Fruit (7)
Jujube
Eaten fresh and apple-crisp in early autumn, then dried for tea, samgyetang, and rice cakes. Boe...
Fig
Korean figs ripen soft and jammy on the tree rather than in transit, so the domestic season is s...
Chestnut
Autumn chestnuts are roasted in street braziers, steamed, or simmered into rice and braised dish...
Korean Pear
Bae is huge, round, and closer to an apple in texture — crisp, watery and lightly sweet. Also us...
Apple
Autumn is when Korean apples earn their reputation — Fuji-type varieties from Daegu and Andong,...
Pomegranate
Korean pomegranate season is short and mostly domestic. Eaten fresh by the seed or pressed into...
Tomato
Peak-season Korean tomatoes are eaten as fruit as often as vegetable — chilled with a little sug...
Vegetable (5)
Eggplant
Korean eggplant is slim, thin-skinned and quick to cook. Most often steamed and torn into a sesa...
Potato
Summer-harvested potatoes arrive waxy and moist, best steamed and eaten plain or crushed with bu...
Sweet Potato
Goguma is a Korean staple: dense, honey-sweet varieties roasted whole in foil or over coals. Aut...
Kabocha Squash
Dense, dry-fleshed and genuinely sweet — steamed and eaten plain, blended into soup, or baked in...
Corn
Chewy waxy corn (chal-oksusu) is the Korean summer variety — starchy and glutinous rather than s...
Seafood (6)
Hairtail
A long silver ribbon fish, prized in autumn. Jeju hairtail is the premium grade — salt-grilled,...
Mackerel
Autumn mackerel carries the most fat of the year. Salt-grilled (godeungeo-gui) is the default pr...
Small Octopus
Nakji is thinner-limbed and more tender than common octopus. Eaten in fiery stir-fries, or brief...
White Shrimp
Autumn daeha are large and sweet, most often cooked live on a bed of coarse salt in a covered pa...
Squid
Late-summer squid is thick-walled and sweet. Korean cooking uses it three ways — flash-grilled,...
Gizzard Shad
Jeoneo is the autumn fish Koreans have a proverb about. Fatty and bony, scored and salt-grilled...
Mushroom (2)
Pine Mushroom
Songi is the most expensive mushroom in Korea — wild, unfarmable, and intensely aromatic. Torn b...
Shiitake
Meaty and umami-dense, shiitake appears in spring and again in autumn. Grilled with sesame oil a...
At a glance
| Item | Korean | Category | Peak months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jujube | 대추 | Fruit | Sep, Oct |
| Fig | 무화과 | Fruit | Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov |
| Chestnut | 밤 | Fruit | Sep, Oct |
| Korean Pear | 배 | Fruit | Sep, Oct, Nov |
| Apple | 사과 | Fruit | Sep, Oct, Nov |
| Pomegranate | 석류 | Fruit | Sep, Oct |
| Tomato | 토마토 | Fruit | Jul, Aug, Sep |
| Eggplant | 가지 | Vegetable | Jul, Aug, Sep |
| Potato | 감자 | Vegetable | Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep |
| Sweet Potato | 고구마 | Vegetable | Aug, Sep, Oct |
| Kabocha Squash | 단호박 | Vegetable | Sep, Oct |
| Corn | 옥수수 | Vegetable | Jul, Aug, Sep |
| Hairtail | 갈치 | Seafood | Sep, Oct, Nov |
| Mackerel | 고등어 | Seafood | Sep, Oct, Nov |
| Small Octopus | 낙지 | Seafood | Sep, Oct, Nov |
| White Shrimp | 대하 | Seafood | Sep, Oct |
| Squid | 오징어 | Seafood | Aug, Sep, Oct |
| Gizzard Shad | 전어 | Seafood | Sep, Oct |
| Pine Mushroom | 송이버섯 | Mushroom | Sep, Oct |
| Shiitake | 표고버섯 | Mushroom | Apr, May, Sep, Oct |