10 Korean Street Foods to Try and What They Taste Like
A bunsik (분식) stall in Korea with fried twigim in front and red tteokbokki behind, photographed in 2007. Photo: Jens Ohlig, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Steam rising from a metal pot, a tray of glossy red rice cakes, and someone in a puffy jacket eating a fish cake on a stick while waiting for the bus. It's a familiar Korean street-food scene, and most snacks are affordable, though prices vary by stall and neighborhood. The hard part for a first-time visitor isn't finding street food. It's knowing what you're looking at.
Several of these are classic bunsik (분식), a word that broadly means inexpensive Korean snacks and light meals. You'll see them at stalls on busy streets, in traditional markets and in small bunsik shops. Below are 10 street foods worth trying, what each one actually tastes like, and a tip for eating it like a local. Spice levels are marked so you can plan your stomach.
The quick list
- Spicy: tteokbokki
- Savory and mild: eomuk, twigim, sundae, bindaetteok, mayak gimbap
- Sweet: hotteok, gyeranppang (sweet and salty), bungeoppang, gun-goguma
1. Tteokbokki (떡볶이): chewy rice cakes in red sauce
If you only try one thing, make it this. Tteokbokki consists of cylindrical rice cakes simmered in a sauce based on gochujang (고추장, red pepper paste). The sauce is sweet first, then the heat builds. The rice cakes are soft but chewy, a bit like thick gnocchi. Stalls often add flat fish cake and sometimes a boiled egg.
Spice: medium to hot, depending on the stall. Tip: it's normal to order a small portion and share it with toothpicks or a fork.
2. Eomuk (어묵): fish cake on a stick
Eomuk, also called odeng (오뎅), is fish cake folded onto a long skewer and kept warm in a pot of broth. It tastes mild, a little salty and slightly sweet, with a soft, bouncy texture. On a cold day, it's the most comforting thing on the street.
Kkochi-eomuk (꼬치어묵), fish cake skewers served in broth with green onion. Photo: anokarina, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Spice: none, unless you pick a spicy skewer. Tip: at many stalls you take a skewer yourself and pay for the sticks when you're done, so keep them in your hand. Many stalls also let you ladle a paper cup of the broth to sip. Watch what others do, or just ask.
3. Twigim (튀김): Korean-style fried snacks
Twigim means fried food. At a street stall it usually includes vegetables, sweet potato slices, squid, boiled eggs and gimmari (김말이), seaweed rolls stuffed with glass noodles. Batter thickness varies by vendor.
Spice: none. Tip: a common way to eat twigim is to dip it in tteokbokki sauce. Just ask the vendor.
4. Sundae (순대): Korean blood sausage
Don't confuse it with the ice cream dessert. Sundae is a sausage usually made by stuffing pork intestine with glass noodles and pig's blood, then steaming it. It tastes earthy and mild, with a springy, chewy bite. Stalls slice it on the spot and often add pieces of liver or lung.
Spice: none. Tip: dip each piece in the little pile of salt mix the vendor gives you. In some regions you'll get a dipping sauce instead.
5. Hotteok (호떡): the winter sugar pancake
Hotteok is a chewy, pan-fried dough pancake with a pocket of melted brown sugar inside, often mixed with cinnamon and chopped nuts. The outside is crisp and rich from frying in oil. The inside is a hot syrup that will burn your tongue if you rush it. Hotteok is usually traced back to Chinese merchants who came to Korea in the late 1800s.
Hotteok (호떡), sweet pancakes filled with brown sugar syrup. Photo: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Spice: none. Tip: vendors often serve it whole in a small paper cup or paper sleeve. Bite a small hole first and let the steam out. Some stalls in Busan sell a version stuffed with seeds, called ssiat hotteok (씨앗호떡).
6. Gyeranppang (계란빵): egg bread
Picture a small, fluffy, slightly sweet muffin with a whole egg baked right on top. That's gyeranppang. The mix of sweet bread and salty egg works better than it sounds, and it makes a good walking breakfast.
Spice: none. Tip: eat it while it's warm. Once it cools, the bread gets dense.
7. Bungeoppang (붕어빵): fish-shaped bread
No fish involved. Bungeoppang is made by cooking waffle-like batter in a fish-shaped mold and filling it with sweet red bean paste. Many stalls now also sell a custard version (syukeurim, 슈크림), and some offer other fillings.
Spice: none. Tip: there's a friendly Korean debate about whether you eat it head first or tail first. Pick a side and you have a conversation starter. Bungeoppang stalls are mostly a cold-weather thing, so look for them from late autumn.
8. Bindaetteok (빈대떡): mung bean pancake
Bindaetteok is made from ground mung beans mixed with vegetables and often meat, then fried in plenty of oil until the edges are crispy. It's thick, nutty and savory, and much more filling than it looks. Gwangjang Market (광장시장) in Seoul is famous for it, and you can watch vendors grind the beans by the stall.
Spice: none. Tip: dip it in the soy sauce with onions that comes on the side, and share one between two people unless you're very hungry.
9. Mayak gimbap (마약김밥): the small rice rolls
Regular gimbap is rice and fillings rolled in seaweed. Mayak gimbap is a mini version, about finger-sized, with simple fillings like carrot, pickled radish and spinach. The name jokingly calls it "addictive." It comes with a mustard and soy dipping sauce that gives it a sharp kick.
Spice: none in the roll itself; the dipping sauce can be sharp from the mustard. Tip: it's a well-known snack at Gwangjang Market, and it pairs well with bindaetteok for a filling market meal.
10. Gun-goguma (군고구마): roasted sweet potato
On winter streets you may smell this before you see it. Gun-goguma are sweet potatoes roasted in a drum or a stone oven until the skin darkens and the inside turns soft and sweet. It's simple, warming and filling, and a great hand warmer.
Spice: none. Tip: Koreans often eat sweet potato with kimchi, so don't be surprised if someone recommends the combination.
Where to look
- Myeongdong (명동), Seoul: a long line of stalls sets up in the late afternoon and evening. Good for variety, and stalls here are used to tourists.
- Gwangjang Market, Seoul: the place for bindaetteok, mayak gimbap and sundae, eaten at stools around the stalls.
- Near subway exits and bus stops: small tteokbokki, eomuk and hotteok stands, especially in colder months.
- Busan's traditional markets: good for eomuk and seed hotteok.
Paying and a few manners
Many stalls now take cards, but traditional markets and small stands can be cash-first, so keep a little Korean won in your pocket. If your card keeps getting declined, our guide on why foreign cards fail in Korea and how to pay anyway explains the workarounds.
- Eat at or near the stall instead of walking through crowds with sauce. Use the stall's bin if one is provided; otherwise ask the vendor where to leave skewers and cups.
- Pointing at what you want is completely fine. "Igeo juseyo (이거 주세요)" means "This one, please."
- Prices are usually posted on the stall. If they aren't, it's fine to ask before ordering.
Checked in November 2026. Menus, prices and which stalls are open change by season and by neighborhood, so look at the stall's sign before you order.
VISITKOREA, the Korea Tourism Organization's official channel, made the video below at Park's Bindaetteok in Gwangjang Market, showing how the mung bean pancake is ground, fried and served.
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