Mandu

 

Woman Selling Mandu (dumplings) in Central Market, Gangneung.

Winter is probably the best time to visit Korea if you are interested in street food. Sweet potatoes and chestnuts roasted in barrels, pancakes stuffed with brown sugar and cinnamon, fish-shaped pastries (bungeobbang) filled with various sweet pastes, stir-fried rice cake in sweet-and-spicy sauce, boiled fish paste on a stick (sounds gross described in English, but is delicious), stuffed steamed buns, and dumplings. On a cold day, the steam rising from food stalls draws in crowds of hungry people and the occasional photographer.