Gwangjang Market: Seoul`s street snack center

This is the 66th in a series of articles highlighting tourism spots in Seoul. The guide for planning weekend trips in the capital city will help readers rediscover Seoul. - Ed.



By Yoon Kyoo-sik



"Seomin," or common people, is synonymous with the austere working class in Korea. Rarely concerning themselves with anything unnecessary or luxurious, they work hard for the sake of themselves and their families. Making up more than half of the population, they have been the true leaders of the Korean economy`s remarkable growth.

Eating and drinking after work makes up a large part of ordinary Koreans` leisure culture. For them, good value food in copious servings is important. For this, they often go to traditional markets, which are filled with outlets serving huge portions and inexpensive alcohol.

Jongno has been Seoul`s symbolic street for hundreds of years. Every evening, brilliant neon signboards and colorful lighting brighten the street. Gwangjang Market can be found next to Heunginjimun at the end of the Jongno.

Gwangjang is one of the nation`s largest traditional markets and sells women`s garments and hanbok. It boasts a history and tradition of 100 years.

But it is the abundance of special eateries that draws many people to this market. From the entrance of the market, you can smell the mouth-watering flavors of fried snacks. Along the alley, the street stalls selling simple and cheap treats line up like the cars of a freight train. Every stall has its own signboard. Clouds of smoke billow out from the boiling pans of "sundae" (blood sausage) and "eomuk" (fish cakes). Diverse types of pancakes sizzle on hot iron grills. Among these, a mung bean pancake called "bindaetteok" is the perennial favorite.



Bindaetteok loosely resembles pizza in appearance, but the taste and cooking method is completely different. Nokdu (mung beans) are first ground and kneaded before chopped beef or pork and kimchi are added to the nokdu dough. The resultant mixture is then fried. Dip a thick slice of well-fried yellow bindaetteok into some delicious soy sauce containing chopped peppers and onions and the taste is unforgettable. Bindaetteok goes particularly well with makgeolli, and the two are traditionally eaten together when it rains.



Heaven for street sancks

In addition to bindaetteok, there are other sorts of popular Korean snacks such as eomuk, "jokbal" (pork feet), sundae and tteokbokki. "Patjuk" (red bean porridge) and "hobakjuk" (pumpkin porridge) are also specialties of Gwangjang Market.

Most of the ajumma who run the stalls here have been selling street snacks for decades, and they are true masters of their craft. Their service is special - even if it is very different from that offered by a hotel or restaurant. The ajumma`s lively personalities are the heart and soul of the market.

They tear the fried pancakes into pieces with their hands and offer pieces to passersby. If you leave anything on your plate, they will get you a doggy bag to take the remainder home. Sometimes they recommend other kitchens that sell different types of delicious food. Most of the ajumma rely on their humorous, glib and outgoing natures to sell their food.



Why Gwangjang Market?

When we go abroad, we are curious about the ordinary lives of the locals. Of course, visiting historical sites or cultural assets gives an invaluable glimpse into the nation`s past, but enjoying aspects of simple day to day life is another pleasure of traveling.

Foreign tourists to Korea will also want to know how ordinary Korean people dress and what foods they eat. They will often visit the places that attract the most people.

Gwangjang Market is the place to satisfy the curiosity of foreign travelers.

Most of the food that common Korean people eat can be tried here. As people of every social standing can be found here, tourists can easily see a side of regular Seoul life.

A British professor who visited a street stall in Gwangjang Market was impressed by "janchi guksu" (wheat flour noodles in an anchovy broth). Raising his thumb, he slurped his broth down to the last drop. He said he had come to Seoul for a week-long visit to a college that had invited him. It was his first visit to Korea, and as luck would have it, he happened to see Gwangjang Market while walking around the neighborhood. Though the food stall he visited also had jokbal and sundae, it was the janchi noodles that caught his eye.

In Gwangjang Market, you will see many foreign tourists on group tours. When I was there, some were taking a picture of an old lady grinding nokdu to make dough for bindaetteok, or those who were trying various types of pancakes. An American man, who was eating bindaetteok with his girlfriend, said the food here was delicious and the market fantastic.