Korean Dishes Names: 40 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Dishes Names at a Glance

This list has 40 words in six groups. It belongs to Food and Drink. The groups follow the structure of a Korean meal: rice at the centre, a stew or soup, grilled dishes, noodles, snacks and finally kimchi, side dishes and sweets. Each word comes with a Hangul spelling, audio and an example sentence. Nine deeper pages go through each topic in detail.

Korean dish names are predictable. Most end in a type word, so once you know what 밥, 국, 찌개, 전, 탕 and 구이 mean, you can read a new dish name before you taste it.

Which Korean Dish Names Should You Learn First?

Learn 밥, 김치, 비빔밥, 불고기 and 찌개 first. They cover the table's centre, its most famous side dish, two dishes known worldwide and the general word for stew. A short sentence such as 비빔밥 하나 주세요 (one bibimbap, please) uses one of them with an order phrase.

• Words to say. 비빔밥, 김밥, 불고기, 김치찌개, 삼겹살. Use these to order.
• Words to recognise. 칼국수, 잡채, 순대, 호떡, 빙수. You read them on boards and menus.
• Type words to learn. 밥, 국, 찌개, 전, 탕, 구이. They unlock the rest.

The table below shows the six type words, what they mean and where they appear.

The scene below shows a Korean table with numbered dishes that match the list.

Word · 20

1. 1

   밥

   Play

   bap

   cooked rice; meal

2. 2

   김밥

   Play

   gimbap

   gimbap; seaweed rice roll

3. 3

   덮밥

   Play

   deopbap

   rice bowl with topping

4. 4

   주먹밥

   Play

   jumeokbap

   rice ball

5. 5

   김치찌개

   Play

   gimchijjigae

   kimchi stew

6. 6

   순두부찌개

   Play

   sundubujjigae

   soft tofu stew

7. 7

   미역국

   Play

   miyeokguk

   seaweed soup

8. 8

   불고기

   Play

   bulgogi

   bulgogi; marinated beef

9. 9

   삼겹살

   Play

   samgyeopsal

   pork belly

10. 10

    고깃집

    Play

    gogijip

    meat restaurant

11. 11

    국수

    Play

    guksu

    noodles

12. 12

    라면

    Play

    ramyeon

    instant noodles

13. 13

    짜장면

    Play

    jjajangmyeon

    black bean noodles

14. 14

    떡볶이

    Play

    tteokbokki

    tteokbokki; spicy rice cakes

15. 15

    튀김

    Play

    twigim

    fried food

16. 16

    호떡

    Play

    hotteok

    hotteok; sweet filled pancake

17. 17

    붕어빵

    Play

    bungeoppang

    fish-shaped pastry

18. 18

    깍두기

    Play

    kkakdugi

    cubed radish kimchi

19. 19

    잡채

    Play

    japchae

    japchae; glass noodle stir-fry

20. 20

    떡

    Play

    tteok

    rice cake

Rice and One-Bowl Dishes

Rice and one-bowl dishes are the heart of a Korean meal. The word 밥 means cooked rice and also a meal, so 밥 먹었어요? asks whether you have eaten. Many dish names end in 밥, which marks a rice dish. The deeper list is on the Korean Rice Dishes Vocabulary page.

The ending 밥 has two jobs. It marks a rice dish (김밥, 볶음밥) and it is a stand-alone word for a meal. When the second job is meant, you hear it in 밥 먹었어요? and in 아침밥 (breakfast), where the word grows into the meal name.

Example Sentences

Three frames carry most of the examples. The first is dish + 을/를 + 먹어요, as in 밥을 먹어요 (I eat rice). The second is dish + 이/가 + describing word, as in 김치찌개는 매워요 (kimchi stew is spicy). The third is dish + 하나 + 주세요, as in 순두부찌개 하나 주세요 (one soft tofu stew, please). Say each aloud after the audio and swap in another dish. Use 을 after a consonant (밥을) and 를 after a vowel (김치를).

How Do You Say Stews and Soups in Korean?

A Korean table often has both a 찌개 (stew) and a 국 (soup), and they are different dishes. A 찌개 is thick, strongly seasoned and shared from the middle of the table. A 국 is thinner and served in an individual bowl. The ending 탕 marks a hot, hearty soup. See the Korean Stews (Jjigae) Vocabulary and Korean Soups (Guk and Tang) Vocabulary pages for longer lists.

Stew versus soup is the first distinction to learn. If a Korean menu offers 된장찌개 and 된장국, they are two different dishes made with the same paste, one thick and one thin. Single-word notes are on the kimchi stew in Korean and soybean paste stew in Korean pages.

Grilled Meat and BBQ

Grilled meat is the best-known Korean meal abroad. At a 고깃집 (meat restaurant) you grill the meat yourself, wrap it in a leaf with garnishes and eat it in one bite. The names come from the cut (삼겹살, 갈비) or from the cooking (불고기, literally 'fire meat'). The Korean BBQ Vocabulary page covers the table in depth.

Portions at a grill restaurant are counted in 인분 (servings), so the order sentence is cut + number + 인분 + 주세요. See the food counters page.

How Do You Say Noodles and Dumplings in Korean?

Noodle names combine a base word with a style. 국수 is the general word for noodles, and 면 is the noun ending in dish names such as 냉면 (cold noodles). 라면 is instant noodles, and 만두 are dumplings. The Korean Noodles Vocabulary page has the full list.

The pair 국수 and 면 is a native-versus-Sino-Korean pair for noodles. 국수 stands alone as a word. 면 appears as the ending in compounds such as 냉면 and 짜장면.

Street Food and Snacks

Street food is cheap, quick and eaten standing. Stalls sell 떡볶이 (spicy rice cakes), fried items and fish cake skewers, and winter brings 호떡 and 붕어빵. The Korean Street Food Vocabulary page covers stall words as well.

Note that 순대 here is the food, not the English word sundae. It is made from pig intestine filled with noodles and blood. Foreign visitors sometimes confuse the sound.

How Do You Say Kimchi, Side Dishes and Desserts in Korean?

Kimchi, side dishes and sweets complete the meal. 김치 is a fermented vegetable dish, and 반찬 is the name for all the small side dishes put on the table. Pancakes are called 전, and a chilled dessert in summer is 빙수. For the full lists, see Korean Kimchi Types Vocabulary, Korean Side Dishes (Banchan) Vocabulary and Korean Desserts and Rice Cakes Vocabulary.

The word 전 is also a suffix. 파전 is a green onion pancake, and 김치전 is a kimchi pancake. This is a pattern you can use on a menu: ingredient + 전.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Dish names contain many tense sounds and linking. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which writes the sound you hear in some cases and the spelling in others.

Revised Romanization does not write the tense sound, so it spells 볶음밥 as bokkeumbap and 떡볶이 as tteokbokki. Menus use other spellings, such as bibimbab, bibimbop and bibimbap. The standard form is bibimbap, and all of them stand for 비빔밥.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. The five clips below replay the hardest words slowly. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Korean Dish Names?

Five mistakes appear often.

1. Treating 찌개 and 국 as the same dish. A 찌개 is thick and strongly seasoned. A 국 is thinner and milder. They are served differently.
2. Reading 밥 only as rice. 밥 also means a meal. 밥 먹었어요? is a common greeting that means have you eaten?
3. Copying the romanization on a menu as the standard. Menus print bibimbab, bibimbop and more. The Revised Romanization is bibimbap.
4. Ordering a dish without checking the ingredients. A dish name does not list the allergens. If you have an allergy, tell staff: 새우 알레르기가 있어요 means I have a shrimp allergy. Common allergens are 땅콩, 새우 and 계란.
5. Confusing 순대 (blood sausage) with the English sundae. They look the same in the Latin alphabet, but they are very different foods.

Knowing the type words removes most of the guesswork. For the ordering phrases that go with these names, see restaurant phrases.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise all 40 words. Second, switch to listening mode. Third, take the quiz. The deck holds all 40 words with audio, and your progress stays in your browser. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, write the type word for each of five dishes you know.

Pages in This Section

Nine deeper lists expand the groups on this page. Each has its own audio, deck and quiz.

• Korean Rice Dishes Vocabulary: 25 words for bibimbap, gimbap, fried rice and rice words.
• Korean Stews (Jjigae) Vocabulary: 25 words for kimchi stew, soybean stew and other stews by name.
• Korean Soups (Guk and Tang) Vocabulary: 25 words for seaweed soup, ginseng chicken soup and everyday guk.
• Korean BBQ Vocabulary: 35 words for pork belly, ribs, wraps and sauces at a grill.
• Korean Noodles Vocabulary: 25 words for naengmyeon, jjajangmyeon, kalguksu and ramyeon.
• Korean Street Food Vocabulary: 25 words for tteokbokki, fish cake, hotteok and stall words.
• Korean Kimchi Types Vocabulary: 25 words for cabbage, radish, water and aged kimchi.
• Korean Side Dishes (Banchan) Vocabulary: 30 words for kimchi, seasoned greens, braised and fried side dishes.
• Korean Desserts and Rice Cakes Vocabulary: 30 words for tteok, traditional sweets, bingsu and cafe desserts.

Where to Go Next

Korean dishes names are easiest to keep when you use them at a real meal, so pick one deeper list and order from it. After this page, open the list that matches your next meal, such as Korean BBQ Vocabulary or Korean Street Food Vocabulary. To see what goes into these dishes, continue with Ingredients. To move up a level, return to Food and Drink.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Korean Food in Korean?

Korean food is 한식 (hansik) or 한국 음식 (hanguk eumsik). A dish is 요리 (yori) when you mean cooking, and 음식 (eumsik) when you mean food in general. This page lists the names of common dishes instead.

How Do You Say Bibimbap in Korean?

Bibimbap is 비빔밥, said bi-bim-bap. It comes from 비비다 (to mix) and 밥 (rice). The standard Revised Romanization is bibimbap, although menus also print bibimbab and bibimbop. Press the audio button to hear it. The final ㅂ of 밥 is barely released, so it sounds close to bap, not bab.

What Is the Difference between 찌개 and 국?

A 찌개 is a thick, strongly seasoned stew, shared from the middle of the table. A 국 is a thinner soup, served in a bowl for each person. Both are eaten with rice, but they are different dishes.

What Do the Endings 밥, 국, 전 and 구이 Mean?

밥 marks a rice dish, 국 a soup, 전 a pancake and 구이 a grilled dish. 찌개 marks a stew and 탕 a hot, hearty soup. Knowing the ending helps you read a new dish name. For example, 콩나물국 is bean sprout soup, and 갈비탕 is short rib soup.

Which Dish Names Should I Learn First?

Start with 밥, 김치, 비빔밥, 불고기 and 찌개. They cover rice, the best-known side dish, a famous mixed dish, grilled beef and a stew. Learn the six type words next, then open the deeper list that matches your next meal.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid. Menus use other spellings, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.