How Busan came to eat the way it does: the people, migrations and accidents that shaped the plate.
Key eras
1876-1945, the open port
Busan opened to foreign trade in 1876 and industrialised under Japanese rule. The port years planted eomuk fish-cake workshops, wandang dumpling soup and a taste for udon around Yeongdo and Nampo, foundations the city still eats from today.
1950-1953, the wartime capital
As Korea's provisional wartime capital, Busan absorbed refugees from across the peninsula. Necessity invented its canon: dwaeji gukbap from pork bones, milmyeon from ration wheat when northern buckwheat ran out, and Gukje Market rising from relief-goods stalls.
1963-1990s, the industrial port
Container cranes and fish auctions made Busan Korea's second city. Jagalchi's ajummas became a national symbol, Gupo guksu dried by the Nakdong River fed factory shifts, and beach districts at Haeundae and Gwangalli grew their hoe centres.
2010s-2026, the second food capital
BIFF's film crowds, Jeonpo's cafe street and the Michelin Guide's 2025 Busan debut reframed Busan as a destination kitchen. Momos won the 2019 World Barista Championship, and by 2026 the city held four starred restaurants and twenty Bib Gourmands.
Immigrant influences
- North Korean refugees: Milmyeon itself: naengmyeon makers from Hamhung and Pyongyang rebuilt their noodles in wheat, and their descendants still run Busan's naengmyeon and mandu houses.
- Japanese (colonial era): Eomuk fish cake, wandang soup and the udon habit came through the port, then were re-made Korean by shops like Samjin, pressing eomuk since 1953.
- Chinese (Choryang Chinatown): Choryang's Chinatown, opposite Busan Station, has fried mandu and noodle traditions dating to the 1880s treaty-port years.
- Gyeongsang fishing villages: Haenyeo divers and anchovy crews from Gijang and the islands supply the raw-fish culture that fills Jagalchi, Millak and the beach hoe centres.
Signature innovations
- Dwaeji gukbap: pork-bone soup that became the city's identity dish
- Milmyeon: wartime wheat remake of northern naengmyeon
- Ssiat hotteok: the seed-stuffed pancake born on BIFF Square
- Busan eomuk: fish cake elevated from side dish to bakery counter
- Machine-dried Gupo guksu: noodles cured in Nakdong river wind