Bindaetteok
Bindaetteok is a mung bean pancake. It’s made by grinding soaked mung beans and adding vegetables like green onions and kimchi, perhaps some pork, then pan-frying it into a round, flat shape. It’s served with a dipping sauce made with soy sauce, vinegar, water, and ground pine nuts.
Soondae
Soondae is a Korean blood sausage made by boiling or steaming cow’s or pig’s intestines stuffed with various ingredients. They can be made with seafood like squid or Alaskan pollock, but the most common variety is made with pig’s intestines filled with dangmyeon (cellophane noodles), barley, and pork blood. It’s a popular street food snack in both North and South Korea. In the South, they’re typically eaten with the same gochujang-based sauce used with tteokbokki.
Steamed Octopus & Conch
This was another popular street food snack that appears in many tourist areas. Octopus and conch are cut into bite-sized pieces before being skewered and steamed, then served with a side of red chili sauce. Some vendors drizzle them with bonito flakes.
Tornado Potato
This corkscrew-like snack is another popular Korean street food. Think of it as a cross between french fries and potato chips. Some versions even have a hot dog running through the center of the potato spiral.
Tteokbokki
Tteokbokki is one of the most popular things to eat in Korea. Every market has it, as did a few subway stations. It’s widely available on its own as street food or mixed in with other dishes like fried chicken or jjukumi. Tteokbokki is made from soft cylindrical-shaped rice cakes mixed with fish cake and drizzled with a spicy gochujang-based sauce or a non-spicy ganjang-based sauce.
Tokkebi Hot Dog
A tokkebi hot dog is basically a corn dog coated in chopped up french fries. It’s typically served with mayonnaise, chili sauce, or mustard.
Mandu
Whether steamed, boiled, pan-fried, or deep-fried, mandu is the general term for Korean dumplings. They’re similar to Japanese gyoza or Chinese jiaozi and typically served with kimchi and a soy-vinegar-chili dipping sauce.