Street Food in Korea

Korea is a country with a wide variety of foods. Not only does it have traditional Korean cuisine, but people also enjoy food from various other countries, and there are many restaurants offering diverse cuisines. However, there are also many foods that can be easily eaten on the go, like finger foods, not from a restaurant but from the street. To help you understand, you can think of them as being similar to food trucks. These foods are especially common in markets and can also be easily found near schools, where many students are around. These places often sell snacks that can quickly satisfy your hunger, and the prices are affordable, making them popular among students and young people. Of course, there are also places that sell quick meals, like ramen or noodles.

Representative Street Food: Hotteok(호떡)

One of the most famous street foods in Korea, and also well-known abroad, is hotteok. This food is especially popular in winter and is mainly found in markets. It is a snack made by rolling a dough ball made from flour, filling it with brown sugar, chopped nuts, and cinnamon powder, and then flattening and frying it. The result is a pancake-like treat with the sugar inside melting into a caramel-like sauce, and the outside becoming crispy and chewy from being fried. Nowadays, various ingredients like cheese, pizza sauce, or chocolate are also used as fillings.

Making Hotteok at Home

While you can buy hotteok from street vendors at an affordable price, you can also make it yourself at home these days. Although the ingredients are simple, making it at home just like the street vendors do can be challenging because the dough needs time to ferment, and it can be quite messy with oil splattering. Therefore, there are now convenient instant products available in supermarkets that allow you to easily make hotteok at home. These products are great because the dough and filling are pre-prepared, so you can make hotteok without needing to gather ingredients or go through the fermentation process.

1. Hotteok Mix

Hotteok mix includes a flour mixture for making the dough and the necessary fillings. If you want to try the experience of making hotteok yourself, it’s recommended to buy this product and give it a try. While you still need to make the dough yourself, you don’t need to spend a long time fermenting it. You just need to add water to make the dough, then cook it with the filling.

2. Frozen Hotteok 

Frozen hotteok is a product that’s already shaped and frozen. So, you can simply thaw it in the microwave and then fry it in a pan to eat right away. Since it’s quick and easy to prepare, this product is popular among busy people.

Similar Foods in Other Countries

Similar foods to hotteok can be found in other countries, such as pancakes in the United States and bing in China. These two foods share similar cooking methods or characteristics with hotteok in their respective countries.

1. Pancakes
American pancakes are made by frying a flour-based batter in a pan, resulting in a round, flat shape similar to hotteok. Both hotteok and pancakes are enjoyed with sweet fillings or toppings, making them alike in that regard. While hotteok has sweet ingredients inside the dough, pancakes have toppings placed on top of the batter. Despite this difference, they are similar in appearance and in being sweet treats.

2. Bing (餠)
Bing is a traditional Chinese food made from flour, and like hotteok, it is filled with ingredients, flattened, and then fried. There are various types of bing, and those with a sweet filling, especially sugar-filled bing, taste similar to hotteok. The difference lies in the cooking methods and ingredients, which vary by region, and in the fact that bing can also be filled with vegetables and meat, making it somewhat similar to dumplings.

Where to Find These Foods in Korea

In Korea, the easiest place to find street food is at a market. Representative foods like hotteok, chicken skewers, and tteokbokki can be easily found at any market. Each region has its own unique markets, and some markets have special street foods that are only sold there. So, if you visit Korea, be sure to check out the traditional markets in that area.

Where to Buy Them in London

In London, it’s still challenging to find Korean street food among the street vendors. However, you can sometimes find Korean food at large food markets like Camden Market, where various international foods are sold. Korean street foods like gimbap and tteokbokki are often prepared by Korean vendors, so visit one of these big food markets in London to look for a Korean food truck. Alternatively, you can buy tteokbokki and hotteok mix at Asian markets and easily make them at home.

Where to enjoy Korean culture in London

If you want to experience Korean food culture firsthand in London, participating in cultural events organise by Dear Asia London is a great option. They offer Korean food, drink tasting and culture workshops where you can experience various aspects of Korean culture.

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