South KoreaWhat to eat in South Korea: top 10 dishes
Traveling to South Korea? These are the ten dishes it is best known for, from everyday staples to festive classics, with a short background and a tip on where and when to eat each one. Ranked by how widely they are known around the world.
01Kimchi
Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish (banchan) consisting of salted and fermented vegetables, most often Chinese cabbage or Korean radish.
Travel tip Kimchi comes free with almost every Korean meal, and you can usually ask for more. Fermented flavors vary by season and region, so try a few kinds.
Read more
02Bibimbap
Bibimbap, sometimes romanised as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish. It is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed or blanched seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste).
Travel tip Found at nearly any Korean restaurant, often served in a hot stone bowl. Mix everything together with the chili paste before eating.
Read more
03Gimbap
Gimbap, also romanized as kimbap, is a Korean dish made from bap (cooked rice), vegetables, and optionally, cooked seafood or meat rolled in gim—dried sheets of seaweed—and served in bite-sized slices.
Travel tip A quick, portable meal sold at casual snack shops and convenience stores, and a classic picnic and outing food. It is eaten by hand or with chopsticks, sliced into bite-sized pieces.
Read more
04Tteokbokki
Tteokbokki (Korean: 떡볶이), topokki or simmered rice cake, is a Korean food made from small-sized garae-tteok (long, white, cylinder-shaped rice cakes) called tteokmyeon or commonly tteokbokki-tteok.
Travel tip A popular street-food and snack-shop favorite, often eaten with fried snacks and fish cake skewers. Spice levels vary, so check before ordering if you are sensitive to heat.
Read more
05Bulgogi
Bulgogi is a gui (Korean-style grilled or roasted dish) made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top griddle. It is also often stir-fried in a pan in home cooking.
Travel tip A mild, sweet-savory dish you can find in most Korean restaurants and cooked at home. It is often grilled at the table or served in a small pot and eaten with rice or wrapped in lettuce.
Read more
06Tteok
Tteok (Korean: 떡) is a general term for Korean rice cakes. They are made with steamed flour of various grains, both glutinous and non-glutinous rice. Steamed flour can also be pounded, shaped, or pan-fried to make tteok.
Travel tip Tteok is eaten year-round as a snack or dessert and is especially tied to holidays, birthdays and celebrations. Look for it at traditional tteok shops and markets.
Read more
07Japchae
Japchae is a savory and slightly sweet dish of stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables that is popular in Korean cuisine.
Travel tip A festive dish often served at holidays and celebrations, and also found as a side dish in Korean restaurants. It is eaten warm or at room temperature with rice.
Read more
08Galbi
Galbi, kalbi, galbi-gui (갈비구이), or grilled ribs is a type of gui (grilled dish) in traditional Korean cuisine. "Galbi" is the Korean word for "rib", and the dish is usually made with beef short ribs.
Travel tip Typically grilled at the table over charcoal or gas and cut with scissors into bite-sized pieces. Wrap the meat in lettuce leaves with side dishes and eat it in one bite.
Read more
09San-nakji
San-nakji (Korean: 산낙지) is a variety of hoe (raw dish) made with long arm octopus (Octopus minor), a small octopus species called nakji in Korean and is sometimes translated into "baby octopus" due to its relatively small size compared to the giant octopus…
Travel tip Served very fresh at seafood restaurants and fish markets, usually cut into pieces and dressed with sesame oil. The pieces may still move and can stick to the throat, so chew each bite well.
Read more
10Doenjang
Doenjang or soybean paste is a type of fermented bean paste made of soybean and brine used in Korean cuisine. It is also a byproduct of soup soy sauce production. It is sometimes used as a relish.
Travel tip The base of many everyday Korean dishes, especially the soup doenjang-jjigae. It is most often eaten at home and in restaurants serving home-style meals.
Read more
Description: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo: Wikimedia Commons