How Social Media Is Reshaping Korean Food: From Viral Cucumber Salad to Convenience Store Creations

How Social Media Is Reshaping Korean Food: From Viral Cucumber Salad to Convenience Store Creations

Korean culture has outgrown its status as a passing trend and become woven into daily life across the globe. At the heart of this transformation, Korean cuisine — or Hansik — is spreading rapidly through the algorithmic power of social media.

While the globalization of Korean food once revolved around introducing classics like kimchi, bulgogi (marinated stir-fried beef), and bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables) to international diners, today's consumers are forging entirely new combinations and food cultures using Korean ingredients and recipes.

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Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have seen a flood of viral recipes featuring Korean ingredients. As users around the world cook and share their takes, Hansik has evolved from mere sustenance into content that people co-create and enjoy together.

The standout example is the cucumber salad popularized by Canadian Hansik vlogger Logan Moffitt (@logagm). His deceptively simple recipe — thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce, chili oil, and seasonings — has racked up tens of millions of views on TikTok. The craze reached such heights that the BBC reported in 2024 that Iceland briefly sold out of cucumbers nationwide due to surging demand.

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Korean pantry staples are no longer confined to traditional recipes. A growing number of consumers abroad are incorporating fermented Korean sauces and condiments — including soy sauce (ganjang), red pepper paste (gochujang), soybean paste (doenjang), and ssamjang (a thick, spicy dipping sauce) — into their local dishes, crafting personal interpretations of Korean cuisine.

Among international visitors to Korea, creative combinations using convenience store products are gaining traction. Viral recipes circulating on social media include banana-flavored milk mixed with coffee to create "banana milk coffee," along with inventive pairings of instant cup noodles, triangle-shaped gimbap (seaweed rice rolls), and other ready-to-eat foods — fueling the rise of an entirely new category of Hansik content.

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The deepening presence of Korean food in daily life worldwide is driving sustained export growth. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea's food exports reached USD 5.38 billion in the first half of this year, up 5% year-on-year. Growth has been robust not only in traditional strongholds like the US and China, but also across emerging markets including the Middle East (up 25.2%), Latin America (up 19.5%), and Europe (up 17.9%).

Jun Ki Chan, director of food exports at the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., observed: "Overseas consumers have moved beyond simply accepting Hansik as is — they are actively adapting it to fit their own food cultures. The biggest shift is that whereas we once had to work hard to promote Korean food, consumers abroad have now transitioned to active consumption, independently searching for and sharing how to enjoy it."

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"The social media culture of viral sharing, where consumers find enjoyment and actively participate, carries greater impact than any corporate advertising and is producing tangible results in the form of export growth and wider distribution networks," he added. "More foreign tourists who experience K-food at convenience stores and popular restaurants during their Korea trips continue buying Korean food online or at supermarkets after returning home. Their firsthand experience in Korea translates into daily consumption back home, as Hansik becomes deeply embedded in the lives of people worldwide."