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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
5 min
22/01/2026
In Seoul and most of Korea, mornings begin with steaming rice, hot soups, and bite-sized banchan. Korean breakfasts are all about balancing carbs, protein, spice, and fermented side dishes in one sitting. Whether you're dining in a hanok guesthouse or recreating a K-pop idol’s meal, every bite is steeped in tradition.
Koreans love their rice (bap), and for breakfast, that is usually accompanied by thin soup (guk) and side dishes (banchan). This is the traditional fare, but with busier modern lives, Korean breakfast is steadily deviating towards Western breakfasts like toast and waffles. The typical breakfast is heavy, but still lighter than lunch and dinner, and designed to fill you up and keep you going throughout the day. The Korean philosophy, when it comes to meals, is all about balance. It’s rooted in its cultural blueprint and has been followed for aeons.
A staple in nearly every Korean breakfast, bap (rice) is the central element of the meal. It's plain steamed white rice, though some households may use multigrain (japgokbap). Rice complements soups and side dishes, forming a balanced base. In Korea, eating rice is synonymous with having a meal – people often say ‘Did you eat?’ using the word bap. Even with modern changes, rice remains irreplaceable in most traditional homes. It's the foundation of Korean food philosophy.
A popular way to use leftover rice and aged kimchi, kimchi bokkeumbap is a good standalone breakfast dish perfect for those with a time crunch. This savoury fried rice is spicy and tangy, and often served with a fried egg on top and sometimes meat like spam or pork with cheese. It’s not exclusive to breakfast, but it is quite popular, for it’s a 10-minute fix and is utterly satisfying. You might have seen this dish featured in many Korean dramas and gaining popularity worldwide. It’s a smart way of repurposing leftovers, especially rice with kimchi and vegetables.
Who does not know this one? Another one-pot meal that does not need any sides. It is made with assorted vegetables, gochujang (red chilli paste), a fried egg, and sometimes beef (you can use any kind of meat here). ‘Bibim’ means ‘mixed’ and ‘bap’ means ‘rice’. It’s customisable and nutritious, offering protein, fibre, and spice. Bibimbap was originally a way to use up banchan. Jeonju-style bibimbap is the most famous, often served in a hot stone bowl (dolsot).
Made from rehydrated seaweed simmered in a broth with beef or seafood, miyeok-guk is a nourishing soup rich in calcium and iodine. Postpartum mothers traditionally eat it, and it's also the go-to birthday soup. While more common on special days, many families eat it for breakfast. It’s often served with rice and kimchi. Its light but rich flavour makes it ideal for a morning meal.
This soup features a broth made from fermented soybean paste (doenjang), tofu, zucchini, mushrooms, and sometimes clams. Doenjang-guk is considered healthier and lighter than stews like doenjang-jjigae. The latter is a soybean paste stew, made with Korean miso. The fermentation process for doenjang dates back centuries and supports good gut health.
Tteokguk is a clear soup made with thinly sliced garaetteok (cylindrical rice cakes) simmered in a savoury beef or anchovy broth. Traditionally eaten during Seollal (Lunar New Year), it symbolises growing one year older and gaining wisdom. It’s topped with sliced egg, seaweed, and green onions.
No Korean breakfast is complete without kimchi. Most commonly made from napa cabbage or radish, it’s fermented with chilli, garlic, and fish sauce. It's eaten in small portions but plays a big role in digestion, as kimchi is fermented.
This is a crispy, savoury roasted seaweed often brushed with sesame oil and sprinkled with salt. It’s usually served in sheets and eaten with rice, either folded over or crumbled on top.
Namul refers to lightly seasoned vegetable side dishes – blanched spinach, bean sprouts, radish, fernbrake, and more. They’re seasoned with sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, and salt. Often eaten with rice and soup, they can be combined into bibimbap.
Jeon are savoury pancakes made from flour and egg batter mixed with ingredients like green onions (pajeon), kimchi (kimchijeon), seafood (haemul jeon), or zucchini (hobak jeon). Though commonly seen on holidays and feasts, leftover jeon is often eaten for breakfast. It’s crispy, hearty, and often dipped in a soy-vinegar sauce. Trivia: On rainy mornings, Koreans love eating jeon with makgeolli (rice wine).
This Korean-style omelette is made by rolling layers of beaten eggs, often mixed with vegetables like carrots, scallions, or seaweed. It’s a soft, mildly seasoned side dish that pairs perfectly with rice and soup. It's cooked in a rectangular pan to achieve its distinct rolled shape, like the Japanese tamagoyaki, then sliced into bite-sized pieces.
Tiny dried anchovies stir-fried with soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil make for a salty-sweet side dish commonly served at breakfast. There are spicy and non-spicy versions. It stores well and is often made in bulk for the week. It’s particularly favoured by older generations.
Korean breakfasts aren’t just about what’s on the table – they’re about how you begin your day. Rooted in centuries of tradition, every element, from the rice and nourishing soups to the spicy, gut-friendly kimchi, is chosen with intention. It’s a practice of balance, variety, and mindful nourishment, rooted in centuries of practice.
