Korean Culture Explained: Life, History, Music & Language | NowHitz · 2

How the 50 were picked

The city looked at the quality of drinks and desserts and the experience of the space. It also weighed popularity and how easy a place is for foreign tourists to reach.

The list debuted alongside the Seoul Mishik 100. It is exactly 50 shops.

Bakeries take nearly half

By main menu, bakery and patisserie shops dominate with 23 spots (46%). Coffee shops get 9, Korean desserts and hangwa 7, tea and dessert specialists 4 each, and bingsu and gelato 3.

Western pastry rules the menu: macarons, madeleines, mont blancs, tarts, eclairs and pies. Big bakeries share the list with small dessert bars.

Hangwa and bingsu picks

The seven Korean-dessert spots include Gangjeong Neomchineun Jip (walnut and pecan jeonggwa), Dongbyeongsangryeon (honey-grilled jeungpyeon), Hap Wonseojeom (juak) and 1994SEOUL (a seasonal tea-and-sweets course).

Bingsu is not only a summer thing here: Dangok is listed for its mascarpone injeolmi bingsu and Bubing for its red-bean bingsu.

Gangnam 17, Jongno 7

By district, Gangnam-gu leads with 17 (34%), followed by Yongsan-gu with 10, Jongno-gu with 7 and Jung-gu with 6. Seocho-gu and Mapo-gu have 4 each, Gangseo-gu and Seongbuk-gu 1 each.

Anguk is the easiest area to stitch together on foot. Onion Anguk (pandoro) and Amor Napoli Anguk (ciabatta) are on Gyedong-gil, and Osulloc Tea House Bukchon (tea course) is on Bukchon-ro. In Jung-gu, Taegeukdang made the cut for its monaka ice cream.

Before you go

- Main menus are those on sale as of Oct. 6. Seasons and stock can change them, so check first. - Taste of Seoul 2026 runs Oct. 23-29 at DDP and across the city, and presents both the 100 and the 50. - Opening hours and closing days differ by shop and are not part of the list.

What is on the shelf

Announced on Sept. 21 and on sale from the 23rd. Three 'K-Heritage Snacks': a nurungji snack made with Korean rice, a kimchi-flavored version, and mini rice yakgwa. A Jeju hallabong wafer filled with hallabong cream makes four.

Packaging that doubles as a souvenir

The packs reinterpret traditional Korean imagery in a modern design, with English, Chinese and Japanese on the front.

The wafer comes in a 10-piece pack, designed for snacking on the go or handing out as gifts.

Why nurungji and yakgwa now

Seven-Eleven's foreign-customer sales rose 59% year on year in January to August. eToday noted that Korean convenience stores have become a tourist stop for experiencing everyday Korea.

Kim Eun-ji, an MD on the PB team, said the company will keep finding Korean ingredients that suit foreign tourists' spending habits and launch differentiated K-food products.

Before you buy

- The announcement gives no price or list of stores. Check at your nearest Seven-Eleven. - Only the nurungji snack comes in a kimchi flavor. The yakgwa and wafer lean sweet. - For gifts, the 10-piece hallabong wafer is the easiest to hand out.

A cream bun in a castella-crumb coat

The star is the Sareureu Pumpkin Castella Cream Bread. Soft bread is coated in castella crumbs and filled with sweet pumpkin cream and dried pumpkin pieces (hobak-goji).

Castella crumbs stand in for the roasted-soybean dusting of injeolmi, and the dried pumpkin adds the chew.

The other four, in autumn colours

There is an Original Kouign-amann, baked crisp with butter and caramelised sugar, and a Black Sesame Kouign-amann that adds sesame on top.

The Honey Sweet Potato Fresh Donut is filled with sweet potato paste and finished with jocheong syrup. The Black Sesame Ganache Baguette is crisp outside, moist inside and filled with black sesame ganache.

Why pumpkin, sesame and sweet potato

CJ Foodville calls pumpkin, black sesame and sweet potato 'familiar flavours that stand for autumn' and says it wanted customers to enjoy them in Tous Les Jours' own style.

Four of the five lean on those three ingredients; the fifth is the butter kouign-amann. It is a nutty, toasty lineup.

Before you buy

The breads are sold at major Tous Les Jours stores nationwide, which is not the same as every branch. Check your nearest store or the Tous Les Jours website (tlj.co.kr) before making a trip.

The pumpkin bun sheds castella crumbs on everything, so grab a napkin first.

It started as a throwaway line

On a YouTube video Minami said: "If you do this and go to Geoje, you'll get scolded by Geoje citizens. (Geoje yaho~)" The clip spread through short-form video.

It helped that RESCENE's leader Won-yi grew up in Geoje. The third-year group's song from two years earlier was also climbing the charts around then.

An ambassador without a big agency

Geoje appointed RESCENE as its ambassador on May 22. The members filmed a day trip to Mt. Noja, known for its observatory and cable car.

The Bangbanggokgok in Geoje video made with the city's official channel is still online, so you can follow the route.

Honorary citizens, after the floods

Heavy August rain hit Geoje hard. On Aug. 19 RESCENE's agency and others visited the city and delivered 50 million won; the fandom REMINE also raised funds.

On Sept. 9 the Geoje City Council approved honorary citizenship for all members, a first for entertainers. A city official said the group's and fans' warmth gave residents comfort and hope.

Before you go

Certificates are normally handed out on Citizens' Day in early October. This year's event was cancelled because of the floods and no new date is set.

If you are planning a Geoje trip, RESCENE's official YouTube video makes a friendly route guide. Check the city's notices for what is open before you leave.

A custom, not a dish

The 2013 entry on UNESCO's Representative List is titled 'Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea'. It recognises neighbours and families making big batches together and sharing them to get through winter.

UNESCO places kimjang season in late autumn, with communities timing the work by weather forecasts. Methods differ by region.

From mother-in-law to daughter-in-law

According to UNESCO, the know-how is typically passed from a mother-in-law to a newly married daughter-in-law. Households buy shrimp and anchovies for fermenting in spring, sea salt in summer, and dry and grind red chilli in late summer.

Kimjang day is really the last day of a year-long project.

This year's basket: cabbage down, salted shrimp up

As of Oct. 8, napa cabbage retailed at 5,833 won a head, down 12.85% from a year earlier, per aT data. The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) expects fall cabbage output of 1.222 million tonnes, up 19%.

Salted shrimp, by contrast, is 18,984 won per kg, up 23.43% and more than 15% above an average year. Radish had a weak start, and the agriculture ministry says its supply needs close management.

Are fewer people making kimjang?

KREI's household purchase-intention index for kimchi stands at 91.2; anything under 100 means falling demand. Cheap cabbage does not help much when the seasonings cost more.

From Oct. 12 to Nov. 30 the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service tests kimjang vegetables for pesticide residue, holding or destroying anything over the limit.

Ahead of cosmetics and liquor

Isaac Toast's signature sauce ranked No. 1 on the overall best-products list of Airstar Duty Free, Korea JoongAng Daily reported Oct. 2.

Airstar Duty Free is the online shopping platform run by Incheon International Airport Corp. Its overall ranking spans cosmetics, fashion and liquor, according to Wikitree. In September, the sauce was the only food item in the platform's top eight. In June, it ranked first across all categories on Shinsegae Duty Free's online mall.

Not sold in Korean stores

The sauce is a duty-free-only product sold through Shinsegae Duty Free. It is not available at Korean convenience stores or supermarkets.

It went on sale in late April at Shinsegae Duty Free's Myeongdong store, Financial News reported. A late-May batch sold out in a day, and purchase limits followed. The company says it keeps the sauce off Korean shelves to protect its franchise owners' toast sales.

A taste to take home

Foreign tourists drive the demand. Visitors who try Isaac toast at shops in Myeongdong or Hongdae buy the sauce on the way home to recreate it.

The toast itself is familiar to first-timers: bread, egg, cabbage, ham and cheese, finished with a sweet sauce.

The jams are sold in Korea

Unlike the sauce, the fruit jams can be bought in Korea. From Jan. 26, Isaac Toast offered its jam line, led by kiwi jam, through 29CM's "29 Limited Order" promotion, News1 reported.

On Aug. 14, Isaac Toast said four jams, kiwi, peach, apple and strawberry, had launched on the Olive Young online mall, with same-day Today Dream delivery in some areas. It had earlier expanded sales to 29CM, Kurly and Shinsegae Duty Free.

Through its Sauce with You campaign, the company sets aside 100 won (about 7 cents) per bottle of sauce sold to fund meals for children at risk of going hungry.

Before you buy

The sauce is available only through duty-free channels such as Shinsegae Duty Free stores and its online mall.

The sauce may be treated as a liquid at security. According to ANA, liquids bought at departure-airport duty-free shops in Korea can be carried on if sealed, unopened, in a tamper-evident bag (STEB) with the receipt. Transit countries apply their own rules.

Accepted with 38 other items in 2011

On Aug. 31, 2011, the National Institute of Korean Language recognized 39 items, including jjajangmyeon and meokgeori (food), as standard and added them to the online Standard Korean Language Dictionary. The Korean Language Council had finalized the list at a plenary session on Aug. 22.

The institute said it had previously accepted only jajangmyeon, taekgyeon spelled 태껸 and pumse spelled 품세, but would now also accept the widely used forms 짜장면, 택견 and 품새. Both spellings of each became standard.

Jajangmyeon is still correct

Recognizing two standard forms followed a principle already allowed under the 1988 Standard Language Regulations. The institute said both the existing and the newly accepted words may be used in textbooks and official documents.

In a February 2026 reply on its Online Ganada Q&A service, the institute again said both jajangmyeon and jjajangmyeon are correct. A June reply added that jjajang on its own is also listed in the Standard Korean Language Dictionary.

From Shandong noodles to Incheon

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture traces the dish to chaojiangmian (炒醬麵), noodles topped with fried sweet bean paste from China’s Shandong Peninsula. Chinese restaurants followed the opening of Incheon’s port in 1883, and the encyclopedia says Gonghwachun, opened in 1905, was the first to sell jajangmyeon.

Gonghwachun closed in 1984. Its two-story red-brick building became a registered national cultural heritage site in 2006.

Chunjang and the flour-food campaign

The black sauce comes from chunjang. According to the encyclopedia, Wang Song-shan, a member of Korea’s ethnic Chinese community, created it in 1948 by adding caramel to tianmianjiang, a sweet fermented wheat paste.

The encyclopedia credits the government’s campaign to promote flour-based foods in the 1960s and 1970s with making jajangmyeon an everyday dish.

GS25’s Hanjeongseon rice cake

Hanjeongseon, a chapssaltteok brand that started in Seongsu-dong, was known for its queues. On September 3, GS25 launched the frozen Hanjeongseon Yogurt Chapssaltteok (3,900 won) with the brand and dessert maker Roromello. Eaten frozen, it is like sherbet; thawed, it turns soft and chewy.

GS25 said it sold 500,000 by September 20 and 700,000 as of its October 5 announcement, topping the chain’s September delivery and pick-up sales ahead of canned beer. A pistachio version (3,900 won) reaches stores on October 15.

emart24’s iced sweet potato

In early September, emart24 released Ice Goguma Matang (3,900 won), the classic candied sweet potato made to be eaten chilled, in a standing pouch. It is marketed as crisp outside and moist inside.

emart24 said it became the top seller among all its frozen foods, ahead of frozen pizza and dumplings. Sales for September 14–20 were 35% higher than in launch week. The chain’s frozen dessert sales rose 72% from January to September 15.

Other chains

CU said sales of its hyper-realistic ice creams, shaped like carrots, triangle kimbap and potatoes, rose 107.7% from January to September. 7-Eleven’s iced dessert sales grew 86% from January 1 to September 21, and its Ohayo Brulee Milk, topped with a sugar crust, sold 350,000 in 40 days.

At GS25, sales of rice cakes and rice-cake-based products jumped 312.6% between January 1 and September 20. The industry credits chewy and crunchy textures and the fun of eating them, as well as a longer shelf life than chilled desserts.

Queues at rice-cake shops

Rice cakes are selling as desserts beyond convenience stores, too. Fruit-filled chapssaltteok and fusion seolgi such as pizza seolgi draw weekday-morning queues at Pungnyeon Tteokjip in Incheon’s Bupyeong market.

A Changeok Tteok pop-up at The Hyundai Seoul drew more than 10,000 visitors in a week, and rice-cake sales at Lotte Department Store’s main and Jamsil branches rose more than 250% in July–August from a year earlier. Analysts say many younger buyers like supporting neighbourhood rice-cake shops.

Buying tips

Stock of limited items varies by store, and they sell out quickly. GS25 took pre-orders and delivery or pick-up orders for the Hanjeongseon rice cake through its Woori Dongne GS app.

Sales figures and growth rates are each company’s own. Frozen desserts are hard to take home in luggage.

How the rods were laid out

Sangaji, also called sanmok, are slender rods made from bamboo, wood or other materials. The same rod could stand for different numbers depending on where and in which direction it was placed.

According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, rods for the units, hundreds and ten-thousands were placed vertically, and those for the tens, thousands and hundred-thousands horizontally. The orientations were sometimes reversed, so the convention was not fixed.

The encyclopedia says rods were the basic method of calculation in Korean mathematics until the end of the Joseon period. The rods in the photograph carry no numerals; the value came from the rules for arranging them.

A Joseon-period abacus

National Museum of Korea collection item Sinsu1113 includes a Joseon-period abacus. The museum says the tool, also called sanban, was used for commercial and other calculations. Where counting rods are laid out loose, an abacus holds bead-threaded rods inside a wooden frame.

Beads above and below the central crossbar carry different values: an upper bead represents five and a lower bead one. Bead counts vary between designs; this one has two beads above the bar and five below on each rod.

Bead positions

The front view shows the frame, the crossbar and the rows of beads. In the angled photograph, some beads have been pushed toward the crossbar, showing how the same object changes a number.

The counting-rod photograph shows the sticks with their storage pouch. Unlike a sheet that records only an answer, both tools preserve the hand movements of calculation.

Rods as a game

Counting rods were also used for play. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes games such as removing one rod from a scattered pile without disturbing the others.

Calculation followed the agreed arrangement of the rods; the game required keeping the surrounding rods still.

How it is made

Dalgona starts with sugar and baking soda. Melted sugar is mixed with baking soda, spread and pressed flat on a work surface, then stamped with a patterned mold.

The stamp leaves a star, triangle or other outline inside the candy, which becomes the game board.

The game

Players try to separate the inner shape along the stamped line without breaking it, chipping away the edge while keeping the center whole.

Too much force snaps the candy. A star and a triangle give players different outlines to follow.

A school-gate snack

The photographs show the tools side by side: a small pan for heating sugar, a metal worktop and a round press. Melting and pressing happen in one spot. Both the wide shot and the close-up of sugar being stirred were taken on June 29, 2008.

A 2020 KOREA magazine feature recalled students buying freshly made dalgona at stationery shops outside their schools through the early 2000s. Watching it being made and playing the game were part of the snack.

The flavor

The ring-shaped onion snack is coated with Neoguri’s spicy seafood-soup seasoning. Nongshim said it layers a spicy kick over Yangpa Ring’s salty, savory flavor.

Where the idea came from

Nongshim said the idea came from consumers shaking ramyun seasoning into bags of snacks. Its September 30 announcement set the launch date as October 12.

Official-store price

As of 9:09 a.m. KST on October 15, Nongshim’s online store listed the 60g bag at 1,760 won, discounted to 1,540 won, with shipping extra. The item was marked sold out. Stock at other retailers was not checked.