- I love this. This is so good!
- It's gonna pop and hit me in the eye.
- Koreans, y'all are eating good. - Y'all know what's up.
- (PvF) What do you know about Korean food?
- (gasps) Oh my God.
- I have never tried Korean food.
- I know that it's good.
- Korean fried chicken. - Oh!
- Korean barbecue, Korean corn dogs!
I've never had any, any of the listed ones.
(Sharon laughs)
- (PvF) Street food is perhaps the best way to learn
about a new culture. - Okay!
- (PvF) And today, we're headed to Korea.
- Let's go! - Let's go.
- I'm excited! - When is the flight?
- (PvF) Right now!
(both imitate plane engines)
- We're gonna try it! We get to eat it!
We get to eat it!
- Korean corn dog. Okay, I love corn dogs.
- Oh hell yeah.
- I'm in, I'm in. - Yes!
- This is the corn dogs you were talking about, right?
- Yes!
- Ooh a cheese dog. - Oh, a cheese dog.
That look good!
♪ It's dinner time let's eat ♪ ♪ Ah, eh, eh, ah ♪
Wait, is that diner or dinner? - Diner, dinner, I don't know!
- (gasps) Oh! - Oh my goodness.
- Wow!
- Do they put sugar on this?
- This is about to be an experience and a half right here.
- Is this French fries on it?
- (PvF) Up first, we've got Gamja hot dogs,
otherwise known as Korean cheese dogs.
This is the potato, a cheesy dog
covered in crispy potato bits before being deep-fried,
and sprinkled with sugar.
- These are sprinkled with sugar!? - How is it?
- Holy crap dude, it's really good!
- This is heavy, let's see, okay. - This is dense.
- (Sharon) Ooh, good one.
- There's no hot dog in here, though, huh?
- Damn!
- (PvF) Keep going. - Oh!
Oh, there it is!
That is so far down there!
- It's gonna pop and hit me in the eye.
- (PvF) I feel like you could do jump rope.
- It's still going.
- The sauce is also nice, extra flavor.
The sugar surprisingly balances well.
- It's like sweet, a little bit... - A hint of spice.
- It's like tangy.
- I think I got you beat, Sharon.
- Mm-mm. - Uh-huh.
- Okay, honestly, this is really impressive.
I didn't know you could do a half cheese, half hot dog.
- (PvF) How does it compare
to like a normal corn dog that you've had?
- Nah, this ain't a corn dog. This is fire.
- Okay. - Oh no, give me yours.
(both laughing)
- Ugh!
- Keep going, see how long we can get it.
- Ugh!
- This should be like... - Okay, now I can eat it.
- Readily available, this is great, this is a very convenient form factor.
- I found the dog! - Oh, you did, finally.
- I found it!
- I need to tap in to the Korean culture.
I hope they love 'em dark! 'Cause I'm coming!
(Travis laughs)
- That's a wiener.
- ♪ Yeah, we feel good ♪ ♪ Cheesy in my mouth ♪
♪ Oh my God, ugh ♪ ♪ Pull the cheesy out ♪
(laughs)
- Oh, what is this? - I'm in, I don't know, but I like it.
- I'm not even gonna try to pretend to pronounce that one.
- Yeah, I'm trying... -Ttea-aka-bokki?
- That looks like a type of soup.
- Ah yeah, no clue what's happening here.
- Is that cheese?
- We got some dough.
- That looks good.
- Kimchi?
- No, I think that's cheese, is it?
- Is it a bamboo stalk?
- Cheese with sauce. - We get to play dumb.
- Sauce cheese.
- What is this? - Ooh, what?
- Woah! - Ooh.
- This is so interesting, I have no idea what this is.
- Me neither.
- (PvF) These are spicy, stir fried rice cakes,
called Tteokbokki, and are a Korean street food snack
that have been around since the late 1800s.
- I'm gonna take a small bite, because I'm very sensitive to spiciness,
but let's see.
- They're pretty mild.
- Okay, alright.
- It's like chewing gum.
Let me try that. - It's all good.
There is nothing bad in here. - You know what it is?
It's the texture that's throwing me off.
- And it's spice, I'm getting that real kick.
- Yeah.
(Paulina coughs) - These make a nice snack.
These are pretty good.
- This one, the flavor is very spicy, it makes your head itch.
- Tteokbokki. - Tteokbokki.
- Not bad, yeah. - Go ahead.
- No.
- Right. - I don't...
This is what I can't get over, the, this.
- The little Vienna sausage looking thing?
- Yeah!
- (PvF) So that's a rice cake, it's similar to like mochi.
- That's, I don't like mochi.
- It's the texture that's throwing me off.
- Okay. - It's not a bad taste,
it's just the texture that's throwing me off.
- The texture's kinda weird.
- It's good. I can appreciate the food,
but it's spicy. (laughs)
- This one's a nice snack. I like this one.
- I mean, what do we know? - Yeah.
Not a lot. - You know, we don't, so...
- I think we've already established we don't know a lot.
- Exactly.
Is it just... - Ooh, Busan!
(gasps)
- Extra long sushi roll? - That's what I was gonna say.
Yeah, it looks very sushi-like.
- I'm gonna eat this.
- It looks like a veggie roll.
- I'm ready.
Ooh! I love sushi!
- I know you don't like seafood, Sharon.
- I don't.
- Oh wow, well this looks different.
Ooh it smells delicious.
- (PvF) Gimbap, or Kimbap, is a Korean-style sushi roll,
but it's seasoned with sesame versus vinegar,
and they tend to use more preserved items for their fillings,
like bulgogi, pickled radish, kimchi, ham, and cheese.
This is a kimchi gimbap.
- Oh, okay. - So there's no fish in this?
- (PvF) Nope!
- I know, but it's got the seaweed.
- Mm, mm, I'm gonna put it in my mouth.
- Mm, mm! - Oh!
- Cheers.
- Okay, it doesn't smell spicy.
I'm good with that.
- Mm-hmm, I do not like it.
- Mmm.
- Mmm!
- If it weren't for the seaweed, I would enjoy this.
- We just had like something. - Is it spicy too?
- (PvF) Yes. - Just a smidge!
- Dang!
- Dude, they're all about their tang and their spice.
- Wait, I can feel the spiciness now. (laughs)
- It's something I would snack on,
if I'm on my laptop. - Yeah.
(PvF laughs) (Jizzixious laughs)
- (PvF) That's very specific.
- Not pineapple, it smells spicy.
- It's a vegetable. - (PvF) It's a pickled radish.
- Yeah, I was like that's not a fruit.
- That's good, I like this one.
- I'm so busy out here getting street dogs, and street tacos.
- Man!
- I'm completely sleeping on the Korean street food market.
- I don't like it. Laura will love it.
- I think it's delicious.
- This is the only time I've had like a roll and enjoyed it.
- That's good! - Yeah.
- (narrator) Fish cake, eomuk. Soup, gukmul.
- Fish soup.
- Ah, I love fish!
- (narrator) Scoop some of the soup.
It can be as much as you want.
- I love this, so you go up there and you just make it yourself.
- Man, I bet it gets frickin' cold over there.
(Paulina laughs) During the winter.
- Oh, green onions? - This would be nice.
- Oh yeah. - I love Korean.
- Yes!
- So do you eat it dipping, or do you drink?
- You let it soak probably, and then eat it?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Are you a fish person? - I love it.
- Oh, you're gonna love this then.
- I love it, Sharon.
- (narrator) And I feel full after eating.
- Is this like the Lembas bread of Korea?
- Oh damn. - Oh!
- Styrofoam cup for authenticity.
- (PvF) What do you think of it?
- The texture's different.
- It looks like octopus to me.
- Two, one. - Two, one.
- (PvF) This is a fish cake soup called eomuk,
or edeng-guk,
and is a popular street snack, especially in cold weather months,
and to cure hangovers.
- Oh, this is a hangover cure?
- Alright, we're gonna need this for later on tonight,
or for this weekend, Travis. - Yeah, dude! (laughs)
- Okay.
- Yeah, oh, it smells like fish, alright.
- (PvF) And it's actually not that fishy, right?
- It's not that fishy. It smells more fishy than it tastes.
- Mm-mm. - (PvF) Really?
- I don't like it.
- I wonder what actually goes into making a fish cake?
'Cause this is, like, it's not pure meat.
There's obviously like a dough here.
- Yeah. - As well, that goes into it.
- (PvF) Drink a little bit of the soup.
- Mm-hmm. - Yes ma'am, here we go!
- Mmm!
- Aw Sharon, go for it!
- See, the soup's good. - Soup's good.
- The soup. - Soup is great.
- Very much tastes like saimin.
- It's giving me ramen noodle. - Aw, I love that soup.
- This one's good.
- It's non-spicy, too, which I love.
- Mm-hmm. - I like the soup.
- Yeah. - But this is not it.
- Not it!
- You gotta watch how I take it off the stick, though.
(slurps)
- Wow!
- In here. - It's like ravioli fish.
- Yeah, savory fish sponge.
- ♪ I sit on my balcony ♪ ♪ What are you feeling ♪
♪ I got me some fish ♪ ♪ To take my mind away from millions ♪
(slurps)
- I like this one. - Wow, you love that one.
- I love this one, 'cause it's perfect.
♪ (upbeat music) ♪
- Korean egg bread?
- Korean egg bread. - Oh, this is giving me pizza bites!
- Oh, this looks fire!
- What is this?
- Don't it look like the little pizza bites?
- Dough, cheese, and ham. - It does...
- So cheesy.
- Why does it look like an egg?
- It's got egg in it.
- Oh, that's an egg!
- It's heavy as hell.
Like, we've been eating a lot of food.
- Yeah, we have.
- And you're getting heavier and heavier on me.
- These are interesting. There's like sweet, with egg.
There's a bit of cheese in the middle.
- Mmm!
- You're not scared for nothing! - No, dude.
- (PvF) Gyeran-ppang is a fluffy, oblong shaped,
sweet and savory loaf of bread
that's sold throughout South Korea.
It's a very popular morning street snack.
- It's fire! - This is so good!
- Out on the street, grabbing this for breakfast?
- Oh my God.
- I feel more sad, now that I know about it,
and haven't eaten it before.
- That's a big win.
- I wasn't expecting it to be sweet by looking at it,
but like, there's a perfect balance.
- It's basically equal in with salt, sugar.
- Of sweet and salty, and I love egg.
Anything with egg, I'll eat.
- This is good. (Travis laughs)
- I love this! This is so good!
- (PvF) Travis says nothing. (laughs) You are finishing every dish.
- Yeah. - He eat fast.
- (PvF) Yeah!
- Gyeran-ppang. Gyeran-ppang for the win.
- This one's really good. - It's so pretty too, to look at,
and it's not messy!
- Alright. (Travis laughs)
They're gonna think I'm a big kid,
the way I make a mess.
- I would go 11 out of 10. - Wow.
- (narrator) This street food vendor is selling hotteok, which is...
- Hot dog?
- It's like flat pancakes, which is amazing.
- It looks like a Korean empanada.
- It looks like a pupusa.
- How is it this is a Korean thing, and not an American thing already?
- Right? It sounds very American.
- Yo, they look like little pancakes!
- Ooh! - What is this?
- Well, you know what this is. She just showed it!
(Jair laughs)
- It looks gorgeous, like... - It does.
It looks like a pancake, see?
- Ah, it tastes a little sweet. Ah!
- Oh, you don't like the sweet?
- Mm-mm.
- What is that, is that jam or something?
- I don't know, it's like a brown jelly.
- (PvF) These are sweet stuffed pancakes called hotteok.
They're typically stuffed with dark brown sugar,
cinnamon, nuts, and seeds.
- Koreans, y'all are eating good.
- Y'all know what's up.
- Sweet, but on the salty side when you smell it.
- This is incredible.
- It's really not that sweet.
- I can't finish it though. - I don't know why I'm still eating.
(Jizzixious laughs)
- I prefer this than regular pancakes,
'cause it's not as messy, like when you put the syrup in.
- Figgy thing going on, really figgy.
- (PvF) So defeated.
- I'm going straight to sleep when I get home.
- The only way.
- These are dangerous. I'd eat a lot of these.
- Mm-hmm!
- I like it.
- (PvF) Travis, you don't have to eat this!
- Om! (laughs)
- Trav. - Don't tell me what to do, Nicole!
- Trav crazy, y'all ain't never heard of the itis?
- Oh my goodness. - What?
- Red bean? - Rice pudding!
- Meat beans? - Meat beans.
- Beans. - Oh, that's that red bean stuff.
- Oh, they're putting it in little fishes?
- It's a red bean fish thing. I don't remember what they call it.
I think I've had this.
- These are the little fish pancakes?
- Is that a cookie?
- It's like a waffle.
- I feel like I've had this before.
Have I had this before? - (PvF) You have.
- Yes. - Dun dun, dun dun, dun dun.
Dun dun, dun dun. (laughs)
- (PvF) Do you remember where you had this before?
- No.
- (PvF) Eat In One Second.
- (gasps) That's why I don't recognize the taste!
- Mmm, how?
- (PvF) These fish-shaped pastries stuffed with red bean paste
is called bungeoppang,
and it's Korea's take on the Japanese treat taiyaki,
which looks similar.
- I like this, I'm a big fan of this.
- I haven't tried it yet, let's see.
- Ooh.
- This is good. - My brain has checked out.
I'm just eating. (laughs)
- Mmm!
(Jair laughs)
- (PvF) Your fish just looks like argh!
- I know, my fish looks like a piranha!
- (Jair) Looks like it's gonna eat you, it does!
- It has the same consistency as beans, but it's sweet.
That is so interesting.
- They're just beans that's sweet.
- This stuff is dangerous, man. - (PvF) Yeah.
- Yeah. - 'Cause this is like, it's sweet,
and I bet it's like super calorie-dense.
- I wanna just suck it out the middle.
(Travis laughs)
(both laugh) - Oh my God!
- I think that's what you don't like.
The red bean is too sweet for you.
- Mm-hmm.
- It's good, I like it.
(Travis laughs)
- There ain't nothing wrong with sucking it out the middle.
Just open it up.
- I get it, it's a good dessert. It brings good luck.
It's fun.
- (laughs) I thought I was a problem! He's a little American!
- I'm very happy.
I had a whole Korean journey today.
- Me too, I wanna go to Korea!
- Thank you for tuning in to this episode of People Vs Food!
- (PvF) Thank you guys so much for joining us
on this street food episode in Korea.
Let us know what you thought in the comments below.
What'd you think?
- Oh, it was pretty fun.
- (PvF) You haven't had this before, yet, right?
- I have not, no.
- (PvF) Alright, cheers! - Cheers!
- (PvF) (whispers) Bye guys!
- Ooh, ooh! - Oh, mine snapped.