What Korean snacks should you try when you’re visiting Korea? If you’re looking for some Korean Snacks to buy in Korea and take home for a souvenir, consider these snacks. I’ll take you beyond Choco Pies & Pepero, and if you’d like to watch my kids try these snacks and give you their honest opinion, watch the video!
Korean Snacks to Try
Malongkao Chewy Candy (말롱카우)
This candy is a little puff of sweetness. What I like about this candy is the texture. It looks like a marshmallow but then it’s chewy so it’s a little confusing but that’s what makes it good. It’s so light and airy yet chewy. A little like salt water taffy but not as sticky. It comes in milk, strawberry milk, and yogurt flavors. The milk flavors are super milky. I like the yogurt flavor best.
Market-O Real Cheese Crackers.
I used to stare at these on the supermarket shelf and think to myself those look good. But I didn’t buy them for such a long time, and when I did, I thought, why did I wait so long? These are a potato based cracker flavored with cheddar and camembert cheese and they are just oh so delicious and savory. I love them.
Yogurt Jelly (요구루투젤리)
Have you guys tried the korean yogurt drink called “yoguru-tuh”? If you watched the movie to all the boys I’ve loved before it’s that yogurt drink that the little sister is drinking in the morning when josh picks up the girls from school. Koreans have made this little delicious sweet drink into a jelly! It’s so good but at super sweet.
Dried Jeju Mandarins
I love dehydrated fruit and these tangerines from jeju are just so good. I often find them on top of my drinks and shaved ice at osulloc but I like to eat them straight out of the bag and my kids love them too. This seems like something that they should sell at Trader Joes. They are flaky and light and tart and sweet.
Crispy Seaweed Snack (블랙김샌드)
Lightly sweetened seaweed with anchovies – this is my go to “healthy snack.” It’s two crispy pieces of seaweed, lightly sweetened, with a bunch of small anchovies and sesame seeds sandwiched in between. They also make them with almonds . It’s a nice savory lightly sweetened snack. I know it may sound weird to eat anchovies as a snack but Asians eat these as bar snacks with nuts. I think it’s really healthy and gives you a bit of protein as well.
Brown Rice Seaweed Cracker (김스낵)
This is another healthy snack that I like. It’s puffed brown rice with seaweed attached to the back. It’s savory and it comes in different flavors. Its lightly sprinkled with this savory powder that has a nice umami flavor to it. They are super light and crispy and remind me of something that you’d find sitting on top of your udon or ramen dish in Japan. I can eat a whole bag in one sitting.
Nurungji (누룽지) Burnt Rice Candy
Nurungji is the burnt rice at the bottom of the rice pot. If you use a rice cooker you are probably not familiar with this but my husband likes to make rice the old school way, in a metal pot with boiling water over the stove top. When you make it this way you’ll get a thin layer of burnt rice sticking to the pan and this is nurungji. They made it into a candy and it’s so under appreciated. I really like this candy.
Shrimp chips (알새우칩)
Sometimes in American Chinese restaurants when you order Peking duck, they include these crispy shrimp chips, and there are never enough. I love these and so do my kids. I think they are probably deep fried puffs of shrimp essence and maybe rice? I’m not sure but they are super savory and good. I like them better than the traditional shrimp chips. I also like to crunch them up and add them to my salads and it really gives it a little something extra.
Koraebap (고래밥) Fishy Crackers
These crackers are called Koraebap and they are little fish shaped crackers that are light and hollow in the middle. My kids love this cracker and this is the cheeseburger flavor. It’s so amazing!! Here’s the original flavor and they even make giant ones. They are savory crackers that are super light, crispy and addictive.
Sindangdong Tteokbokki Crackers (신당동떡볶이)
Tteokbokki is a spicy rice cake and somehow they made it into a cracker! I don’t think this cracker is rice based though, it tastes very corn based. If you’re not a fan of spicy food, you may want to give this a try anyway because it’s pretty mild. I know people who don’t really like spicy food but they can still eat this cracker.
Lotte Sand Pineapple Cookie
These are just cookies with pineapple cream in between them but they are so good. They’re a favorite of my husbands. The pineapple flavor comes through quite nicely.
Frog cracker 꼬북칩
This comes in various flavors but I have to recommend the cinnamon sugar flavor. This is a super light and crispy corn snack sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and it’s just so good! It kind of reminds me of cinnamon toast crunch cereal but with a better texture. These crackers remind me of frog lips or something. I don’t know why…
Chocolate Mushrooms (초코송이)
My daughter just loves these chocolate mushrooms! It’s her favorite korean snack. They are basically little mounds of chocolate on top of a small cookie stem and they remind me a lot of the Japanese candy kinoko no Yama. My daughter always goes for this whenever I tell her she can pick out a snack at the store.
My Chew (마이쮸) Candy
This candy is a little tricky. When you first bite into it you are like, is this gum or candy? It reminds me a lot of the Japanese candy hi-chew. right down to the silver wrapper. Now who made it first? It comes in different flavors, like apple, grape, peach and strawberry. I love them all.
Flavored Almonds
This is one of the most popular souvenirs in Korea. I believe that the original flavored almond is honey butter but they make a ton of different flavors – yogurt flavor, strawberry milk, corn, seaweed, lobster bisque, caramel popcorn, banana milk, and more. I personally like the laver flavor best.
Honey Butter Chips
This honey butter flavor is really popular in Korea. They make honey butter almonds and honey butter squid even. During the fall and winter they also make a maple variation. I first tried this in Japan, and I’m not sure who made the honey butter chip first.