Seoul & the Korean Peninsula

South Korea

Seoul sits in a river basin surrounded by granite mountains, with the Han River cutting through its center. The city holds around ten million people and has been Korea's capital since the Joseon Dynasty founded it in 1394. Its street food culture is dense and highly localized: specific neighborhoods specialize in specific foods. Sillim-dong has its sundae alley. Mapo has galbi. Gwangjang Market in Jongno has bindaetteok and sundae stalls that have operated for generations. The pojangmacha tent culture, where vendors set up under orange tarpaulins and cook through the night, runs through most of the city's working districts. Sundae is one of the oldest and most widely eaten street foods on the peninsula, found in every city and town with variations in filling and seasoning by region.