Myeongdong Food Market Street is within view of Seoul (Namsan) Tower. (Bailey Duran/Special to the Journal)
Korean cities are known for their rich and diverse cuisine
Myeongdong, a popular area in the heart of Seoul, South Korea, is a street food destination.
Of course, Myeongdong is also known for its diverse shopping, K-Pop culture, fashion, delicious cafes, and beauty spots, but it’s the Korean street food culture that keeps locals and tourists returning night after night for dinner.
Myeongdong is a hugely popular area in Seoul because of its wide range of shopping options. (Bailey Duran/Special to the Journal)
This is my second time staying in Korea for an extended period of time and I am always amazed by how delicious the food is. A trip to Myeongdong was a must on this trip to try as much street food as possible.
When I first arrived in Myeongdong at 1pm, the street was fairly quiet, with tourists and locals visiting cosmetic stores and walking hand in hand. No food stalls were in sight at this time of day.
I knew the food stalls would pop up closer to dinner time, so I settled in at a nearby cafe and enjoyed a delicious taste of Bingsoo, an amazing dessert that quickly became my favorite.
Bingsoo can be thought of as a close cousin to shaved ice, but this dessert has a twist. The bowl contains shaved ice, ice cream, and your choice of fruit drizzled in sweet condensed milk. In my case, the fruit was strawberry. I always choose strawberry.
With the bingsu disappearing from my bowl and finishing my writing for the day, I headed out in search of street food. In just a few hours, the streets had been transformed.
Now, instead of a quiet street with a few people milling around, the entire street is filled with food stalls, music is blaring, people speaking different languages are queuing up to taste the food and aromas wafting from the food stalls.
As the sun began to set and the light began to fade, lights on buildings and carts began to come on, illuminating the streets and creating a perfect sight with Seoul Tower standing proudly in the distance.
Korean street food is usually eaten at the stall where you bought the food, which makes it a fun experience: while you enjoy your food, you can see the passion of the stall owners as they prepare the food.
As I approached the first cart, the owner greeted me with a smile and a cheerful “Hello.”
Immediately, I was greeted with the taste of the Korean Potato Corn Dog. The soft hot dog was covered in skin and wrapped in crispy potato. I poured ketchup over the corn dog and took a bite. The flavorful bun and mouthful of cheese greeted me, and after a few bites, I finally got to the hot dog.
Korean Potato Corn Dog. (Bailey Duran/Special to The Journal)
I returned the rubbish to the cart owner (public rubbish bins are a rarity), thanked him with the honorific “gamsahapnida”, and then moved on to the next cart.
This time I tried the Chicken Mandu i.e. chicken dumplings, which were so tasty I wanted to eat them as quickly as possible, it was hard to patiently savor the 4 dumplings.
Chicken dumplings. (Bailey Duran/Special to the Journal)
The outside of the dumplings is fried to a light brown color and the inside is filled with savory chicken and other ingredients and spices.
After the mandu, my sweet tooth began to decide which food stall to stop at, and I ended up at one selling the much talked about tang hu ru, a candied fruit dessert traditionally made in China but which has become wildly popular in Korea.
Tangles, or candied fruit. (Bailey Duran/Special to the Journal)
To make this dessert, slices of various fruits are threaded onto skewers and dipped into a pot of melted sugar, then the sugar is poured into a mold, which is then immediately dipped directly into ice water to set the mold.
My Tanghoul was made with the usual strawberries and green grapes and was better than I expected. I had worried that the hard sugar shell covering the fruit would make it difficult to bite into, but instead I was surprised to find that it had a deliciously satisfying chewy texture that complemented the juiciness of the fruit.
As I was strolling around the area lined with food stalls wondering what to eat next, I came across bungo bread (fish shaped bread in English).
These adorable fish-shaped breads are filled with a variety of ingredients, including red bean paste and chocolate.
Unfortunately this is sold in a set of 5 so I couldn’t buy one and didn’t want to waste food.
Finally, we finished off the dessert portion of the tour by sampling another trending dessert that has exploded in popularity on social media in the last year: Torched Marshmallow Ice Cream.
A street food vendor toasts marshmallow ice cream with an Iron Man hand torch. (Bailey Duran/Special to the Journal)
This ice cream cart is unique in that it is served inside a large marshmallow. Once you have chosen your ice cream flavour, the cart owner will toast the marshmallow right in front of you using a torch in the shape of an Iron Man hand, a wolf head, a dragon head or whatever.
I chose the Iron Man and watched as the marshmallow ice cream was transformed into s’mores ice cream. The outside was warm and tasted exactly like the marshmallows roasted over a campfire, but the ice cream was still cold on the inside, a delicious contrast to the marshmallows that left me wanting more.
Another very popular and tasty street food is Tteokbokki, a well-known and popular street food in Korea. It is rice cakes cooked in a delicious spicy sauce. The richness of the sauce complements the softness of the rice cakes, making this meal almost like comfort food that can be enjoyed any day of the week and in any weather.
Similar to Japanese sushi, kimbap is a mix of vegetables and meats, such as tuna, spicy fish, Spam and eggs, rolled up sushi-style with rice and nori seaweed. Kimbap is another Korean staple, and can be found in street cart versions as well as restaurants and convenience stores on almost every street corner.
Eating hotteok at Gwanghwamun. (Bailey Duran/Special to The Journal)
Hotteok, also known as Korean pancakes, are another delicious snack. My favorite hotteok are the ones with honey, sugar and nuts in the batter that is fried right in front of you. Some are more savory than sweet.
Another street food that I have enjoyed in various forms is dalgogi, also known as simply chicken.
Korea has many different kinds of chicken street food, including skewered chicken, fried chicken, fried chicken cheese, and chicken cooked in spicy or sweet sauces.
They’re all good.
When it comes to street food, Myeongdong is considered to be on the pricier side for street food, but it is reasonably priced.
Most of the street food I tried in Myeongdong was in the 5,000-8,000 won price range (roughly $3.64-$5.83).
When you visit Korea, you will encounter a lot of foods. Apart from the foods I was introduced to during my trip, there are many other foods such as sogogi (beef in various forms), cooked and raw squid and octopus, crab, mochi ice cream, grilled corn, fruit smoothies, skewered fish paste, and many more.
A visit to South Korea is not impossible.
International travel can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve learned that patience is key to finding affordable flights, and I’ve been able to find round-trip flights in the $1,000 to $1,400 range, depending on how long you search.
The return flight cost only $400.
Plus, accommodation is affordable and easy to find – I always use Air bnb, but there are also plenty of popular hotels and hostels available with affordable rates, with many hotels starting at around $70-80 a night.
Many Airbnb properties also offer significant discounts to those booking stays of two weeks or more.
Don’t let the language barrier put you off. Koreans are some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and many speak English, especially in popular tourist areas. Most signs and announcements on public transport, in restaurants, etc. are written in English as well as Korean.
Although the food is a big draw for visiting Korea, there is so much more to see and do in the country. Many cities, including Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island (Korea’s Hawaii), offer beautiful mountains to hike, beaches to visit, shopping, fashion and beauty tourism.
South Korea is now one of the leading countries for beauty tourism, with many people purchasing skin care, cosmetics and clothing during their visit, as well as booking facials, spa and salon visits, personal colour analyses and nail appointments.
What may be a pricey experience in the US can often be enjoyed at a more affordable price in Korea, with the same or better quality. For example, a personal colour analysis can cost over $300 in the US, but a professional colour analysis in Korea can cost around $100.
South Korea has also catapulted itself onto the world stage with a rich music culture, with many groups becoming household names around the world, including BTS, the Korean boy band that ranks alongside Michael Jackson and The Beatles as the most awarded band in history.
If you love traveling and experiencing new cultures, I highly recommend adding South Korea to your bucket list.
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