14 of the Best Korean Snacks Ever

deleciousfood | September 12, 2023 | Snacks | No Comments

There is no doubt that Korean cuisine is currently gaining popularity in North America. Korean staples are even now commonly stocked in major supermarkets, like kimchi, gochujang, and tons of ramyeon. But if you haven’t really had a chance to explore Korean cuisine or need a place to start, there’s no easier way to learn more than through the food aisle. prepackaged snacks.

I often get a lot of questions about the best Korean snacks, so I wandered into my local Korean grocery store and handpicked 14 Korean chips, crackers, and desserts that encompass some of my personal favorites. Try them; they might also be your new favorites.

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Shrimp chips (also called shrimp crackers) are crispy puffed wheat snacks flavored with dried shrimp powder. The idea of shrimp flavoring a chip may be a little strange for Western culture, but I promise you, these things are awesome. They taste tasty, but don’t hit your head with the shellfish flavor. This balance is why you might find yourself crushing a whole bag of these things in one go.

chocolate pie

Choco Pies, made by companies such as Lotte and Orion, are a Korean cousin of the whoopie pie. Chocolate tarts are two cake-shaped discs sandwiching a layer of marshmallow, coated in chocolate, although you can also find non-chocolate flavors such as green tea. They are individually wrapped and are perfect for a school lunch, a mid-afternoon snack with coffee, or a late-night after-dinner treat.

Turtle Chips

I can guarantee you’ve never had a snack like Orion’s Turtle Chips. Although similar in texture to Bugles in that light, puffy corn chip kind of way, these four-layer snacks are even airier, breaking into a million delicate pieces in your mouth. They are also unique in that they offer both savory and sweet varieties; you can find them in flavors like Truffle and Seaweed, but also Sweet Vanilla and Chocolate Churros.

Honey Butter Chips

Honey Butter Chips are exactly what they claim to be: light, crispy chips, seasoned with a sweet honey butter flavor that makes them a really fun sweet and savory snack. If the idea of sweet-flavored chips turns you off, that’s all the more reason to try them: you might find yourself surprisingly enticed by the combination.

Tteokbokki Snacks

Tteokbokki is a popular Korean comfort food consisting of peg-shaped rice cakes, usually tossed in a sweet and spicy red pepper-based sauce. The dish may sometimes contain other ingredients, including fish cakes, green onions, sesame seeds, etc.

The packaged snack version takes inspiration from tteokbokki and applies those flavors to a savory chip; These rigatoni-shaped, wheat-based chips are seasoned in a tangy, spicy glaze. They’re perfect if you like the combination of salty, sweet and spicy, all in one go.

Cosmi cookies

Cosomi crackers are one of the few types of crackers that I can crush completely plain. They somehow manage to achieve both delicate sweetness and a light salty flavor. The sweetness comes from the subtle addition of coconut, while the sesame seeds add a bit of toastiness. These crackers also come in individual packets, so they’re perfect to keep as on-the-go snacks.

Pepper

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You can think of these Pepero snacks as the Korean version of the Japanese Pocky, cracker-like sticks dipped in confectionery coatings like chocolate and green tea, sometimes rolled in nuts or cookie pieces. Pepero may be less known to Americans, but he is just as popular in Korea.

There is even an entire day of the year dedicated to them, November 11. Indeed, when you write the date 11/11, the numbers resemble the shape of Pepero’s sticks. I always found it endearing, just one more reason to love them.

Mushroom-shaped cookies

These mushroom-shaped cookies are a total delight. The cookie “stem” is similar to the cracker component of a Pepero, but it’s topped with a silky chocolate “cap” that melts in your mouth when you eat it. They’re satisfying because you get a big dose of chocolate in one go, plus the crunchy, malty cookie to bite into.

There are Japanese versions of this snack that are exactly the same thing, such as those made by Meiji under the name “Chocorooms”. And just to be clear, there are no mushrooms in the snacks.

Binch Cookies

Despite the use of the term on the Internet, Binch is not a euphemism for a curse word created to bypass profanity filters. Binch means “Biscuit ‘N Chocolate”, in the same way that the brand name Nabisco comes from “National Biscuit Company”.

These are individually wrapped half-cookie, half-chocolate novelties, and they really are a crowd-pleaser. The chocolate is rich, silky and smooth, and paired with the relatively simple but satisfyingly crunchy cookie, it’s the perfect bite for any time of day. They make a great gift and are easy to pack if you’re sharing snacks with a group.

Matdongsan

I have been eating Matdongsan for as long as I can remember. These are fried, finger-shaped cookies covered in a sweet syrup and coated with crushed peanut pieces. They are super crunchy, rich and sticky to the touch, with a caramelized flavor. Matdongsan have been around for a long time and are something that Koreans of all ages have enjoyed over the years.

Chal-dduk chocolate tart

Chal-dduk is a traditional sticky and soft rice cake with a gooey texture similar to mochi. What’s truly unique about these Lotte chal-dduk pies, however, is that they fuse traditional mochi-type dough with chocolate instead of ice cream. There is not only a layer of chocolate in the middle, but also a thin layer of chocolate on the outside. Since Korean rice cakes tend to favor ingredients like sweet red beans, the addition of chocolate makes this a very unique snack.

Couque D’Asse

Okay, I included these partly because pretty much everyone I know sends me pictures of this snack, usually with a “tee hee” added. Yes, the name Couque D’Asse is hilarious and, in certain company, hilariously vulgar. But if you can stop snickering for a minute, I can tell you why they’re a treat, too.

These are delicate shortbread cookies with a layer of cream in the center, and they come in different flavors like Coffee and White Torte (which is basically “cream”). And I wouldn’t recommend them to you as a joke either, because I love my job too much.

The manufacturer Crown says of the name: “‘Couque D’asse’ means ‘biscuits from the Asse region’ in Belgium, known to have been launched to the people of Brussels by Leopold I, the first king of the Belgians, during his reign. entry into the capital. He was German and belonged to an opposition party, which forced him to flee to the United Kingdom.”

There is a similar Japanese product, of the same format and more or less the same name, “Couque D’Asses”, from a company called Sanritsu. And yes, very good, I admit that the name is hilarious.

Onion rings

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If Nongshim’s onion-flavored rings look awfully familiar, that’s because they’re a lot like Funyuns. They have the same extruded onion ring shape and taste similar, although if you do a side-by-side comparison the differences are more obvious. However, both brands are a tasty take on onion flavor, and Nongshim’s version is crisp and light, a great reminder of why onion is infused into savory snacks all over the world.

Ppushu Ppushu

“Ppushu Ppushu” means “crush, crush” in Korean, and guess what? That’s precisely what you’re supposed to do with this bag. Crush it, press it, break the ramen noodles inside.

Yes, I said ramen noodles. Ppushu Ppushu is one serving of instant ramen, seasoning packet and all. Once you have finished crushing the contents of the bag, open it, collect the seasoning packet and pour its contents inside. Close the entire bag with your fist and shake it to distribute the aroma, then snack.

Ramen noodles are already cooked and school kids have already been eating packets like this for years. So it’s only natural that an official snack version was released to capitalize on this habit.