Yasik (Korean: 야식; Hanja: 夜食) is a term referring to South Korea's midnight snack culture.
The dictionary meaning of Yasik is 'the food eaten in the middle of the night after dinner.'[1]
Korea's top yasik favourites include: ramyeon (라면), typically eaten with kimchi, chicken and beer (chimaek, 치킨, 맥주), jokbal and bossam(족발, 보쌈), tteokbokki and sundae (떡볶이, 순대), gungoguma (roasted sweet potatoes) and hoppang (군고구마, 호빵).[2] Kimbap and jokbal is also popular. Past favorites, now less popular, include memilmuk (buckwheat jelly) and chapssaltteok(rice cakes filled with sweet beans).[2]
Fried chicken, first introduced in Korea in the 1980s, and pizza also top the list of night-time favorites. Fried chicken, in particular, has become a wide market, with chicken restaurant chains continually developing new sauces and wooing various Hallyu stars to promote their respective brands. Of course, no late-night chicken order would be complete without a cool pitcher of draft beer.[2]