If you grew up with a roasted chestnut cart on a city corner in December, you already understand the idea behind Korean winter street food: something hot, cheap and small enough to eat with gloves on. The Korean version leans sweet, rotates through a handful of snacks that return every year around October, and lately comes with a price board that people actually argue about.
That argument has a star. Bungeoppang, a fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean paste, spent last winter in the Korean news because many stalls moved it from a bargain to about 1,000 won a piece. The rest of the lineup, hotteok, roasted sweet potato, egg bread and fish cake skewers, had a quieter year. Here is how each one works, what the latest reporting says it costs, and where the prices might go next.
 |
| Korea's winter street food lineup, from fish-shaped pastry to roasted sweet potato. |
Bungeoppang: Why the Fish Bun Got Pricier
Bungeoppang is a waffle-iron pastry shaped like a carp and filled with sweet red bean paste, and in the 2025 to 2026 winter many Seoul stalls sold it at roughly 1,000 won each. Others held on to the old deal of three for 2,000 won. Money Today found both on one January morning: a stall near Konkuk University Station at three for 2,000 won, other vendors at 1,000 won a piece, and a cafe at two for 2,700 won.
The pastry has Japanese roots. Wikipedia traces it to taiyaki, the sea bream version, which reached Korea around the 1930s, and says it faded before returning in the 1990s on a retro wave. Nothing inside is fish, since the name only describes the mold. The closest Western relative is a jelly donut that borrowed a waffle iron's crunch.
The jump in price comes from the filling. Figures from the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation, reported by Herald Economy, put a 40 kg bag of domestic red beans at 784,200 won in October 2025, up from 498,600 won a year earlier. Money Today, citing the KAMIS price system, said the 2025 average wholesale price of 772,894 won ran about 65 percent above the five-year average. For comparison, JoongAng Daily recalled that the standard price a year before was 1,000 won for two or 2,000 won for three, which works out to roughly 500 won each.
Customers noticed. Money Today's reporter watched a passerby check the price board and walk away, and a vendor in her seventies said she hesitated to raise prices for fear of losing the few customers she had. Some shoppers switched to frozen versions heated in an air fryer. JoongAng Daily reported that CJ's frozen red bean waffle sold for 7,600 won a pack of 11 or 12, around 630 won each, with online sales up 45 percent in November 2025 compared with the year before.
The raw material side is easing. On October 7, 2026, KAMIS listed 500 grams of domestic red beans at 13,513 won, down 2.41 percent from a year earlier but still 47.67 percent above normal, according to Herald Business. The same article says street vendors, working at low volume, cannot pass cheaper inputs on right away. That points to prices holding near last winter's level instead of falling, though no 2026 street survey exists yet and this reading is an inference.
Hotteok: A Cinnamon Roll Pressed Flat on a Griddle
Hotteok is a yeasted dough ball stuffed with brown sugar and pressed flat on a hot griddle, and the nearest Western relative is a cinnamon roll that got ironed. The dough is wheat flour, water, milk, sugar and yeast, left to rise for hours. Wikipedia lists the traditional filling as brown sugar with honey, chopped peanuts, walnuts and cinnamon.
Its history is not Korean in origin. Wikipedia says Chinese merchants from Qing-dynasty China brought it to Joseon Korea in the 19th century and sold it cheaply, which helped it spread. It is usually eaten in winter, and the sugar inside melts into hot syrup, so give it a minute before the first bite.
Savory versions have their own following. Yachae hotteok is filled with japchae and vegetables, and the Korea Times singled out a Namdaemun Market stall that sold a japchae-filled one for 2,500 won in December 2024, best dipped in the shop's homemade soy sauce. The same guide points to Insa-dong, Namdaemun Market and Busan's Gukje Market as places to look. If you want to try at home, Wikipedia notes that Samyang, Ottogi and CJ sell dry hotteok mix in packets.
One honest gap: the reporting turned up no recent price survey for the plain sugar kind. Treat the 2,500 won figure as a late-2024 marker and expect stalls to charge more this winter.
 |
| Hotteok is pressed flat on the griddle until the sugar filling turns to syrup. |
Gungoguma: The Roasted Sweet Potato Cart
Gungoguma is a whole sweet potato roasted until its sugars caramelize, sold hot from street carts and, increasingly, from convenience store warmers. The closest North American cousin is that roasted chestnut cart, a plain hot snack handed over in a bag. The longer story, including how to pick a good one, lives in Korean Roasted Sweet Potato: Why It Rules Seoul Winters.
The cost side is simpler than bungeoppang. Herald Economy reported sweet potatoes at 31,620 won per 10 kg in October 2025, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier and about 1.5 times the price of ten years ago, and put the cost of a roasting cart at about 300,000 won.
Convenience stores now compete for the same customers. According to WikiTree, 7-Eleven began its 2026 roasted sweet potato sales on September 14 at 2,200 won, unchanged from before, with the minimum weight raised by 30 grams. It uses a domestic variety called hopungmi through November, then switches to beniharuka, aged for about three months for extra sweetness, from December. CU's version was in the 2,000 won range last year.
The weather moves these sales fast. In the week of a mid-October 2025 cold snap, WikiTree reports, GS25's roasted sweet potato sales jumped 175.6 percent and CU's rose 154.7 percent. A sudden chill sends people straight to the warmer.
The snack has also crossed the Pacific on a budget argument. The New York Post reported in January 2026 that Midtown office workers were buying roasted sweet potatoes at a Koreatown stall for roughly $2 to $3 each as lunch prices climbed.
Gyeran-ppang, Eomuk and the Savory Side
Gyeran-ppang, or egg bread, is the savory-sweet snack of the group: a small oblong cake with a whole egg baked inside. Korea Experience's January 2026 guide lists it at about 2,000 won and says it is typically available from 7 a.m. near subway stations. The Korea Times says it started at a small shop near Inha University in Incheon in 1984, a claim that is best read as the commonly cited origin.
Making it at home is easier than the stall suggests. The Korea Times describes filling paper cups two-thirds with pancake batter, dropping in an egg and microwaving for about five minutes, or using an air fryer at 180°C for 10 to 15 minutes. A fuller walkthrough is in Korean Egg Bread: A Pancake Muffin With a Whole Egg Inside.
Eomuk is the salty counterweight. These are fish cake skewers made from ground white fish, simmered in a lightly peppery broth and served hot with a small paper cup of that broth, according to the Korea Times. Korea Experience puts them at 1,000 to 1,500 won per skewer. Think of a hot dog on a stick that arrives with its own soup.
Deli manjoo rounds out the sweet side. These corn-shaped custard sponge cakes turn up at subway stations and bus stops, and the Korea Times reported packets at 3,000 to 10,000 won, roughly 500 won a piece, in late 2024.
 |
| Winter street snacks are made to be eaten hot and on the move. |
Where to Find Them and How to Read the Price Board
The season runs roughly from October to March, and Korea Experience calls bungeoppang strictly seasonal in that window. Stalls cluster around subway exits and traditional markets, and Wikipedia notes that enthusiasts built a bungeoppang map on Google Maps where users post locations, reviews, prices and hours. That crowd-sourced map is probably the fastest way to find a stall near you.
For named places, the Korea Times listed Chonggakne Bungeoppang at Gwangjang Market near Jongno-5-ga Station, at 1,500 won for red bean or custard in December 2024, and Myeong-dong's streets as a place to find egg bread. Hours and prices from that guide are more than a year old, so check before you go. For hotteok, the same guide names Namdaemun Market and Insa-dong.
On prices, be cautious about any list that claims to know this winter's numbers. The newest street-level figures found are from January 2026, and an October 10, 2026 Herald Business piece still describes the familiar rate as 1,000 won each or three for 2,000 won without a fresh survey behind it. Expect variation by neighborhood: JoongAng Daily found bungeoppang at 1,000 to 1,500 won each in central Seoul areas such as Gangnam and Jongno, and up to 1,500 won at street stalls generally.
The number worth watching is the red bean. If the retail price keeps drifting down from its October 2026 level, stalls may eventually trim their boards, and the signs outside the subway exits will be the first place it shows. Until then, assume the 1,000 won fish is the new normal and budget the rest of the cart around it.
Explore more Insights into Korean Lifestyle:
.webp)
food / korean soup / miyeok guk / recipe / seaweed soup recipeAug 6, 2026.webp)
easy korean recipes / food / korean weeknight dinners / pantry recipes / pillar / recipeAug 5, 2026.webp)
food / korean spam recipe / mayo rice bowl / recipe / spam rice bowlAug 5, 2026
From K-Media and Food to practical Korean used in daily life and K-Dramas.
© FRANVIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp)
.webp&description=Korean Winter Street Food 2026: Why Bungeoppang Got Pricier){kind=link}