Complete Guide to Korean Street Food with Pictures – Page 2 – Seoulistic

Complete Guide to Korean Street Food with Pictures

(Gemini761)

Old School Korean Street Foods

Some Korean street foods are modern inventions with ingredients that are traditionally non-Korean. But street snacking has been around for a very long time, and these Korean street foods have survived the tests of time.

(Gemini761)

(Source: Gemini761)

Mungbean Pancakes (빈대떡 – bindaetteok) – Mungmean pancake is one of the most famous Korean street foods. It’s made from ground mung beans and fried on a frying pan or griddle. Sometimes they have bean sprouts, kimchi, or other ingredients included, depending on how the vendor makes it.

(Source: Pinkacorn)

(Source: Pinkacorn)

Baby Gimbap aka Drug Gimbap (마약김밥 – mayakgimbap) – The miniature version of Korea’s favorite fast food is much more street friendly. That’s because of the simplicity of the ingredients: seaweed, rice and one filling. Fillings include tuna, spam, kimchi, spicy octopus among others. Note to those with addictive personalities: they are nicknamed drug gimbap because they’re so addicting!

Note: If you’re looking for famous mungbean pancakes and drug gimbap, head over to Gwanjang Market!

번데기

Bundegi (번데기) – This bizarre Korean foods is basically boiled or steamed silkworm larvae. That’s it. Maybe a bit of seasoning. But no, you’re mostly eating silkworm lavre. And yes it does explode with bites. You’ll see this popular snack being eaten by kids at parks or older Korean men sipping on some alcohol at traditional markets. Think you’re brave? Check out our list of Korean foods for the brave!

Travel and Lifestyle Diaries - See their post for more on grilled squid!

Travel and Lifestyle Diaries – See their post for more on grilled squid!

Grilled Squid (오징어구이 – ojingeo gui) – Another very simple snack that is very popular is grilled squid. If you’re not used to eating things with tentacles, it may not be for you. If you’re cool with it, then you’ll find the charcoal grill pretty awesome. It gives it that charcoal flavor that Korean BBQ lovers love!

Source: Naver Blog

(Source: Naver Blog)

Grilled Octopus Legs (문어다리구이 – muneo dari gui) – Octopus legs get the same charcoal grilled treatment as squid. The legs of the octopus are sliced into easily edible “chips” for ultimate street walking and eating pleasure.

Source: Naver Blog

(Source: Naver Blog)

Smoked Cuttlefish (쥐포 – jwipo) – Smoked cuttlefish is a popular drinking snack in Korea. The  cuttlefish is dried, smoked and seasoned to make it sweet. It’s so popular actually, that it’s not only sold on streets, but also convenience stores all over Korea.

Rice Cake Skewers (떡꼬치 – tteokkkochi) – Tteokbokki isn’t the only street snack that uses rice cakes. Usually when rice cakes meets grill, it usually equals something magical. And with rice cake skewers, it’s just that simple. Rice cake + grill = awesome. Of course, people like to add a few things here and there to spice things up. (Note: also deep fried.)

Hot Bar (핫바 aka 어묵바 – eomukba) – Remember that common Korean snack, odeng (fish cakes)? Boiled fish cake also comes in deep fried form! Instead of boiling, the fish cakes are ground down into a paste and then a few more ingredients like carrots, perrila leaves, etc. are added (differs according to vendor). It’s then deep fried and served on a chopstick for your masticating pleasure.

blogfiles14.naver

Sweet Potato Sticks (고구마스틱) – Sweet potatoes are one of Korea’s most beloved vegetables. And that’s why they make stick chips of it! Street vendors will cut up  sweet potatoes in long, thin sticks and deep fry those bad boys. Of course, they’re sweet. But in a pseudo-healthy, fried vegetable kind of way.

Source: Brmtb

Source: Brmtb

Steamed/Roasted foods (nuts, chestnuts, sweet potato, corn, etc.) – These are hardly Korea-specific ingredients. But it’s a very old school Korean thing to eat chestnuts, sweet potatoes and corn, either steamed or grilled on the street.

See next page for sweet Korean street food desserts!

Keith
Keith
Keith Kim is a Korean-American who has been living in Korea for almost a decade. Being in a unique position as both a Korean and a non-Korean, he's put all his experience and knowledge for surviving in Korea in Survival Korean . Read it to learn how you can survive in Korea. Follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

17 Comments

  1. Lílian says:

    Wow, I think I’ve only tried 4 or 5 of those street foods. One good reason to plan another trip to Seoul haha. Last time my friend bought me 떡꼬치… It is so delicious! Great post, as always. 🙂

    • Phrazle says:

      Don’t be put off if the only people you see eating rice cakes together are middle school girls. Come on over and get some for yourself. There’s no age difference in terms of popularity; both youngsters and adults like it.

  2. Kasper Chong says:

    Keith~~~ you forgot about the fried-potato-swirling-strip-on-a-stick! ( no idea whats that called though) :DD

  3. Marc - Barcelona says:

    Hi everyone! I like reading every article in this website so much!
    But I have a question for you Keith. Is it possible that it takes a few hours, even a few days for a new post to appear on the website? I’m asking this because in the latest update box it says that the last post was done today at 3:27 AM ( time in Korea I guess) but I can’t find it; is that done on purpose? It’s there a technical problem? Is it just my web browser? I have come across with this issue on recent posts. Thank you, and keep working hard because this site is just A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!

  4. Ken says:

    those silkworm larvaes are just gross man….bleeuuurrgh

    • As information on other street meals becomes available, we want to update this site accordingly. Leave a comment if you think we forgot any popular street snacks; we’ll include them in a future version of this article.

  5. Sam Tsai says:

    all of these are amazing but my favorite street food is still hotteok :DDD

  6. Elena says:

    About that toast… 😀
    Funny enough, I’ve met quite a few Dutch people, who eat toasts like that for breakfast: slightly frying egg, putting toast bread on it, ham, and once done – sprinkling with sugar powder and topping with either jam or ketchup.

    That, and pancakes. Usually the thick pancakes, where you eat 2 and you’re stuffed. Of course, with all the stuff on top – it’s no wonder.
    Oh, one difference: I’ve never seen Dutch people putting that toastie in a cup 🙂

    In any case, I was quite surprised to see their combinations. Once in a while it’s as if they take pride in making a weirdest one, but it might just be me. Previously never really considered ham and sweets together, but now – pancake with chocolate spread, egg, ham, ketchup and sugar powder seems quite allright.

    So, I wonder if some Dutch people “drove by” Korea? 🙂

  7. Matt says:

    You missed delimanjoo, I really enjoyed that on cold February afternoon while passing though the subway stations.
    Not sure if they are Korean or not, by my Korean girlfriend says they are popular.

  8. Candy says:

    Hi! Thanks for this guide! I cant wait to be heading to Seoul for study abroad program coming up this winter and this is by far the most helpful site I’ve found yet on street food! Again thanks alot!

    do you have any recommendation for street clothing venues? or any cheap places for souvenirs and shopping in general?

    LOVE THIS SITE!

  9. Missy says:

    Keith mannn are you on instagram? Or is your site? We are visiting seoul now for the next two weeks and your website has been the best!!!! 🙂

  10. Noemi says:

    Hi! I wonder if you can give me the name of the oval-shaped hot cake toped wih egg.? the lady poured the batter inti oval-shaped baking pans about 3-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ , then cracked a fresh egg ontop of the batter, then baked it in a round hot oven until the top of the egg turns brown around the sides and the pancake has risen almost to the brim if the baking pan.

  11. Mehran Food MART https://www.mehranfoods.com is a leading Halal Meat and Grocery Store, it has been launched to serve individuals and families from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Srilanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and other counties here in Korea to stay in Halal foods and hygienic goods. we offer complete range of Halal Meat, Grocery Items, frozen foods, Ready-to-Cook foods, Spices and Masala in the most efficient way in South Korea.
    We will ensure a hassle-free online shopping experience for our customers, so that they can spend valuable time and energy with their families. We intend to focus on complete customer journey of our customers, starting with ordering online quality products at competitive pricing and on time quick delivery. We aim to provide you with healthy life and helping the humans by providing the foods to hungry people.

  12. All of these are great, but hotteok is still my favorite street food.

  13. Although all of these are excellent, my favorite street food is still hotteok.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *