"Disgusting," they said, but surprisingly... Foreigners paying big money for food in Korea

Ranking of Foods Most Purchased by Foreigners
Chicken, Chinese Cuisine, and Ganjang Gejang in Order

Soy sauce marinated crab ranked among the top foods most frequently purchased by foreigners visiting Korea, following chicken and Chinese cuisine.

Breaking the prejudice that foreigners would not like it, soy sauce marinated crab ranked as the most purchased food following chicken and Chinese cuisine. [Image source=Getty Images]

On the 5th, BC Card announced the results of an analysis of three years of consumption data for 15 representative regional dishes from the ‘33 National Representative Food Tourism Contents’ recently released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization.

The analysis showed that from 2022 to this year, chicken and Chinese food ranked first and second respectively in the number of foreigner payment transactions by food type. Soy sauce marinated crab surged from 6th place in 2022 to 3rd place this year. Gukbap (soup with rice) and sundubu (soft tofu stew), which were not previously ranked, appeared at 7th and 8th place respectively this year. This is interpreted as a result of increased foreign interest in unique foods due to the Korean Wave (Hallyu) through dramas and movies.

[Image source=Getty Images]

Additionally, foreigners tend to seek out regional representative dishes more than locals. In Gangneung, the number of payments made by non-locals at restaurants selling mulhoe (cold raw fish soup) and dakgangjeong (sweet crispy fried chicken) was more than 3.0 times and 7.2 times higher respectively compared to locals. In Jeju (pork), Daegu (chicken), and Damyang (tteokgalbi - grilled short rib patties), the number of payments related to ‘guksu’ (noodles) was also up to 5.1 times higher than that of locals.

The phenomenon of traveling to visit bakeries by region, known as ‘bbangji sunrye’ (bread pilgrimage), was also observed. BC Card’s analysis of the top five confectionery businesses by sales in each region showed that foreign payment transactions in the confectionery sector more than doubled over the past two years.

In this regard, BC Card explained, “As various foods have been exposed worldwide due to the Korean Wave through dramas and movies, there have been diverse changes in the ranking of Korean foods preferred by foreigners over the past three years.”