Four Summer Dishes of Jeonju, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy: Bibim Bingsu, Jeonju Gamaek, Konguksu, Soba

The highlight of a trip is often the local food. In Jeonju, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy and a city of Korean traditional gourmet dishes, you’ll find some nationwide-famous gourmet dishes that will save you from the summer heatwave. Let’s start now.

Bibim Bingsu

The season of bingsu (Korean shaved ice with sweet toppings) is here. When the temperature rises above 25C, a big cup of bingsu seems almost indispensable. There are different bingsu dishes with all kinds of toppings, but Jeonju has the most ‘grandiose’ bingsu of all. It’s called ‘Bibim Bingsu’.

Bibim Bingsu resembles the famous Jeonju Bibimbap. The rice in the bibimbap is represented through shaved milk ice, the vegetables through fruits, and the fried eggs through colored jellies. From a distance, it looks like a genuine Jeonju Bibimbap.

Bibim Bingsu is served in a brassware bowl, which keeps the bingsu cold and fresh until finishing the bowl. The best way to eat Bibim Bingsu is starting by sprinkling the strawberry puree topping on the top, just like sprinkling gochujang (red chili pepper paste) on the top of bibimbap. Then, mix everything. Bibim Bingsu is served at the restaurant ‘Bubeuim Onn’, inside the Korea Traditional Culture Center.

Jeonju Gamaek

Cold beers are best in hot summer. Jeonju is renowned for its unique beer culture, gamaek. Literally ‘corner store beer’, gamaek is the culture of drinking beer at a neighborhood corner store with some nibbles.

Cold beers are mostly nice in summer, but each Jeonju gamaek has their own unique nibble dishes that goes well with cold beer: chili pepper fried chicken in ‘Yeongdong Super’, ‘fresh seasonal seafood such as squid in ‘Pungnam Super’, and briquet-grilled dried pollack and cuttlefish in ‘Jeonil Super’, for example. It’s Jeonju, so it’s almost guaranteed any gamaek place you stumble upon will be great.

Jeonju Kongguksu

Have you tried kongguksu (noodles with cold soybean soup)? Jeonju has several best kongguksu venues in Korea. The cold soybean soup, made with local soybeans, is very flavorsome and thick. However, the texture is surprisingly creamy. People say the soybean soup is almost the ‘soy cream’.

The noodle, made with buckwheat, is also important for making Jeonju kongguksu. The firm texture of the noodle is very pleasant. Also, the flavor of the cold soybean soup goes well with kimchi. In Jeonju, kongguksu is a rather sweet dish. The most famous kongguksu venues are Taepyeongjip, Geumam Soba, Jinmijip, and Veteran Kalguksu.

Jeonju Soba

Soba is traditionally a cold dish popular in summer. And Jeonju has some nation-wide famous soba venues. The flavorsome soba soup is brew with dried skipjacks, anchovies, and kelp. It’s savory with both sweet and salty flavors.

The buckwheat noodle goes fantastically well with the cold soup. The Jeonju-style soba looks similar to naengmeon (the Korean cold noodle) – the noodle is served inside the soup. I recommend Seoul Soba, Haemil Soba, Veteran Kalguksu, Taepyeongjip, Geumam Meonok, and Kendo Soba. It’ll interesting to visit different soba places and finding your own favorite venue.