Foods to Try When You’re in South Korea

Delicious Korean food can be found everywhere, thanks to its recent popularity with music and culture. The dishes are hearty meals, generally rich and spicy in taste and found from the street vendors in South Korea in the 5- star hotels.

The dishes can be enjoyed anytime of the day, with some of them even older than 2000 years in recipes, and were eaten by the old Kings and Queens of Korea.

Here are a few popular delicacies for you to try out so find out about international flight deals, buy your air tickets and go visit.

1) Bulgogi

It is a marinated beef barbecue, usually grilled with thinly sliced onions and whole garlic for flavor. It is eaten either as is, by wrapping it in a lettuce leaf or by dipping it in ssamjang.

2) Samgyeopsal

It is a dish of grilled pork belly meat that is unseasoned and not marinated.  Generally eaten by dipping it in a mix of salt and pepper in sesame seed oil, and wrapped in a Ssam by wrapping it in a lettuce along with grilled slices of onion and whole garlic and grilled or raw kimchi.

3) Kimchi

It is one of the oldest dishes of Korean cuisine, a spicy sour dish of fermented vegetables. Prepared with a variety of ingredients, the main component is cabbage. It is popular among foreigners with its unique taste and high nutritional value. 

4) Tteokbokki

It is a spicy dish prepared with cylindrical rice cakes, fish cakes, vegetables and a red chili sauce. As an additional bonus, they are cheap for the pocket.

5) Bibimbap

It is dish of rice mixed with various ingredients, like namul, mushrooms, eggs, beef, gochujang, soy sauce etc. The recipe varies in different regions of South Korea.

6) Seollongtang

Seollongtang is a traditional hot soup prepared with ox bones, ox meat and briskets and seasoned with salt, pepper, raw minced garlic and green onions. The broth is a cloudy white color and eaten with steamed rice.

7) Haemul Pajeon

It is the Korean version of a savory pancake, with vegetables and seafood. It commonly includes shrimps, oysters, clams and squid along with the pancake batter and green onions.

8) Samgyetang

It is a popular summer soup, made with chicken, garlic, Korean ginseng and jujube, scallion, rice and spices. It has a high nutritional value and a rich meaty flavor.

9) Soondae

Also known as blood sausage, it is a sausage made of pig intestines stuffed with pork blood, barley and noodles. It differs in fillings and preparations according to the regions of Korea.

10) Naengmyeon

It is a dish of cold buckwheat noodles with beef, Korean pear, cucumbers and a sliced boiled egg.

11) Budae Jjigae

Also known as Army Stew, it consists of sausages, spam, bacon, and ramyeon and rice cakes with gochujang to make it fiery.

12) Jjajangmyeon

It consists of handmade thick wheat noodles, a salty black bean sauce, diced pork and veggies and topped with raw cucumber slices. It is generally eaten with tangsuyuk, a dish of sweet spicy pork. 

13) Korean Fried Chicken/Chimaek

They marinate chunks of chicken in chili paste and spices, stir-frying them with rice cakes, cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, and sometimes cheese. It is hardly greasy and a popular late night snack with beer.

14) Dakgalbi

They marinate chunks of chicken in chili paste and spices, stir-frying them with rice cakes, cabbage, carrots, sweet potatoes, and sometimes cheese.

15) Mandu

Popular dumplings stuff various fillings into a thin wrapper, then steam or fry them for preparation. Fillings include vegetables, meat and glass noodles.

16) Kimchi Bokkeumbap

Kimchi fried rice comprises kimchi, sausages, leftover meat, and rice topped with a fried egg, seaweed flakes, and toasted sesame seeds.

17) Japchae

The dish comprises stir-fried sweet potato, beef, shredded veggies, sugar, and soy sauce in its noodle preparation.

18) Kimbap

Laver seaweed tightly wraps ground beef, sweet pickled radish, rice, and various ingredients, forming circular bites when cut.

19) Hotteok

A popular winter street food in Korea, it is a fried flat disc of dough with a filling of brown sugar, cinnamon, honey and small pieces of peanut and cooked on a griddle. With a crunchy exterior and a soft, gooey interior, be careful of not burning your tongue when you bite into this delicacy.

20) Bingsu

A summer dessert of shaved ice, sweetened red beans and tteok, Bingsu is also available in variations with milk, ice cream, corn flakes and syrup.