or families look alike they are called bungeoppang siblings or family.
PATBINGSU
A popular summer dessert, patbingsu is made by adding toppings like sweetened red beans, rice cake bites and fruits over shaved ice. Depending on the toppings or flavor of the ice, there are many different varieties of the dessert such as fruit bingsu, injeolmi (bean-powdercoated rice cake) bingsu, green tea bingsu, and wine bingsu.
KKOCHI
Kkochi are very popular street foods with a wide variety to choose from. These delicious treats are easily seen on the streets.
DAKKKOCHI, TTEOKGALBIKKOCHI
Bite-size chicken pieces are skewered and brushed with sweet or spicy sauce while grilling. Tteokgalbi, or grilled short rib patties, were once a delicacy only served at the royal court, but nowadays they are often seen on street food carts. Both are popular, and filling snacks.
TTEOKKKOCH, HOEORIGAMJA
with a sweet and spicy gochujang sauce, and hoeorigamja are deep-fried skewered spiral-cut potato.
