These are the Korean street food snacks that all tourists go for. You’ve got to try them once, right? You can find all of them in South Korea’s capital Seoul.
You can find most of the street food snacks on this list in Seoul’s tourist hotspot and most famous street food area Myeongdong Street.
If you’re looking for a more substantial meal, then take a look at Korea’s most famous dishes or some delicious lesser-known Korean meals.
1) Tteokbokki (떡볶이)
Spicy rice cakes are a must-try for anyone visiting Seoul. The cylindrical rice cakes are cooked in an anchovy broth along with fish cake, red pepper paste and red pepper powder to create this spicy snack that is one of the most popular street foods in South Korea. If you’re making your own, you can add scallions, sesame seeds and boiled eggs for an even richer flavor.
You can usually find tteokbokki at the street food market of Myeongdong Street (Myeongdong neighborhood) and markets such as Gwangjang market (Dongdaemun neighborhood).
2) Hotteok (호떡)
This Korean pancake filled with sweet rice and sugar is what you might be craving after eating spicy rice cakes. The hotteok on Myeongdong Street is a bit bland, but you can find pancakes with more delicious fillings elsewhere.
In the city of Busan, you can eat a special Busan-style hotteok: one filled with a mixture of nuts and seeds. If you are heading to the Gogunsan Islands (I know, small chance), you can visit 호떡당커피 to try their hotteok filled with nuts, cheese or vegetables.
3) Mung Bean Pancake (빈대떡)
Another delicious Korean pancake is made from mung beans. This is the most famous snack to try at the Gwangjang market in Seoul. At the market, you will find many stalls that make this pancake before your eyes. Take a seat right in front of the stall or order a pancake from a restaurant on the side. The restaurants will collect your order from the stalls in the market.
4) Chicken Feet (닭발)
At the same Gwangjang Market, you can try chicken feet. If you are from Asia, this may not seem very exotic to you, but for me, this is something I cannot order at home. Chicken feet are a little spicy and chewy with a bite. There are no bones in them. It can be a challenge for amateur chopstick users!
If you order from one of the restaurants in the market, you can try Tteokbokki, Mung Bean Pancake, Chicken Feet and Gimbap all at once!
5) Gimbap (김밥)
Gimbap looks like Korean-style sushi. You can buy gimbap-to-go at markets, food stalls and convenience stores. I described this snack as “looks like sushi” because that is how it probably looks to tourists, even though this dish has been around for a very long time in South Korea. Koreans have a habit of eating rice rolled in dried seaweed.
In Korean Gimbap, cooked rice and many other ingredients are rolled in dried sheets of seaweed called gim and flavored with sesame oil. This snack comes in many varieties: you can buy gimbap with cheese, bulgogi beef, and lunch meat, for example. The specialty of Gwangjang Market is 마약김밥, a gimbap filled with carrots, spinach, and yellow pickled radish.
6) Fish Cake (어묵)
If you’ve ever watched a Korean TV drama, you’ve probably seen the characters eat fish cake on a stick. Does it taste good? It’s probably an acquired taste. I don’t think many tourists will like it, because it can taste a little bland. The broth plays a big role. But as with all the snacks on this list, you just have to try it, right?
You can buy fish cake at many food stalls throughout Seoul, such as on Myeongdong Street. Service points along highways and stores in tourist hotspots (like the Sokcho cable car station) also sell fish cake on a stick.
7) Strawberry Rice Cake (딸기 모찌/찹쌀떡)
Strawberry Rice Cake is a Korean Glutinous Rice snack stuffed with red bean paste and a strawberry. This street food is perfect if you want to pretend you are eating a healthy dessert. It is fresh and sweet. Treat yourself to this strawberry mochi at the end of your meal.
Myeongdong Street is a great place to look for this snack. It is also gaining ground in Jeonju’s Hanok Village.
8) Twisted doughnuts (꽈배기)
The name says it all: donuts that are twisted instead of round. They are a bit firmer than the round donuts most of us are familiar with. You can often buy them at markets and festivals. I pretty much ignored their existence in Seoul, but I did eat one from Namdaemun Market. Later, I saw them everywhere, for example at Suncheon‘s market and Jinan’s Red Ginseng Festival.
9) Sweet Potato (고구마) and Chestnuts (군밤)
Sweet potatoes are often used in South Korean dishes, desserts and drinks. You’ll find them in pizza, cakes and lattes, as well as on their own as a roasted (군고구마) or steamed (찐고구마) snack at a street food stall. The same street vendors often sell roasted chestnuts and other nuts.
