Hotteok and Sweet Potato Are Not It... 'Bungeoppang' Ranks No.1 Winter National Snack

Danggeun Market's 'Winter Snack Map' Ranks No. 1

What is the most popular snack among Koreans during the winter season? On the 30th, the secondhand trading platform 'Danggeun Market' analyzed data from the nationwide 'Winter Snack Map' service and revealed the food that ranked first in domestic snacks this winter.

'Bungeoppang' Crowned as the National Snack This Winter

Bungeoppang being sold on a road near Namdaemun Market in Seoul
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Winter Snack Map is an open map service where local residents directly register neighborhood food spots and share them with neighbors. In this survey, Danggeun Market counted the number of food establishments most frequently registered during the winter season (December 2022 to January 2023).

As a result, Bungeoppang (65.1%) took an overwhelming first place, followed by Eomuk (10.5%), Hotteok (9.9%), Roasted Sweet Potato (4.0%), Takoyaki (3.4%), Gyeranppang (2.8%), Gukhwappang (2.2%), Roasted Chestnut (1.3%), and Hobang (0.5%).

The area with the highest number of registered Bungeoppang shops nationwide was Yeonsan-dong, Yeonje-gu, Busan.

Soaring Popularity of Bungeoppang... Coined New Term 'Bungse-gwon'

Winter Snack Map Popular Snacks / Photo by Danggeun Market

Recently, the popularity of Bungeoppang has been rising day by day. Online, an open map application (app) marking Bungeoppang shops nationwide, commonly called the 'Bungeoppang app,' is being enthusiastically shared.

The Bungeoppang app is a program that displays the locations of nearby street winter food vendors centered around the user's smartphone, with specific food shop locations collected through voluntary reports from app users.

Since first gaining attention in 2021, numerous Bungeoppang apps have emerged, and the total number of downloads (based on Google Play Store) has exceeded 100,000.

A newly coined term combining Bungeoppang shops and station areas, 'Bungse-gwon' (Bungeoppang + Yeokse-gwon), has also become trendy. If there is a Bungeoppang shop near one's residence, it is considered a Bungse-gwon. In some online communities and social networking services (SNS), these Bungse-gwon areas attract envy from netizens just like actual station areas.