Gwangjang Market: Seoul’s street snack center
KOREA HERALD
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| All kinds of popular Korean snacks can be found in Gwangjang Market. |
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, Travel Writer
“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 over 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.
Gwangjang Market, the worker’s livelihood
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” (traditional Korean dress). It boasts a history and tradition of 100 years.
But it is the abundance of special eateries that draw 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 peasant food
In addition to bindaetteok, there are other sorts of popular Korean snacks such as eomuk, jokbal (pork feet), sundae and tteokbokki (rice cakes in a spicy sauce). 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 to attract their custom. 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 most 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. Thus, they will often visit those places that attract the most people.
Gwangjang Market is the very place to satisfy the curiosity of foreign travelers.
Most of the food that ordinary 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 the janjji noodles (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 janjji 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.
Gwangjang Market has always been a haven for ordinary Korean folk, and now it is also gaining popularity among foreign visitors.
Diverse edibles in Gwangjang Market
“Bindaetteok” is a form of pancake made by mixing ground mung beans, spring onions, kimchi, red pepper, and ground beef, and frying the mixture in a pan. Different ingredients may be used according to taste. This dish is usually served with a special sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, chopped spring onions, and red peppers.
The name bindaetteok is often mistakenly thought to mean “poor man’s food,” as “bin” means “poor” in Korean. The word bindaeddeok comes from the Chinese “bingjeo,” and Koreans read it as “bingjya.” Accordingly the proper name is Bingjyaddeok but bindaeddeok was made the standard Korean spelling in modern Korean dictionaries
In Gwangjang Market, Suni’s Bindaetteok (02-2268-3344) and Bakgane Bindaetteok (02-2267-0614) are the most famous kitchens for bindaetteok.
Halmeonijip (Grandma’s House) (02-2274-1332) is renowned for sundae. For beef sashimi, visit Jamaejip (Sister’s Houre) (02-2274-8344) and Najudaek (02-2265-6004).
Mayak Gimbap (02-2264-7768) is especially popular among Japanese travelers as the Japanese appear to find the taste of gimbap irresistible. The name “mayak” translates as “narcotic” — and you may find yourself hooked if you try it. You need to get here early as the gimbap typically sells out the moment it is made.
A busker in Gwangjang Market
A 90-year-old man named Baek Yeon-hwa is a celebrity in Gwangjang Market. He always wears a black hat, black coat and black boots. The only other color that can be seen is the yellow flower he sports on his lapel. He plays the saxophone on the street of Gwangjang Market and has often been featured on TV and in the newspapers.
When the melancholic melody of an old Korean pop song flowed out from his saxophone, the people eating and drinking nearby seemed to gradually lose themselves in the music. Many passersby also stopped and gathered around him.
Like most other buskers, after Mr. Baek finished his performance, people gave him money. Some people caught him by the hand to take him to their seats for a private performance.
However, the stall keepers do not seem too happy with his performances, as they lead to a build up of traffic along the street, affecting their trade. But they cannot complain about this in the presence of their customers because they are enjoying the performance.
