A Guide to Korean Street Foods
If you’re looking for a quick bite – or a taste of local flavor – Korean street food is tasty, cheap- and often weird. Here’s our guide to what’s in it, how to order it, and whether you should.
Always keen to try new food and new flavors, Anthony loves Korean street food. After three years in Korea he likes to think he knows what he’s ordering – and mostly he does. Besides ordering his dalkggochi extra hot, he enjoys running over mountains and jumping into rivers.
Ordering street food in Korea can be a daunting task. Those food stalls are almost always crowded, a lot of the food is unrecognizable (or just plain unappetizing: I’m looking at you, beondegi), and it can be so much easier to just walk on by and grab a triangle gimbap at the corner store.
Soon you’ll be eating street food as comfortably as these two!
So we’ve assembled a list of the most common street foods (that aren’t self-explanatory, like Korean hot dogs, gimbap, or corn on a stick), along with their Korean names, what they are, how to order them, and whether they’re worth the won.
As if it even needs saying, this list and the opinions included in it are entirely subjective. It’s also far from exhaustive: you’ll find a variety and combination out there on the streets that this list can only begin to describe.
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1. Ddeokbokki – 떡볶이 – Rice cakes in a thick, spicy sauce
What is it?
Koreans will often claim that “all foreigners love ddeokbokki”, one of those apocryphal facts that seem to have permeated Korean society – much like the phrase “take a rest” and the idea that foreigners can’t eat spicy food. Ddeokbokki is cylindrical rice cakes served slathered in a spicy red sauce.
How do I order it?
There’s no special procedure – point and say “dock-bock-ee ha-na” (one ddeokbokki) if you can’t pronounce the Korean. You’ll receive your scoop in a paper cup/bowl, along with a toothpick to eat it with.
Is it worth it?
Many foreigners do like it. I wouldn’t say many (much less than all) love it, but it’s pretty inoffensive, filling, and cheap. Personally, I find it a little too starchy, but the spiciness is good.
There’s a green tea variant you sometimes find, using ddeok (the rice cakes) made with green tea. It’s more of a novelty, because the flavors don’t really work together well.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 3/5 – A Korean staple, but not very exciting and too heavy to be a favorite.
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2. Dalkggochi- 닭꼬치 – Chicken skewers
Try to find the really spicy ones!
What is it?
Lovely, juicy (read: fatty) pieces of dark-meat chicken all skewered together and grilled over the open coals. A rich, spicy marinade is basted on throughout the cooking process.
How do I order it?
Normally it’s a point-and-speak affair (“dak-go-chee ha-na”), but sometimes you’ll be asked whether you want the special sauce, or whether you like spicy food (it’s the same question: the sauce is spicy). If you want the sauce, it’s simple: “ne! sau-su joo-say-yo” (서스 주세요), if not, then cross your arms and: “sau-su bbe-joo-say-yo” (서스 뻬주세요).
Is it worth it?
Absolutely. There’s a place about a hundred feet from exit 8 of Sillim station called Buldalkggochi (fire chicken skewers). The picture on the stand is of a chicken breathing fire, and that’s what you’ll do if you ask for the spicy sauce. It’s hot, is what I’m saying; like, center of a black hole hot.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 5/5 – For all around chicken-y deliciousness, they cannot be beat. Try taking one home, sliding the meat off, and using it in a pasta!
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3. Twigim – 튀김 – Deep-fried snacks
You can choose from an array of deep-fried delights.
What is it?
A variety of deep-fried foods – shrimp, eggs, gimbap, sweet potato, lotus root, peppers, eggplant, and more.
How do I order it?
Pay your money and you will be able to pick and choose a certain number of items – you should be able to work it out from the price board. Deep-fried gimbap is pretty amazing, as are the veggies.
Is it worth it?
It’s hit and miss. If you find a stall with a high turnover then the food will probably have been made more recently and, hence, fresher. Cold deep-fried shrimp are pretty bad, though also, I imagine, likely to grant you a sick day.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 3/5 – It would rate higher if it could be guaranteed fresh.
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4. Jeon – 전 – Korean “pancakes”
What good jeon should look like – sadly, street jeon frequently fails this standard.
What is it?
We covered jeon a while ago in our article “The 10 Best Korean Foods to Try in Korea“. It’s a Korean “pancake” – savory filling fried up in a batter to make a flat, round cake that’s delicious with makkeolli.
How do I order it?
Give over your money and take a cup – the jeon is generally rolled up to fit into one of those little paper cups. Unlike in a jeon restaurant there’s not usually much variety to choose from.
Is it worth it?
While it is convenient to eat – you can pull it apart with your fingers while it’s still in the cup – its thinness means it’s usually stone cold long before it touches your hungry lips. And for a food that’s pretty oily even when made at a proper restaurant, those from street stalls are liable to taste like a heart-attack in a cup.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 2/5 – A delicious food-type that unfortunately doesn’t survive the transition to the street.
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5. Hoddeok – 호떡 – Sweet, Korean “pancakes”
The more common version – notice the unsquashed ball waiting for attention.
What is it?
The other claimant to the title of Korean “pancakes”, this delicious, sweet snack comes in two varieties. They are both made from balls of dough into the middle of which is enveloped a powdery mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and occasionally nuts. The most common variant is then dropped in a shallow pool of oil, squashed to form a disk, and then flipped to finish cooking and melt the sugar inside.
The other kind (you might see it advertised as 옛날 호떡 – “olden days” hoddeok) is prepared similarly but then cooked in something like a rotating waffle iron, making it less oily as well as airier and crunchier.
The “olden days” hoddeok is much, much better.
How do I order it?
“Ho-dock ha-na”, and then either give your money to the vendor or, in many cases, put it in the cup or box meant for that purpose. Sometimes they’ll hand you your confection in a folded piece of card, but more often you take the card yourself and collect your own.
Is it worth it?
The oily hoddeok is great for a treat when you want to reward yourself for doing so well on that diet, or late at night when you need something to settle your stomach.
The dry one, though, is light, airy, and, as I often try to tell myself, practically healthy.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 5/5 – Mmm, hoddeok. I think I’ll go get one now…[/framed_box]
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6. Odeng – 오뎅 – Skewered fish cakes in a broth
Odeng, courtesy of 10mag.com
What is it?
Much like how tofu is made from ground soy beans, and ddeok is made from ground rice, odeng are long flat cakes made from fish, that are folded up and impaled on a skewer to be cooked in a pot of hot broth. The texture is similar to tofu, but meatier, and the broth is good and salty.
Is it worth it?
Like ddeokboki, and for similar reason, it’s a favored food among students: it’s cheap, filling, and tasty. It’s not very flashy, but it’s about as Korean as you can get
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 3/5 – not very exciting, but satisfying, and an interesting presentation.[/framed_box]
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7. Bungeobbang – 붕어빵 – Crispy fish-shaped pastries
Little fish-shaped pastries.
What is it?
I spent months, my first year in Korea, passing these on the street, assuming they were fish-flavored. It was only when I saw another foreigner buying one that I discovered that it is actually a crispy pastry shell stuffed with sweet red bean paste (Korea’s version of jam).
Poop bread!
Is it worth it?
Sure, but what’s better again is ddeongbbang (poop bread). It’s exactly the same thing, but made in the shape of a cute little cartoon turd! You did not read that sentence wrongly.
To my knowledge they can only reliably be found in the tourist area of Insadong, but if they prove popular, then maybe they’ll spread!
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 3/5 – for the fish; 5/5 – for the adorable little poop mascot.
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8. Gyeranbbang – 계란빵 – Egg bread
What is it?
A custom-shaped piece of sweet bread (I would be tempted to call it cake) with a whole egg baked on top of it.
Is it worth it?
I never see anyone buying these things, and no wonder why. The whole confection is mildly sweet, which clashes badly with my idea of what egg should taste like. It looks quite cute, though, which is probably the entire attraction of the thing. If these were to be made savory, with just a few bits of bacon (and maybe some sour cream)… now that would be worth it.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 1/5 – Surprisingly sweet, and it really shouldn’t be.[/framed_box]
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9. Ojingeo – 오징어 – Grilled Cuttlefish
Top-left: cuttlefish – top-center: squid cakes – center: tentacles – bottom: tentacles!
What is it?
Do you know that smell, when you come out of the subway and pass a group of food stalls, like singed hair but stronger? That’s ojingeo, or cuttlefish. They do very little to it, beside drying it out and flattening it, before throwing it over the hot grill to crisp and wither.
Is it worth it?
Honestly, the taste is not too bad. It’s a little like an extra-chewy, fishy jerky, but the smell it makes when it’s on the grill is enough to drive me miles away. Others are more generous, though, and I’ve met lifers who even positively enjoy it (Hello… Yes? Stockholm syndrome? It’s for you).
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: 0/5 – I’m a big fan of calamari, but don’t fool yourself that this will be even remotely similar.
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10. Beondegi – 번데기 – Silkworm pupae
Look at those delicious pupae!
What is it?
Silkworm pupae. That’s pretty much it. They’re slowly becoming less popular, and are subsequently harder to find nowadays, but if you’re ever downwind of one, you’ll know. Great pots of these are steamed or boiled over little stoves, commonly outside tourist attractions or hiking trails (anywhere the older generation gathers), and then dished up into those ubiquitous little paper cups that must by now fill several mountainous landfills in Gangwon-do.
Is it worth it?
As you bite down on one of these little morsels you’ll feel the outer shell burst between your teeth – somewhere between a crack and a pop – releasing a little pocket of salty, lukewarm fluid into your mouth. The flavor itself is somewhat bland, but the sensation and the smell are enough to turn almost all foreigners away. If those aren’t repulsive enough then contemplate for a moment the rolling creases in its carapace, or the space at the end from which a caterpillar once planned to depart.
If, after all of that, you are still able to eat more than one of these then you are a better adventurer than I, and are welcome to all my beondegi.
[framed_box rounded=”true” align=”center”]Rating: -10/5 – Go on, you’re in Asia. Try something weird just this once…
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For more information on Korean street foods (and probably more measured advice), check out these links:
- Beginner’s Guide to Street Food – With Tips (Seoulistic.com)
- Korean Street Food Wonderfulness (the inimitable Eat Your Kimchi)
- Top 10 Korean Street Foods (IAmKoream.com)
Do you have a favorite street food, in Korea or elsewhere? Did you try one of these and disagree with our assessment? Well then, leave a message in the comments!