What Can I Learn About Korean Street Food?
South Korea is located on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and being an Asian country, they have a very different culture compared to the western countries, especially the United States. Culture includes etiquette, customs, beliefs, language, values, lifestyles, food, music, literature, geography, and much more. One part of their culture that is very interesting is their food. There are many types of food in South Korea just like there are in any place, but they have a lot more street food, and the definition of street food changes. Street food can be sold at markets, at stands on the streets, and also inside tents on the street that are portable restaurants. Street food can give information about South Korean culture,history, what South Koreans eat on a daily basis and their food accessibility. Street food has changed over generations and it helps us to see the economic side of the country because lots of people make a living as street vendors. Since South Korea is so different in terms of culture, geography and history, I would like to see what I can learn about Korean street food; what certain foods are, what they are called, their history, ingredients, and how they are made.
Since South Korea is a peninsula, they eat a lot of seafood. They have many foods that involve things from the ocean such as odeng/eomuk, dried squid, octopus, anchovies, and kimbap/gimbap. Odeng is a type of fish cake made with ground white fish, potato starch, sugar, rice flour, and rice wine ("Fishcake, Eomuk or Odeng 어묵(오뎅)." ). The word “odeng” is Japanese for fish cake stew, but South Korea gave it a Korean which is “eomuk” so they could make it their own. Even though it has a Korean name, most people still call it “odeng”. There are three main ways odeng is served on a street, on a stick, in odeng tang, or in a broth. On a stick, odeng is normally deep fried and served with ketchup, mustard, or filled with cheese. This is the most popular way to eat odeng and vendors are creating new personalized variations to make it more interesting. When buying from a street vendor you eat as many sticks as you want and the vendor will count them when you're done and you pay about 500 won per stick which is equivalent to about forty five cents in American money. The next way to eat odeng is in the soup “odeng tang”, which is Japanese but the Koreans adopted it and renamed it “eomuk guk”. Fish cakes are still served on the sticks but are put in a broth flavored with chili, soy sauce, and green onions. The final way is similar to odeng tang but the fish cakes are put in a different type of broth based on leeks or turnips or just with soy sauce paste or spicy red pepper paste (Hickey, Ciaran). Dried squid, octopus, and anchovies are stored in barrels and you can scoop out however much you want into a bag and pay for it. This is the equivalent to chips in our culture, but a healthier alternative.
One more type of food from the ocean that the South Koreans eat is called “kimbap” but the k is pronounced as a "g" making it “gimbap” in English. Kimbap was originally Japanese and was called “futomaki” but the Koreans adopted during a period of Japanese rule over Korea (Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food."). Kimbap is made from dried seaweed (gim), rice (bap), an assortment of seasoned vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, spinach, and pickled radish, with egg, and a type of meat variation like crab or beef (Imatome-Yun, Naomi). There are four main types of kimbap you can find on the South Korean streets, kimchi kimbap, chamchi kimbap, chungmu kimbap, and samgak kimbap. Kimchi kimbap is just fermented cabbage or fermented anything surrounded by rice and held together by dried seaweed. Chamchi kimbap is sushi with a filling of tuna, marinated sesame leaf, and mayonnaise. Chungmu kimbap is sushi with no filling, only rice binded together by dried seaweed originating in the city of Chungmu, therefore getting its name. The final common version of kimbap is samgak kimbap, which is the regular traditional kimbap in a triangular form. Samguk kimbap is mainly sold in convenience stores but is also sold on the streets (Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food.").
Along with having much street food consisting of ingredients from the ocean, South Korea has many foods that have an interesting history behind them. For instance, tteokbokki is a rice cake in a spicy red pepper sauce and is one of the most common, cheap, and delicious street foods at only 2,500-3,500 won which is about $2.25- $3.25 US dollars (Beginner's Guide to Korean Street Food (with Tips!) - Seoulistic."). Korean rice cakes are not what Americans call ¨cake¨, instead they similar to what we would call a dumpling. Prior to the Japanese rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945, there was a period of time named the Joseon Dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty started in 1392 after the fall of the Korean Goreyo Dynasty and lasted until the 1910 Japanese occupation (Szczepanski, Kallie.). Tteokbokki was created during this dynasty, although it wasn’t exactly the variation that it is sold today on the streets because it was the Japanese who influenced Koreans to put the rice cakes in the spicy sauce. During the Joseon Dynasty, tteokbokki was served to royal court but it wasn’t served in the spicy red paste. Their version of tteokbokki was just the rice cake mixed with meat, vegetables, and multiple seasonings (Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food: Tteokbokki."). Nowadays, tteokbokki is becoming a business opportunity for many people; it is entering international markets and the Korean government is trying to put a franchise on it.
South Korean street food opens up a window for us to see into their culture. It shows us what foods are most common such as seafood and rice, their history, and how their foods have changed over the course of history. For example, I now know that tteokbokki was eaten during the Joseon Dynasty and the spicy sauce that you find tteokbokki in on the streets today was actually derived from the Japanese. Many of the snacks in street markets have a lot of seafood because South Korea is near water. A lot of the foods are rice based because rice is a staple food, a main source of carbohydrates, and is relatively cheap. Street food vending provides many jobs for citizens and opens up opportunities for other South Koreans to join the street food business. In addition to making jobs for citizens, South Korean street food has gotten a lot of attention from tourists because of the wide range of food sold, thusly helping bring money to South Korea.
Works Cited
Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food." Korean Food. Blogger, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://maithakoreanfood.blogspot.com/>.
"Fishcake, Eomuk or Odeng 어묵(오뎅)." Fishcake, Eomuk or Odeng 어묵(오뎅). Crazy Korean Cooking, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://crazykoreancooking.com/ingredient/fish-cake>.
Hickey, Ciaran. "A Taste of Korea: Odeng 오뎅 (Fishcake)." 10 Magazine Korea. 10 Magazine, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.10mag.com/a-taste-of-korea-odeng/>.
Imatome-Yun, Naomi. "Korean “Sushi” Rolls Recipe (Kimbap/ Gimbap)." About Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://koreanfood.about.com/od/riceandnoodlerecipes/r/kimbap.htm>.
Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food: Tteokbokki." Korean Food: Tteokbokki. Blogger, 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://maithakoreanfood.blogspot.com/2013/02/tteokbokki.html>.
"Beginner's Guide to Korean Street Food (with Tips!) - Seoulistic." Seoulistic. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://seoulistic.com/korean-food/beginners-guide-to-korean-street-food-with-tips/>.
Szczepanski, Kallie. "Joseon Dynasty - Ancient Korean History." About Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.Matt. "Street Food
in Korea and Stuff On Sticks!" MattBitescom. N.p., 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http://mattbites.com/2011/08/23/street-
food-in-korea-and-stuff-on-sticks/>.
Since South Korea is a peninsula, they eat a lot of seafood. They have many foods that involve things from the ocean such as odeng/eomuk, dried squid, octopus, anchovies, and kimbap/gimbap. Odeng is a type of fish cake made with ground white fish, potato starch, sugar, rice flour, and rice wine ("Fishcake, Eomuk or Odeng 어묵(오뎅)." ). The word “odeng” is Japanese for fish cake stew, but South Korea gave it a Korean which is “eomuk” so they could make it their own. Even though it has a Korean name, most people still call it “odeng”. There are three main ways odeng is served on a street, on a stick, in odeng tang, or in a broth. On a stick, odeng is normally deep fried and served with ketchup, mustard, or filled with cheese. This is the most popular way to eat odeng and vendors are creating new personalized variations to make it more interesting. When buying from a street vendor you eat as many sticks as you want and the vendor will count them when you're done and you pay about 500 won per stick which is equivalent to about forty five cents in American money. The next way to eat odeng is in the soup “odeng tang”, which is Japanese but the Koreans adopted it and renamed it “eomuk guk”. Fish cakes are still served on the sticks but are put in a broth flavored with chili, soy sauce, and green onions. The final way is similar to odeng tang but the fish cakes are put in a different type of broth based on leeks or turnips or just with soy sauce paste or spicy red pepper paste (Hickey, Ciaran). Dried squid, octopus, and anchovies are stored in barrels and you can scoop out however much you want into a bag and pay for it. This is the equivalent to chips in our culture, but a healthier alternative.
One more type of food from the ocean that the South Koreans eat is called “kimbap” but the k is pronounced as a "g" making it “gimbap” in English. Kimbap was originally Japanese and was called “futomaki” but the Koreans adopted during a period of Japanese rule over Korea (Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food."). Kimbap is made from dried seaweed (gim), rice (bap), an assortment of seasoned vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, spinach, and pickled radish, with egg, and a type of meat variation like crab or beef (Imatome-Yun, Naomi). There are four main types of kimbap you can find on the South Korean streets, kimchi kimbap, chamchi kimbap, chungmu kimbap, and samgak kimbap. Kimchi kimbap is just fermented cabbage or fermented anything surrounded by rice and held together by dried seaweed. Chamchi kimbap is sushi with a filling of tuna, marinated sesame leaf, and mayonnaise. Chungmu kimbap is sushi with no filling, only rice binded together by dried seaweed originating in the city of Chungmu, therefore getting its name. The final common version of kimbap is samgak kimbap, which is the regular traditional kimbap in a triangular form. Samguk kimbap is mainly sold in convenience stores but is also sold on the streets (Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food.").
Along with having much street food consisting of ingredients from the ocean, South Korea has many foods that have an interesting history behind them. For instance, tteokbokki is a rice cake in a spicy red pepper sauce and is one of the most common, cheap, and delicious street foods at only 2,500-3,500 won which is about $2.25- $3.25 US dollars (Beginner's Guide to Korean Street Food (with Tips!) - Seoulistic."). Korean rice cakes are not what Americans call ¨cake¨, instead they similar to what we would call a dumpling. Prior to the Japanese rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945, there was a period of time named the Joseon Dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty started in 1392 after the fall of the Korean Goreyo Dynasty and lasted until the 1910 Japanese occupation (Szczepanski, Kallie.). Tteokbokki was created during this dynasty, although it wasn’t exactly the variation that it is sold today on the streets because it was the Japanese who influenced Koreans to put the rice cakes in the spicy sauce. During the Joseon Dynasty, tteokbokki was served to royal court but it wasn’t served in the spicy red paste. Their version of tteokbokki was just the rice cake mixed with meat, vegetables, and multiple seasonings (Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food: Tteokbokki."). Nowadays, tteokbokki is becoming a business opportunity for many people; it is entering international markets and the Korean government is trying to put a franchise on it.
South Korean street food opens up a window for us to see into their culture. It shows us what foods are most common such as seafood and rice, their history, and how their foods have changed over the course of history. For example, I now know that tteokbokki was eaten during the Joseon Dynasty and the spicy sauce that you find tteokbokki in on the streets today was actually derived from the Japanese. Many of the snacks in street markets have a lot of seafood because South Korea is near water. A lot of the foods are rice based because rice is a staple food, a main source of carbohydrates, and is relatively cheap. Street food vending provides many jobs for citizens and opens up opportunities for other South Koreans to join the street food business. In addition to making jobs for citizens, South Korean street food has gotten a lot of attention from tourists because of the wide range of food sold, thusly helping bring money to South Korea.
Works Cited
Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food." Korean Food. Blogger, 7 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://maithakoreanfood.blogspot.com/>.
"Fishcake, Eomuk or Odeng 어묵(오뎅)." Fishcake, Eomuk or Odeng 어묵(오뎅). Crazy Korean Cooking, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://crazykoreancooking.com/ingredient/fish-cake>.
Hickey, Ciaran. "A Taste of Korea: Odeng 오뎅 (Fishcake)." 10 Magazine Korea. 10 Magazine, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.10mag.com/a-taste-of-korea-odeng/>.
Imatome-Yun, Naomi. "Korean “Sushi” Rolls Recipe (Kimbap/ Gimbap)." About Food. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
<http://koreanfood.about.com/od/riceandnoodlerecipes/r/kimbap.htm>.
Alma'amari, Maitha. "Korean Food: Tteokbokki." Korean Food: Tteokbokki. Blogger, 5 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://maithakoreanfood.blogspot.com/2013/02/tteokbokki.html>.
"Beginner's Guide to Korean Street Food (with Tips!) - Seoulistic." Seoulistic. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://seoulistic.com/korean-food/beginners-guide-to-korean-street-food-with-tips/>.
Szczepanski, Kallie. "Joseon Dynasty - Ancient Korean History." About Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.Matt. "Street Food
in Korea and Stuff On Sticks!" MattBitescom. N.p., 23 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. <http://mattbites.com/2011/08/23/street-
food-in-korea-and-stuff-on-sticks/>.