All grocery stores sell different snacks. Sometimes when I’m in a Korean grocery store, some non-Korean people ask me “is that good?” or “is that delicious?”. So, I will introduce snacks that you must get while in a Korean market. This list will be very subjective, but I always make these same suggestions to all my friends. (Please note that the order of this list is not a rank of my preference)
- Monshell.
You may think these are similar to chocolate pies, but monshells are a little bit different. Instead of marshmallow inside like choco pies, monshells contain a sweet cream, and the texture is very soft and creamy. This is one of my favorite snacks I can buy from Korean grocery stores. Recently, the monshell company released a strawberry flavor that tastes amazing! The chocolate coating is not super rich, and the bread-like shell is very soft. Every time I have this snack, I cannot stop eating it until the box is empty! Furthermore, if you freeze monshells, the flavor will explode. Ah! Do not forget to eat them with milk.
- Cucudas
Cucudas are long biscuits with cream inside. The middle of the biscuit contains some chocolate; however you may not feel the chocolate flavor all that much. Cucudas have a very light cream flavor and are sweet and soft. If you want to try this snack, my recommendation is to buy the larger sized ones because the smaller ones will have a higher price per weight. This biscuit is very good with milk as well. The only disadvantages are that each biscuit is individually wrapped, and that they sometimes break inside the wrapper. However, this biscuit is overall very valuable to buy. If you really like sweet biscuits, this one is for you.
- Honey butter chips
I personally do not like salty potato chips. However, this chip is the exception. Honey butter chips were released in the middle of 2010 and people loved them so much that temporarily the chips were sold for more than the price at which they were originally released. The concept is a honey-flavored potato chip, making it both sweet and salty. The rich honey flavor is balanced by the saltiness. One huge disadvantage is the price. But they often go on sale, and you can buy them for a cheaper prince on the internet. This chip is so good with beer! On game day, please try this with a good beer!
- Tangkong Sand
In early 2000 there was a very famous TV show and the main character was a bakery owner. This biscuit is from that TV show. This is a peanut butter cookie but is more creamy and less rich compared to other peanut butter cookies or biscuits. Some American biscuits are too rich but this one is light and more subtle. If you do not like cookies that are too, then this snack will be great for you! Please try this.
- Jjoriphong
This one is a very nostalgic snack for me. Like cereal, this snack is good with milk. This flavor is one that you probably have never tried before; it is unique and very soft. I want to say that when you eat jjoriphong, you can taste some rice chocolate and coffee flavors, but this description doesn’t perfectly explain the taste; in other words, it is hard to express. Although you do not have milk to enjoy with it, the flavor of this snack by itself is still very good. I heard the company released joriphong flavored milk recently, and I strongly recommend you try it! If you like this flavor it will be hard to find a substitution.
- Chalduk Choco pie.
I really like rice cake and chocolate, and this pie has both. Chocolate pie is one of the most popular snacks in South Korea, and there are lots of versions. This pie is a different version of chocolate pie. Basically, instead of bread this pie has rice cake. In the middle of the rice cake there is a peanut flavored powder, and the outside of the rice cake has chocolate on it. However, if you do not like the texture of the rice cake, then you probably will not like this snack. However, the taste is still very good, and eating this with non-sweet tea will provide an even more diverse and delicious flavor.
- Asian tea
While it may be hard to call these “snacks”, Korean tea is very good and healthy. I normally get lemon, omija, ginger, and plum tea, the latter of which can be used for cooking. These are all examples of very traditional teas. Many foreign people go South Korea and they try those, however, you can try them by visiting a Korean grocery store.
While this list may be a little subjective, I truly think these are the best snacks from South Korea! If you have different snacks you want to recommend, please comment! Thank you for reading!
