What to Eat in Korea in Fall: 3 Seasonal Seafood Favorites Koreans Wait For

 

Fall in Korea is not only about colorful leaves and cooler weather.

If you're planning a fall trip, you can also read my guide to visiting Korea in autumn.

For many Koreans, it is also one of the best seasons for seafood.

As soon as the weather starts to cool, certain foods begin appearing more often at seafood restaurants and local markets. 

Among them, three are especially associated with autumn: kkotge (꽃게, Korean swimming crab), jeoneo (전어, gizzard shad), and saeu sogeum-gui (새우 소금구이, salt-grilled shrimp).

These are foods that many Koreans genuinely look forward to when the season arrives.

Here are three fall seafood dishes I recently ate in Korea.

1. Kkotge (꽃게) – A Korean Fall Crab Favorite

Kkotge is one of the types of seafood Koreans most strongly associate with autumn.

You can eat it at other times of the year, but fall is especially known as a good season for crab in Korea.

At seafood restaurants, kkotge can be steamed, used in spicy soup, or prepared in several other ways.

The crab I ate was cooked and cut into pieces before being served.

Eating kkotge can be a little messy. You normally use your hands, open the shell, and pick out the meat from the body and legs.

That is completely normal in Korea.

It is one of those meals where taking your time and getting your hands a little messy is part of the experience.

2. Jeoneo (전어) – A Fish Koreans Wait for Every Fall

If you ask Koreans about famous fall foods, jeoneo will probably come up very quickly.

Jeoneo is strongly associated with autumn in Korea, and many people specifically wait for the season to eat it.

There is even an old Korean saying that the smell of grilling jeoneo could bring a runaway daughter-in-law back home — a humorous way of saying how irresistible it smells.

Jeoneo can be grilled, but it is also commonly eaten as jeoneo-hoe (전어회), or raw sliced jeoneo.

The version I ate was sliced and served with onion, sesame seeds, rice, soup, and several Korean side dishes.

Its texture is firmer than many other types of raw fish, and the flavor is a little richer and more distinctive.

For travelers who have already tried Korean barbecue, fried chicken, or bibimbap, jeoneo shows a very different side of Korean food culture.

3. Saeu Sogeum-gui (새우 소금구이) – Shrimp Grilled on Salt

Another food Koreans enjoy in fall is saeu sogeum-gui.

The cooking method is very simple.

A thick layer of coarse salt is spread across a pan, and whole shrimp are cooked directly on top of it.

There is usually no complicated seasoning.

The main idea is to enjoy the shrimp while it is hot and fresh.

Once cooked, people usually peel the shrimp by hand and eat the meat inside.

Some people also enjoy the heads because they contain a lot of flavor.

For travelers, this can be a fun Korean seafood experience because the shrimp are often cooked right at the table and shared together.

Why Seafood Feels Different in Korea During Fall

Seasonality is still very noticeable in Korean food culture.

Of course, supermarkets and restaurants can offer many ingredients throughout the year.

But Koreans still talk about certain foods as being especially good during particular seasons.

Fall seafood is a good example.

You may suddenly see kkotge, jeoneo, or shrimp advertised outside restaurants, displayed at seafood markets, or mentioned when people talk about what to eat on the weekend.

For Koreans, eating these foods is one small way of noticing that the season has changed.

That is something travelers can easily miss if they only look for Korea's most famous foods.

Autumn in Korea is also festival season, and many local festivals are built around seasonal food, harvests, and regional specialties.

You can find some of them in my guide to the best autumn festivals in Korea.

How to Order These Foods in Korea

For travelers, knowing the Korean name is often more useful than knowing an English translation.

At a local restaurant or seafood market, these are the names you are most likely to see or hear:

꽃게 — kkotge
전어 — jeoneo
새우 소금구이 — saeu sogeum-gui

If you cannot pronounce them perfectly, simply showing the Korean word on your phone can also make ordering much easier.

You do not necessarily need to visit a famous tourist restaurant. Local seafood restaurants, traditional markets, coastal towns, and fish markets are often good places to look.

Because seafood availability changes with the season, asking what is good that day can sometimes lead to a better meal than choosing from a fixed travel checklist.

My Take

For a first trip to Korea, I would not say you need to replace Korean barbecue, bibimbap, or fried chicken with these foods.

But if you are visiting Korea in fall and want to eat something that actually feels connected to the season, these are worth trying.

Of the three, saeu sogeum-gui is probably the easiest starting point for most travelers.

Jeoneo has a more distinctive taste and texture, while eating kkotge takes a little more work.

But that is also what makes seasonal Korean food interesting.

Sometimes the most memorable meals are not the ones found on every “Top 10 Korean Foods” list.

They are simply what Koreans are eating because it is the right season for it.