Baking in Korea is not an easy task. The ovens are small enough to fit on your kitchen counter if your apartment even has one. Whether you want to make pancakes, bake a cake with your rice cooker or just microwaveable treats it’s important to know what is available and what it’s called so trips to the grocery store won’t be daunting.

 

 

What’s available at your local grocery store may vary depending on size and location. For most ingredients, there will be English either on the front or back label. For a better understanding of the differences in grocery stores make sure to check out,  “Navigating the Korean Supermarket”.

Vanilla extract is not widely carried in Korea, instead vanilla powder is more popular; it’s called 바닐라 가루 or ba-nil-la ga-lu. If you find vanilla extract in Korea it’ll be more expensive and vanilla beans are cheaper, they’re called 바닐라 빈 or ba-nil-la bin. You can always make your own extract if you don’t like the taste of the powder or another alternative is to check out iherb or gmarket. If you need to find something and don’t what it’s called in Korean, the app Papigo (파파고) by Naver is very helpful.  Before you start worrying about what isn’t available here’s a glossary of what you can find in Korea.

Happy Baking!

Glossary

 

baking powder

베이킹 파우더

baking soda

식소다  (sik-so-ta)

sodium carbonate 탄산나트륨   (tan-san-na-teu-lyum)

butter

버터   (beo-teo)

cocoa

코코아    (ko-ko-a)

cocoa powder

코코아파우더    (ko-ko-a-pa-u-deo)

cornstarch

옥수수 맛 건분   (og-su-su mas geon-bun)

옥수수 전분  (og-su-su jeon-bun)

eggs

달걀    (dal-gyal)

flour

가루  (ga-lu)

buckwheat flour

메밀 가루    (me-mil ga-lu)

wheat flour

밀 가루   (mil ga-lu)

all purpose flour

중력분    (jung-lyeog-bun)

rice flour

멥쌀가루   (meb-ssal-ga-lu)

honey

벌꿀    (beol-kkul)

margarine

마가린   (ma-ga-lin)

milk

우유   (u-yu)

conndensed milk

연유    (yeon-yu)

low fat

저지방    (jeo-ji-bang)

soymilk

두유    (du-yu)

salt

소금     ( so-geum)

sugar

설탕     (seol-tang)

white sugar 

하얀 설탕      (ha-yan seol-tang)

brown sugar
갈색 설탕      (gal-saeg seol-tang)

dark brown sugar

흑설탕  ( heug-seol-tang)

spices

향신료  (hyang-sin-lyo)

nutmeg

넛맥  (neos-maeg)

육두구  (yug-du-gu)

cinnamon

 계피  (gyeo-pi)

vegetable oil

식물성 식용유  (sig-mul-seong sig-yong-yu)

whipping cream

휘핑 크림     (hwi-ping keu-lim)

yeast
이스트    (i-seu-teu)

yogurt

요구르트     (yo-gu-leu-teu)

 

Writer: Lauren Smith

Editor: Jane Castillo

Lead Contributor: Rachel Casseline Pinnock

 

Photos

The collage photos of ingredients are my own. The cover photo is from Congerdesign on Pixelbay.