Seasonal and holiday foods

The signature Seollal dish is tteokguk, a soup with thinly sliced rice cakes. It is so symbolic that people say eating it makes you a year older. Families gather to share holiday foods such as savory pancakes (jeon), braised short ribs (galbijjim), seasoned vegetables and sikhye, a sweet rice drink.

On Chuseok, people eat songpyeon, half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame, beans or chestnuts and steamed on pine needles. Families prepare ancestral rite tables with newly harvested rice and fruit and share taro soup, pancakes and seasoned vegetables. Chuseok is a holiday of gratitude for the year's harvest.

On Jeongwol Daeboreum, the 15th day of the first lunar month, people traditionally eat ogokbap (five-grain rice) and dried seasoned vegetables. In the morning, they crack nuts like walnuts, peanuts and chestnuts, a custom called bureom, to wish for good health in the year ahead. Drinking a cup of rice wine said to sharpen hearing is another tradition.

On Dongji, the winter solstice and longest night of the year, Koreans traditionally eat patjuk, red bean porridge, because the red color was believed to drive away bad spirits. It often contains small glutinous rice balls called saealsim. Around the solstice, many restaurants and events serve patjuk.

Yes. Chobok, jungbok and malbok, together called sambok, are traditionally considered the hottest days of summer, and people eat restorative dishes like samgyetang to beat the heat. It is a young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, jujubes and garlic and simmered in broth. Samgyetang restaurants can have long lines on these days.

Cold dishes are summer favorites: naengmyeon (cold noodles), kongguksu (noodles in chilled soybean broth), mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) and bingsu (shaved ice). Kongguksu in particular is a seasonal treat made by blending soybeans into a cold, creamy broth. Patbingsu with red beans and fruit bingsu are signature summer desserts at cafés.

Winter brings warm street snacks such as bungeoppang, hotteok, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted chestnuts, egg bread and fish cake skewers. Bungeoppang is a fish-shaped pastry filled with red bean or custard cream. These stalls appear only in season, and some accept only cash or bank transfers, so keep some cash handy.

Spring is the season for wild greens such as shepherd's purse (naengi), wild chives (dallae), mugwort (ssuk) and fatsia shoots (dureup), eaten seasoned, in soups or as pancakes. Mugwort rice cakes and mugwort soup are also spring foods. Some regions hold mountain greens festivals where you can taste them fresh.

Autumn favorites include grilled gizzard shad (jeoneo), grilled king prawns (daeha), newly harvested rice, mushrooms and fruits like apples and pears. Gizzard shad is so tied to the season that there is a common saying about autumn jeoneo. Some coastal areas hold prawn festivals in the fall.

Winter seafood favorites include oysters, yellowtail (bangeo), cockles, gwamegi (semi-dried fish) and snow crab, though the exact season depends on the species and where it comes from. Oysters are enjoyed as pancakes, in rice soup or raw. Raw oysters carry a risk of norovirus, and health authorities advise cooking them, so be careful.

Holiday ancestral rite tables (charyesang) typically include pancakes, seasoned vegetables, fish, meat, rice cakes, fruit and liquor, though customs vary by region and family. Many households have simplified the table in recent years. After the rite, the family shares the food together.

Yes. During the Seollal and Chuseok holidays, many restaurants and markets close, especially on the main holiday itself. Tourist areas, hotels, chain restaurants and convenience stores are more likely to stay open. If you travel during the holidays, check opening hours in advance and have backup options.

In Korea, people traditionally eat miyeok-guk (seaweed soup) on their birthday. The custom is commonly linked to new mothers eating seaweed soup to recover after childbirth, so it is often explained as a way of honoring your mother, though its exact origin is not settled. Friends may even ask "Did you have your seaweed soup?" on someone's birthday.

Before big exams like the College Scholastic Ability Test, people give yeot (taffy) or chapssaltteok (glutinous rice cakes). Since both are sticky, they symbolize sticking to, or passing, the exam. Some people even avoid slippery seaweed soup before an exam for the opposite reason.

November 11 has become a commercial holiday called Pepero Day, when people exchange stick-shaped chocolate snacks. On April 14, Black Day, there is a pop culture custom of single people eating jajangmyeon, black bean noodles. These are not official holidays or widely observed traditions, but convenience stores and restaurants run related promotions.

Many Koreans crave pancakes like pajeon or kimchijeon with makgeolli on rainy days. A popular explanation is that the sizzling sound of frying resembles the sound of rain. Pancake and makgeolli bars often get busy when it rains, so expect a crowd.

For Seollal and Chuseok, people exchange gift sets of fruit, Korean beef (hanu), dried yellow croaker (gulbi), red ginseng, traditional sweets, and practical items like cooking oil or canned goods. Before the holidays, supermarkets and department stores set up large gift set sections. If you receive one, express thanks and return the kindness with a small gift later.

On Dano, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, there is a tradition of eating surichwi-tteok, rice cakes made with a wild herb. The Gangneung Danoje Festival is a famous Dano event inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Today, Dano is not celebrated as widely as Seollal or Chuseok.

Christmas Day, December 25, is a public holiday in Korea and is often spent with partners or friends rather than family. Many people reserve or buy a Christmas cake from a bakery, so bakeries get very busy at that time. Many people also order fried chicken or pizza for delivery.

Around major holidays, palaces, folk villages and museums often hold rice cake making and traditional food events. Rice cake shops and markets also sell songpyeon, tteokguk rice cakes and pancakes. Check each venue's official announcements for event schedules. Joining one is a fun way to experience holiday traditions firsthand.