In a country where “have you eaten?” is a common way to say hello, it’s safe to say food is the nation’s pride and joy – and with good reason. Spicy, vibrant and aromatic, Korean food has been just as much a driving force of Hallyu as BTS and Squid Game. Here are some delicious local specialties you must try.

Want more of the country and culture behind Hallyu? Check out our brand new book Hello, South Korea...

It’s no exaggeration to say that a Korean meal is incomplete without kimchi. It’s the centre of Korean cuisine, so much so that Seoul is home to a dedicated museum, most households have special refrigerators for proper storage, and weather forecasters predict the best time to start preparing kimchi for the winter in a time-honoured practise known as kimjang.

But what, exactly, makes the fermented vegetables – of which there are around 200 varieties – so special? The combination of spicy, sour and salty flavours along with the tang of fermentation makes the dish versatile enough to go with anything. As such, you’ll encounter it as a side dish wherever you sit down to eat, but why not dive deeper with a hearty bowl of kimchi-jjigae (stew) or a mouthwatering kimchi jeon (pancake)?

A staple street food dish that everyone grows up eating, teokbokki consists of rice or fish cake chunks that are simmered in a thick, sweet and spicy gochujang (red chilli paste) sauce. Innovative twists to the dish are always evolving, too, with some cooks using carbonara cream sauces or adding toppings like mozzarella cheese. Still, it’s the most fiery versions that are sought out by locals – especially stressed workers and students, who crave the head-spinning spiciness for the endorphins it releases. If your palate isn’t accustomed to spice, you’ll be glad to know tteokbokki comes in different levels of heat.

Many locals will attest that the best nights are spent at a barbecue joint, cooking your own meat over charcoal or gas tabletop grills while socializing with loved ones. Beef and pork ribs are common cuts, but samgyeopsal is a firm favourite, consisting of thick and fatty slices of pork belly that are cooked unseasoned. The flavour comes later, when the pieces are eaten in lettuce and perilla leaf wraps and topped off with condiments like sesame oil, raw garlic and fried kimchi. The resulting dish is a beautiful combination of flavours, best wolfed down in one glorious bite.

The humble noodle is a key ingredient in many beloved Korean dishes, whether it’s the Korean-Chinese black bean meal jajangmyeon or the colourful cellophane noodle dish japchae. But there’s one noodle dish that makes Korea’s hot, humid summers bearable: naengmyeon, where thin buckwheat noodles are served in an icy cold broth of beef or radish water kimchi, and topped with beef, boiled egg, pear and sliced cucumbers. Still can’t shake the sweats? Well, that’s an excuse to indulge in bingsu, a shaved ice treat, for dessert.

Sure, you can find this mixed rice dish at many markets and restaurants around the world, but it’s best served in Korea. A vibrant bowl of rice topped with a host of seasoned vegetables (everything from spinach to carrots), marinated beef, a fried egg, and gochujang, bibimbap is intended to be mixed together and eaten with a spoon. It’s the perfect example of what makes Korean cuisine so special, blending as it does flavour harmony with nutritional balance.

In Korea, food isn’t just sustenance: it’s been considered a form of medicine for centuries. A concept that supports this notion is iyeolchiyeol, or fighting fire with fire, of which eating samgyetang is all about. A boiling hot soup containing a small chicken stuffed with rice, nuts, jujubes, ginseng and garlic, the dish is traditionally consumed on sambok: the three hottest days of the year. Sounds like a sweaty ordeal? That’s the point – it’s a cooling strategy, since the soup’s heat regulates body temperature while the ingredients replenish the body with nutrients. Oh, and it’s delicious, so that’s a double win.

Late-night comfort food doesn’t get better than KFC – a relatively modern and international addition to Korea’s culinary landscape. Like everything, though, Korea has added its own spin to it, seasoning the meat with the likes of garlic, honey and soy sauce, or sweet, spicy and sticky glazes. The best way to indulge is with a beer – a pastime that’s so loved in Korea, it’s birthed a whole new word: chimaek, which blends chikin (chicken) and maekju (beer).

Korea has long excelled at producing alcohol, which is the mainstay of the country’s drinking scene. Judging by the ubiquitous sight of green bottles of soju that cram tables far and wide, this clear liquor is the nation’s favourite alcoholic tipple. Made from fermenting grains, it has a whopping 12 to 45 per cent alcohol content, and is commonly drunk neat. If you’d rather settle yourself in slowly, try mixing yours with beer to create a drink known as somaek, or order a soju cocktail whipped up by talented mixologists. Note that alcohol is rarely enjoyed here without ordering some anju – food to be consumed with alcohol – so head to a pojangmacha (covered food stall) and pair your soju with tteokbokki.

Hot on the heels of soju is this milky-white fermented rice wine, which consists of the cloudier alcohol that sinks to the bottom during fermentation. It’s long flown under the radar in Korea, often thought of as little more than “farmer’s liquor” drunk before a day’s work in the Joseon era. Today, however, the drink is seeing a resurgence, with dedicated bars popping up in Seoul and locals seeking something less alcoholic than soju (makgeolli ranges from 6 to 18 per cent alcohol content). It has a sweet flavour, making it the perfect pairing for pajeon (green onion pancakes).

Korea might be the world’s largest consumer of instant coffee, with a huge coffee shop scene to boot, but there’s a reason nursing a cup of tea in a quaint teahouse hasn’t faltered since the Silla era. Often housed in converted hanok (traditional Korean buildings), teahouses provide a sanctuary from the fast pace of modern life, and the teas served inside are ideal for any occasion or ailment. Fighting off a cold? Saenggangcha, or ginger tea, is thought to keep a cough at bay. Need a pick-me-up after lunch? Boricha, a simple roasted barley tea, is often served as a post-meal tipple.

A foodie's guide to Rome

Discover some must-try dishes when in Rome...

Read now >>

Why Japanese whisky is so good

Today heralded as world-class, Japanese whiskies have won countless accolades and praise – not bad going for a country with only a handful of distilleries...

Read now >>