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.
Don’t want to be nitpicky, but as an avid baker who baked a lot in Korea, I just wanted to make a couple of corrections to this post! Unless the brand you found is different somehow, 뉴슈가 (nyu-syu-ga -> new sugar) is actually a bitter tasting sugar, not baking powder. The only time I have ever seen baking powder in Korea, it was called 베이킹 파우더.
Also, cinnamon in Korean is 계피 (gye-pi) 🙂
Hello Avid Baker. Thanks for your comment. We have updated the information. Regards,