3 Korean Street Food Is Trending, But Are Our Hearts Still With Local Snacks? Who hasn’t recently seen melted cheese corndogs or fiery red tteokbokki popping up on their FYP? Jakpat just wrapped up a survey on this Korean street food phenomenon. Turns Out 74% of Us Have Tried It Out of 1,836 respondents, 1,365 people (74%) admitted they’ve tried Korean street food at some point. That’s a huge number but what got them curious enough to try it in the first place? The answer is fairly clear. 51.1% said they tried it because of the influence of Korean dramas, variety shows, or trending Korean content. Only 25.1% honestly said it was because the taste genuinely suited their palate. The rest—14.6%—said it was because it’s easy to find everywhere, and 8.6% just wanted to seem trendy. So it’s fair to say that a lot of people try Korean street food not because they’re already confident they’ll like it, but out of FOMO after watching a drama or scrolling social media. Favorite Snack? Cheese Corndogs Take the Crown When it comes to the most frequently purchased items, cheese-filled corndogs still lead with 34.1%, closely followed by tteokbokki at 32.9%. Korean fried chicken (17.1%) and Korean BBQ (13.3%) trail behind. As for where people buy them, street-side carts or stalls are the favorite at 58.5%, followed by dedicated Korean food cafes (42.4%) and online delivery apps (32.1%). But Loyalty Still Lies With Local Snacks Here’s the interesting part. Even though many have tried it and enjoyed it, 74.9% of those who’ve tried Korean street food still say local snacks remain their top favorite. Only 12.6% feel Korean food tastes better and want to keep trying it repeatedly. In other words, curiosity runs high, but hearts remain with rendang, cilok, and roadside fried snacks. When it comes to following new viral food trends in general, Indonesians also tend to be cautious. 44.6% prefer to wait for others’ reviews before trying something themselves, while only 11.9% would immediately seek it out and try it as soon as it goes viral. Who’s Most Into It? Demographically, Gen Z is the most dominant group trying Korean street food (48.9% of those who’ve tried it), followed by Gen Y (41.8%), with Gen X far behind at just 9.3%. Regionally, respondents from Java dominate at 73.7% of those who’ve tried it, while Sumatra comes in at 14.4%. Conclusion Korean street food has certainly succeeded in sparking curiosity and getting people to try it, but it hasn’t managed to displace local snacks from Indonesians’ hearts. Korean content (dramas, variety shows) is the main engine driving people to try it not the taste itself. So for culinary businesses, this is a signal that content strategy and storytelling remain key to grabbing attention, but when it comes to long-term loyalty, there’s still significant work to be done.
