In Korea, every region and city has a variety of street foods. While all are amazing, I’ll show you the most delicious and popular food types among Koreans, ranked by popularity. If you visit Korea, I highly recommend trying them. Since tastes vary, it’s a good idea to order one to share among several people. If you like it, you can always order more later.
1st Place: Tteokbokki
(Photo source: 약사겸 여행인플루언서의 기록)
Tteokbokki is very popular and widely loved in Korea (and by visitors too). It features chewy rice cakes, fish cakes, green onions, and cabbage simmered in a spicy and sweet sauce. It’s especially popular among women in their teens to thirties. Pairing tteokbokki with fried foods, sundae (Korean blood sausage), and oden soup makes for an incredibly delicious meal.
2nd Place: Kimbap
(Photo source: dmbmoc)
If Japan has sushi, Korea has gimbap. In Korea, people often eat gimbap instead of sandwiches when going on picnics or grabbing a quick meal. It’s healthy too, with ingredients like rice, carrots, eggs, ham, spinach, and pickled radish wrapped in seaweed. There are many varieties like vegetable gimbap, beef gimbap, tuna gimbap, and cheese gimbap, so when ordering gimbap, you can ask about the types and choose.
3rd Place: Korean corn dogs
(Photo source: 상콤달콤한 일상)
Primarily sold on the streets, this traditional Korean hot dog features a crispy exterior and moist interior, similar to a corn dog with a sausage inside. It’s delicious when sprinkled with a little sugar, ketchup, and mustard. If you want it with potato toppings, they’ll fry it with potatoes on the outside. Especially, the franchise store “Myeongrang Hotdog” offers various types like sweet potato, potato, ramen, jalapeño, and rice cake hot dogs, letting you choose your desired topping and sauce. If you see a Myeongrang Hotdog stand while walking or find one nearby, I highly recommend giving it a try.
4th Place: Chicken Skewers, Spicy Fried Chicken
(사진출처: 자투리시공간)
If you’re craving something similar to Korean fried chicken but want a simpler street food option, try chicken skewers or spicy fried chicken. Chicken skewers usually come in two varieties: seasoned and salted, and are often grilled over charcoal. However, if you want delicious Korean fried chicken, I recommend going to a chicken restaurant and ordering a whole chicken.
5th Place: Hotteok(Korean Sweet Pancakes), Bungeoppang(Korean Fish Shaped Pastry)
(사진출처: 맛집태풍의 맛있는 여행이야기)
(Photo source: 요리하는 쮸네의 맛있는 일상)
Hotteok and bungeoppang are classic winter snacks. Hotteok is a Korean pancake filled with sweet sugar, cinnamon powder, and nuts, featuring a crispy exterior and moist interior. Be sure to let it cool before eating as the filling is hot. Bungeoppang is a fish-shaped bread filled with red bean paste. They’re perfect for enjoying as an inexpensive street snack during winter.
6th Place: Kimchi Pancakes, Korean assorted Pancakes
(Photo source: Victoria with 장군)
In Korea, we eat jeon during holidays. Popular types include kimchi jeon, seafood and green onion jeon, skewered jeon, and mung bean jeon. These jeon are commonly found in traditional markets rather than on the street. Ordering a jeon assortment plate brings a small portion of each type on one plate. They taste delicious when paired with makgeolli, a traditional Korean rice wine.
7th Place: Dumplings
(Photo source: 꽃잎 내린다)
Plump, well-filled dumplings are commonly found at many snack bars and restaurants. With varieties like meat dumplings, steamed dumplings, fried dumplings, boiled dumplings, kimchi dumplings, and vegetable dumplings, it will be good to try dipping them in soy sauce.
8th Place: Tanghulu
(Photo source: 역사와 정보로 어떻게 살것인가)
Elementary and middle school students in Korea are eating a lot of tanghulu, a Chinese dessert. It’s sweet fruit coated in sugar. Once you try it, you get hooked, making it hugely popular among teens. Fruit mix, strawberry, and tangerine flavors are the most popular. However, tanghulu usually has about 200 calories per skewer and can cause diabetes and cavities, so it’s not exactly good for you.
Korean highway rest area food
(Photo source: kyonghuk.co.kr)
When traveling on Korean highways, rest areas are a must-stop. They offer a variety of delicious meals and snacks, and the restrooms and all facilities are clean. They especially sell foods made with local specialties, allowing you to enjoy fresh, affordable, and tasty dishes. The Korean snacks mentioned earlier are commonly found at rest areas. You can easily find tteokbokki, mandu, dakkochi, hot dogs, kimbap, and more. Generally, you’ll find food courts, convenience stores, snack shops, restrooms, electric vehicle charging stations, gas stations, cafes, clothing stores, and more.
Conclusion
Korea boasts a wide variety of street food found everywhere, and sometimes these foods are even sold in stores. Since they generally aren’t overly fragrant and are mostly healthy options, I encourage you to enjoy diverse foods like tteokbokki, hotteok, dakgalbi, and Korean hot dogs. Additionally, visiting highway rest stops to enjoy various foods and snacks is another cultural tradition for Koreans, so I highly recommend stopping by a rest stop whenever you travel on the highway.