10 Anti-Spicy and Non-Spicy Korean Foods to Try! – Seoulistic

If you are traveling in Korea, you’ll most likely come across lots of spicy foods. But not everyone’s taste buds are created equal. If you happen to get second degree burns from spiciness, we got some anti-spicy foods that’ll help calm you down 😉 And if you’re going to stay away from them all together, we got some flavors that aren’t spicy at all!

Note: This post was done by request from one of our emailers! He’s been living in Korea, but isn’t really such a fan of spicy food. So he asked for a list, and here we are! Hopefully, it’ll be helpful to him and other people who probably get bathroom problems from spicy foods (haha jk :)) or just want other flavors other than spicy!

If you have any post suggestions, please feel free to send us an email at [email protected]!

 

Tteokmandu Guk – Rice Cake and Dumpling Soup (떡만두국)

Rice cake and dumpling soup is one of our anti-spicy Korean foods. It’s very hearty and brothy, so if you accidentally eat some super hot pepper, it’ll help take the spices away from your burning mouth. Oh and at the same time give you delicious Korean comfort food. If you don’t like rice cakes, just get it with the dumplings (manduguk – 만두국). Or if you don’t like dumplings, go for just the rice cake soup (tteokguk – 떡국). If you don’t like either, then… you’re kind of out of options 😛

 

Gyeranjjim (계란찜)

 

Gyeranjjim (steamed egg casserole) is THE anti-spicy Korean food. Many restaurants that server super spicy dishes will offer gyeranjjim on their menus (like some Seoul tteokbokki restaurants). That’s because after taking a bite of something spicy, most Korean people will take a bite of gyeranjjim to help dissipate the heat. The main ingredients are egg (duh…) and water… with optional green onions or minced meat. If you’re ever caught in a spicy situation, don’t make it worse by pouring water down your throat. Ask for this!

 

Seolleong Tang (설렁탕)

This soup is made by a process of boiling the beef and bones for at least 14 to 16 hours! And this milky broth is a perfect anti-spicy soup. If you want to take a dabble in kimchi (but can’t handle the spices), this will wash it up real nice. And better yet, seolleongtang restaurants are famous for having the best kimchi! So if you want to eat a bit of kimchi and have an anti-spicy Korean food that is also very delicious, try out seolleongtang!

 

Naengmyun (냉면)

Another dish that is synonymous with Korean cuisine is naegmyeon, with even Korean pop songs dedicated to this dish. Naengmyun is a cold buckwheat-noodle dish that will cool you off during the summer time, and it is usually topped with eggs, meat, vegetables, and a vinegary ice-cold broth. This chilled noodle dish is not an anti-spicy food that’ll fight to cool your taste buds down from spiciness. But it’ll give you the total opposite sensation in your mouth: cool and refreshing.

 

HweDeopBap (회덮밥)

This is another taste that’s totally different than the spicy dishes your stomach hopes to avoid. Hwedeopbap is essentially a raw seafood salad, and with it you’ll get a combination of seafood and freshness, an impossible combination to find with a spicy dish. Be careful though. Even if you’re mouth doesn’t think it’s spicy, your nose might. Wasabi is included in the dish (you can of course take it out if you want :)).

8 Comments

  1. jo says:

    You cannot post a picture of that cheese ddonkatsu up without telling us where exactly we can get our hands on that cheesy, porky, fried goodness

  2. Julian says:

    Hey guys thanks for granting my request!
    It sure is gonna be helpful. And they all look so delicious :p

    Thanks again. Love Seoulistic! ^^

  3. Lexinit says:

    This looks amazing! I have had a few of these but now I have a few new things to try!

  4. eri sako says:

    Your comment…Thank you for sharing. I love spicy foods in Korea, but I found that 설렁탕 and 넹면 are also delicious of Korean foods while traveling. Maybe I’ll try 회덮밥 at next visit:)

  5. Ruby says:

    These do look delicious p. Can you please post some other non spicy Korean dishes. Things with rice or protein. Please.

  6. Kara says:

    Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve never had Korean food before yet I’ll be moving to Korea in February, and all of the talk about spicy food makes me nervous. Even gas station nacho cheese is sometimes too spicy for me, that’s how lame I am. Ack! So yeah, I’ll be remembering each and every one of these dishes to get me started while I slowly venture out to build up my spice tolerance. Thanks again for the suggestions!

  7. Great list (even though it’s made me really hungry). I’d also add gimbap and galbitang to the list.

  8. Bike Race says:

    I actually feel that Korean food is not very spicy

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