When you go on a trip, eating snacks that local people eat is one of the must-to-do options. I usually go into the local supermarket when I’m abroad and choose the snacks I want to try only by looking at the wrapping paper. (Quite brave, huh?) So I often failed lol.
5 Korean Snacks You Must Buy In Korea
For those who’re reading this article, I would like to introduce you to some of the most famous Korean snacks. (They’re already famous and popular, but still, I want to emphasize, again lol) These snacks might be wonderful souvenirs from Korea, too!
1. Banana Kick
This cute snack called Banana Kick is already well-known to foreign tourists and is exported to many other countries. It was developed in 1978 for anyone to enjoy the imported banana. At that time, the banana was really expensive and rare in Korea.
According to Nongshim(the manufacturer), Banana Kick was named as such as its shape resembles the movement pattern of a ‘front ball kick’ of soccer. Banana Kick brings the feature of sweet banana softly melting in the mouth.
The light, crunchy corn puffs melt in your mouth and finishes off with an explosion of banana flavor. It’s an addictive snack for anyone who loves bananas!
2. Market O Real Brownie
This brownie snack is already so popular among foreign tourists that it’s not an exaggeration to say that almost all the souvenir shops sell this brownie. It’s already really famous and popular, but it’s too delicious to take off from this recommendation list. Someone who has never tried this brownie might think that it’s quite expensive for snacks, but once you take a bite, you will understand the quality.
When this brownie was released for the first time, it was sensationally popular among Koreans. Then it got popular among foreign tourists, especially among Japanese tourists. Japanese tourists like this snack so much that when I lived in Japan, I often saw it sold at convenience stores and grocery stores.
As this Brownie became popular, Haitai released another version of Matcha flavor. The combination of chocolate and Matcha is just perfect.
3. Chocoheim/Whiteheim
For those who love chocolate, Chocoheim will be your best choice! ‘Heim’, in German, means ‘house’. The wafer casing becomes the house for the chocolate filling, which makes ‘Choco Heim’ a fitting name; the house of chocolate. The house, or ‘heim’, can be filled with all kinds of different flavors, not just with the currently available chocolate and white chocolate, which means any flavor is possible with Heim wafers.
Since its launch in 1991, Heim has been leading the premium wafer market with its differentiated quality above the others. Its popularity did not diminish even during the hot months when most biscuit products tend to suffer from lower sales, thanks to the communication strategy which conveyed to the consumers the message that Heim can be better enjoyed frozen.
Whiteheim is filled with white chocolate, which gives you a bit different kind of sweetness from the chocolate version. It’s smoother..? I guess. But both are really good, so just by both of them and take turns eating.
4. Butter Waffles
The buttery waffle biscuit named Butter Waffle is, without doubt, one of the best-selling snacks to tourists. Lotte Mart located in Seoul Station where so many tourists visit picked this biscuit as the best-selling snack.
It’s good to enjoy with coffee or milk. This might be a great souvenir because it comes in a box.
5. Matdongsan
Personally, this cookie(?) snack(?) called Matdongsan is my favorite among all kinds of Korean snacks! This crunchy Korean peanut cookie was created in 1975. Long history, right? So this is usually parents’ favorite when the family goes grocery shopping. A lot of Korean people might have their special memory related to this snack. It’s a fried cookie covered in a light coating of sticky syrup and peanut! It’s crunchy, nutty, and sweet.
One interesting fact about this snack is that Haitai company plays Korean traditional music in the Matdongsan factory to make it more delicious. They think that playing Korean traditional music to Matdongsan will make it more delicious for the same reason why people think that playing music influences flowers in a good way.
