Amuse Bouche

Running around Seoul and looking for food to go? Then you're spoiled for choice. Street vendors in the South Korean capital tempt passersby with a tasty, Technicolor range of snacks, of which the most popular is o-deng. It has the consistency of a sausage, a distinct salty flavor, and is rumored to be made of fish. (Just don't ask what part—explanations from Koreans range from "the fishy part" to a blunt "I don't know.") Another favorite, and one of less obscure provenance, is duk bok gi—rice noodles as thick as cigars, smothered in red pepper paste.

Some street stalls are converted pickup trucks. The flatbed serves as a work surface and tabletop, and makes for the perfect pit stop during a night of carousing. These roving canteens usually serve tak go chi, or chicken skewers, the staple stomach-liner for Seoul's legions of soju-imbibing salarymen. More adventurous eaters, meanwhile, will want to keep an eye out for pig intestines stuffed with glass noodles; octopus tentacles; and the infamous bon dae gi—boiled silkworm larvae. To the uninitiated gourmand, a simmering bucket of larvae might look—and smell—distinctly less than alluring, but there's no better way to get a quick taste of everyday life on the streets of Seoul.