Korean Food: Must-eat 10 Snacks and Desserts

In South Korea, there are various and distinctive snacks and desserts to eat. Are you the type of person that feels hungry easily? Do you prefer light food to a regular one? Why not grab these great snacks and desserts with you while visiting the beautiful and amazing places in Korea. You can purchase them easily on streets, marts, markets, convenience stores, and in restaurants as well. Below is a list of Korean snacks and desserts that you must try when you are in South Korea. 

10 Korean Snacks and Desserts You Must Try:

1. Kimbap (김밥)

Kimbap is very popular in Korea. It consists of cooked rice, vegetables, egg, and meat rolled in a gim (dried seaweed). The cooked rice is seasoned with salt and sesame oil. Also, the vegetables and meat are seasoned and stir-fried before setting them on the gim. Yellow pickled radish, crab sticks, ham, carrot, cucumber, kimchi, bulgogi, beef, and egg strips are the popular ingredients of Kimbap. This is very cheap. I often buy it for take-out, eat it on the bus every time I travel to other places.

2. Bindaetteok (빈대떡)

If you’re looking for a tasty and savory treat, you should try this mung bean pancake. Bindaetteok is a type of Korean pancake. It is pan-fried into a round, flat shape made by grinding soaked mung beans with rice, egg, meat, kimchi, and vegetables. This golden brown pancake is so crispy and crunchy. 

3. Tteokbokki (떡볶이)

Tteokbokki (Stir-fried Rice Cake) is a popular Korean food made from small-sized long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes called tteokmyeon (rice cake noodles) or commonly tteokbokki-tteok or tteokbokki rice cakes. They usually served this with fish cakes, scallions, and sometimes with boiled eggs and pan-fried dumplings or mandu. Actually, it can be seasoned with spicy red chili paste (gochujang) or non-spicy soy sauce-based sauce (ganjang). However, the common or widely known is the one seasoned with spicy red chili paste.

4. Hotteok (호떡)

Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancake) is a type of filled Korean pancake. The dough for hotteok is made from wheat flour, yeast, sugar, water, and milk. It is filled with a sweet mixture. The common hotteok contains honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, chopped peanuts, or smashed red bean. 

5. Gyeranppang (계란빵)

Another popular snack in Korea is the Korean egg bread or gyeran (egg) ppang (bread). It is a fluffy, oblong-shaped loaf of bread with a whole egg inside. It tastes sweet and savory and is also popular during the winter season. Korean egg bread is best eaten when it is warm. Korean egg bread is also one of my favorites. It’s definitely delicious and definitely a must-try!

6. Bungeoppang (붕어빵)

It is one of South Korea’s most famous winter street food. Bunggeoppang or carp bread is a fish-shaped pastry, filled with sweetened red bean paste. Red bean is the standard filling. However, there are some bungeoppang that filled with chocolate, pastry cream, pizza toppings, and others. 

7. Pajeon (파전)

Pajeon is a type of Korean pancake. Usually made by pan-frying the scallions, other ingredients, and a batter – made from a mixture of wheat flour, water, sugar, and soybean paste. It tastes better when you dip it in a mixture of soy sauce, a bit of chili powder, and vinegar.

8. Tteok (떡)

Tteok is a chewy rice cake, made from glutinous rice. And usually filled with sweetened red bean paste, mung bean paste, and other fillings. 

9. Bingsu (빙수)

Bingsu is one of my favorite Korean desserts. It is a shaved ice and topped with chopped fruit, fruit syrup, condensed milk, and other toppings, depending on the flavor. Out of all the flavors, patbingsu or red bean bingsu is the most common.

10. Melona (메로나)

Melona is an ice pop that is very popular in South Korea. Well, melon is not the only available flavor. There are also other fruit flavors to choose on, such as mango, coconut, and more. I highly recommend you guys to try this.   

You can also check other Korean dishes such as grilled dishes, meat-based dishes, soup and stews, side dishes, as well as noodle or guksu dishes here:

Thank you for reading my articles! You can also see more of my Korea Travels here and on my IG!