Korea's Specialty Food Streets Lure Foreign Visitors

More and more foreign visitors are travelling to Korea with one thing in mind, and that's the country's exceptionally good cuisine. Visitors who want to experience the food and culture of Korea should pay a visit to one of the delicious food themed streets in Korea. The Ministry of Culture & Tourism (MOCT) and Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) have selected five streets where visitors can experience the unique foods and their culture.

For those who like it spicy a visit to Seoul's Topokki (Spicy Rice Cake) Street in Sindang-dong would be an experience. Topokki is made by stir-frying or boiling seasoned cylinder shaped rice cakes in a very spicy sauce. Sindang-dong has the largest clusters of topokki eateries in Korea. Topokki is one of Korean's favourite street foods.

Nearby Sindang-dong is the largest shopping area of Seoul, Dongdaemun Shopping Town. Here you can shop 24 hours a day for the latest trends and fashion clothing and accessories. So, if you become hungry while shopping step out for some street-side Topokki to warm you up.

If you love Tofu and Koreans do very much, then a visit to Chodang Tofu Street which is located in a small and beautiful village surrounded by a forest of 500 year old pine trees nearby the city of Gangneung will give you the best tofu experience ever. Here you can enjoy tofu made in the traditional way with seawater from the nearby East Sea which makes the tofu tastier and softer than ordinary tofu. Chodang Tofu has a history of more than 400 years.

Korea's favourite stamina food is Chueotang (Korean fish soup) and Chueotang Street in Namwon will deliver the best fish soup you've ever tasted. Chueotang is a soup made by boiling loach fish, a fish that live in clean, grassy rice paddies and streams. The soup is full of minerals and calcium so it is an ideal stamina food and is popular in Autumn when the loaches are in their best condition. The fish is cooked with soybean paste, cabbage leaves and perilla seeds.

Home of the Korean version of Romeo and Juliet Namwon is where the sad love story of Chunhyang and Lee Doryeong took place. Namwon is located at the entrance to Jirisan National Park which is one of the most beautiful National Parks in Korea. With its incredibly beautiful walking trails hikers can enjoy many beautiful paths and trails in the forests of Jirisan.

Anjirang Gopchang Street in Daegu is known for its specialty tripe dishes. The tripe is either grilled on the BBQ or made in to casseroles/stews and is known to be high in iron and protein, low in cholesterol and is enjoyed in Korea with some Korean alcohol like Soju. The street gets packed at night with locals and tourists alike enjoying the specialty dishes.

Korea is surrounded by ocean and one of the great tasting seafood enjoyed by Koreans is raw fish. The Millak-Dong Raw Fish Street in Gwangalli Beach in the port city of Busan offers the freshest raw fish in the country. Visit the direct sales fish market, choose your fish, then it will be made into fresh sashimi in a flash. You can also have your fish prepared in a spicy seafood soup and enjoy a full course meal. You can also take your fresh sashimi and enjoy it with nature on the sand of Gwangalli Beach. Busan has one of the largest shopping centres in Asia 'Centum City' a mega shopping mall of enormous proportions. You can get lost and shop in here for a week if you wish.

There are many ways to enjoy the wonderful cuisine of Korea. Korea Tourism has a free 'Korean Cuisine - Refresh your Senses' booklet which is a great introduction to the cuisine including recipes to try at home. Get your free copy by emailing visitkorea@knto.org.au