Food
The street foods that define Busan winters
source: getty image
In any neighborhood and at any hour, people will stand around vinyl tents, warmed by steam emanating from cooktops. These food stalls, ubiquitous nationwide, specialize in Korean snacks and beckon peckish passersby with promises of soul-warming meals. Through that magic combination of flavor and nostalgia, these comfort foods have the power to cure whatever ails you.
Broken heart? Tteokbokki.
Job-related stress? Gimbap.
Existential crisis? Ramyeon.
When what ails you is the weather, specifically biting winds and freezing temperatures, healing comes in two forms: "Eomuk," fish cakes, or "multteok," rice cakes in broth. These cold-weather staples warm the body and the mind.
🍥 Multteok
Eomuk's longtime partner is multteok, long, chewy rice cakes skewered and gently soaked in the same fish cake broth. The result is a tender, springy and subtly savory snack. Common at Busan snack stalls since at least the 1960s, multteok is rarely found outside the region.
Sometimes used as a base for tteokbokki, multteok adds an extra layer of depth to the familiar sweet-spicy dish. For the most authentic experience, head to traditional markets in Jagalchi or Bujeon, where eomuk and multteok attract long lines at bustling street stalls.
<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>
neighborhood: 지역 tender: 부드러운 springy: 탄력 있는 authentic: 정통의
Editor: Song Soomi
Copy Editors: Ryu Hyoseung, Anton J. Mapoy