Four words for what looks like the same thing
These four menu words describe different kinds of soup, stew and hotpot. Serving styles vary, so check whether a dish is for one person or for sharing.
| Word | Meaning and serving style |
|---|---|
| 국 (guk) | This means soup and is often served in an individual bowl with a meal. |
| 탕 (tang) | This also means soup, often with a rich broth. Some dishes are served individually and others are shared. |
| 찌개 (jjigae) | This means stew. It may arrive in an individual bowl or a shared pot. |
| 전골 (jeongol) | This usually means a shared hotpot whose ingredients cook at the table. |
The practical difference between 찌개 and 전골 is who cooks it. A 찌개 arrives finished and stays hot. A 전골 often arrives with uncooked ingredients that simmer at the table — shabu-shabu (샤브샤브), tripe hotpot (곱창전골), mushroom hotpot (버섯전골), fishcake hotpot (어묵전골). 닭한마리 (a whole chicken in broth) is a 전골 in everything but name.
The stews you will meet
| Dish | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Kimchi stew (김치찌개) | This stew uses mature kimchi and commonly contains pork or tuna and tofu. Ask about the meat and broth. |
| Soybean-paste stew (된장찌개) | This stew contains fermented soybean paste and often tofu and vegetables. Its broth or toppings can contain seafood or meat. |
| Soft-tofu stew (순두부찌개) | This stew contains soft tofu and may include seafood, pork or egg. It can arrive very hot, so let it cool before eating. |
| Army stew (부대찌개) | This stew commonly contains ham, sausage, kimchi and noodles. It is often shared, although some restaurants serve individual portions. |
| Fermented-soybean stew (청국장) | This stew uses strongly fermented soybeans, which give it a distinctive smell and flavour. |
| Pork-bone stew (감자탕) | This dish contains pork bones and vegetables and is often served in a shared pot. |
Army stew (부대찌개) is the one dish whose history you can taste. It came out of the food shortage after the Korean War, built from what came off American bases — hot dogs and canned ham — around the garrison towns of Gyeonggi. The Uijeongbu (의정부) version traces to a stall near Uijeongbu Station around 1960 and keeps a clear, light broth; the Songtan (송탄) version piles in far more ham and sausage and adds cheese, tomato sauce and baked beans. Both are still made, in the same towns, and the difference is on the menu.
Everyone's spoon in one pot — and how the rule has changed
Some groups eat directly from a shared stew, while others serve it into individual bowls. Use the ladle or serving utensils provided, and ask for a separate bowl if you need one.
The convention has been shifting for two decades, and Korean law has been pushing it. Annex 17 of the Food Sanitation Act's Enforcement Rule requires a restaurant to make an effort at shared serving dishes, small or compartmented plates, implements for serving out soup, stew and side dishes, or a one-person tray — and a restaurant that does gets a first-offence penalty reduced. Separate plates and serving utensils let diners portion out a shared dish without eating directly from the pot.
On top of that sits Safe Restaurant (안심식당), a designation the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs introduced in June 2020 and still runs, with three requirements: individual plates, tongs and ladles for taking from shared dishes; wrapped or pre-set cutlery; and staff masked while preparing and serving. Local governments designate and inspect, the sticker goes on the door, and the listings are published on the Naver Map and KakaoMap navigation apps.
What to do in practice: if the small plates and the ladle are on the table, use them. If they are not, say 앞접시 주세요 (a side plate, please) to ask for one. This is a normal request.
The rules of the pot
- The ladle (국자) belongs to the pot. Serve into your own plate or bowl, then eat from that.
- Take turns serving, or follow your host’s lead. Customs vary between families and groups.
- Rice and soup bowls usually stay on the table. Korean table manners keep rice and soup bowls on the table and bring the spoon to the mouth — the opposite of Japan. “Korean table manners and taboos” covers the rest.
- Spoon for soup and rice, chopsticks for everything else. Put one utensil down before using the other.
- The burner stays on for a reason. A 전골 is meant to be eaten in stages, and a 찌개 concentrates as it goes. If it gets too salty, ask for water or broth — 육수 좀 더 주세요 (more broth, please) — or have the flame turned down.
- Ask about extras if you want more food. Sari chuga (사리 추가) means an additional serving of ingredients such as noodles, dumplings or rice cakes. Some restaurants also offer fried rice (볶음밥) made in the remaining sauce. Ask the staff when to add them.
Check the minimum order and price
Some shared stews and hotpots require 2인분 이상, meaning a minimum order of two portions. Others are sold by pot size or offered as individual meals. Ask whether an individual portion is available at an army-stew (부대찌개) or hotpot (전골) restaurant; “Eating alone: which restaurants take one person” and “Minimum orders and the two-portion rule” cover the ways round it, and kimchi stew (김치찌개) in a set-meal (백반) house is the usual single-portion escape.
Seoul averages for June 2026, from the national dining-out price survey:
| Dish | Seoul average |
|---|---|
| Kimchi stew set (김치찌개백반) | ₩8,654 |
| Bibimbap | ₩11,769 |
| Kalguksu | ₩10,038 |
In this survey, a kimchi-stew set costs less than the other two meals listed above. Actual restaurant prices vary.
What is in it, if you are avoiding something
The stews that look vegetarian usually are not.
- Soybean-paste stew (된장찌개) is fermented soybean paste, courgette, tofu and chilli — and its stock is normally 멸치 육수 (anchovy) or beef, with clams or pork belly often in the pot.
- Kimchi stew (김치찌개) contains pork by default, and the kimchi itself is normally made with 젓갈 (salted fermented seafood) or 액젓 (fish sauce).
- Soft-tofu stew (순두부찌개) uses soft tofu, but the broth and toppings often include seafood or pork.
- Army stew (부대찌개) is ham, sausage and baked beans, so it is also the one to avoid on a pork-free diet, not just a vegetarian one.
Asking whether there is meat in it will usually get you an honest answer; asking about 육수 (stock) is the question that actually separates the dishes. “Vegetarian and vegan eating in Korea” covers the wider problem and “Allergy and dietary phrasing in Korean” gives the phrasing.
One rule works in your favour. Under the same Annex 17, a Korean restaurant may not re-use, re-cook or store food a customer has left, or food that has been put out for eating. This rule concerns the restaurant’s handling of leftovers; it does not replace the need for clean serving utensils at your table.
