Last Updated on August 27, 2015 by Nancie
Welcome to week 243 of Travel Photo Thursday. My computer continues to limp along as we wait for the parts to arrive; fingers crossed. Last week I brought you a favorite traditional Korean food, Bibimbap. This week, staying with food and Korea, I’m sharing with you one of my favorite Korean street foods, particularly for breakfast. The Korean Egg Sandwich is known by a variety of names; including Gaeran Tost-U and Gaeran To Su Tu. When I buy it I usually just smile and point, since quite often that’s the only thing that will be on the grill.
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You’ll often find these tasty sandwiches being cooked and served from a Pojangmacha (literally means: covered wagon, and often shortened to ‘pocha’). If your taking a highway bus they usually stop at a rest area, and quite often one of the vendors will be serving up tasty Gaeran Tost-U. This is where I often get my fix. This pocha, located at the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal serves up some of the best Gaeran Tost-U I have ever eaten. I always make sure I am hungry when I take a bus to Dong Seoul.
The mini omelettes have usually been precooked. The white bread (and it’s always white bread) is buttered and added to the grill as ordered. When the egg goes onto the bread the cook will ask how much sugar and ketchup you want. They can be heavy handed, do I always say chokim, which means a little.
Served up in a paper cup with a side of fish broth to wash the deliciousness down. I always eat in. The traditional ambience adds to the taste.
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Have you ever had the pleasure of eating Korean street food? What have you tried?
Please welcome our co-hosts this week: Ruth from Tanama Tales Rachel from Rachel’s Ruminations
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46 responses to “A Favorite Korean Street Food – Gaeran To Su Tu”
I’ve never heard of this (not that that means anything) but I think I might make it for lunch today – will send you a pick if I do….it looks good!!!
Hi Lydia. Definitely easy to make. If you try it, do let us know.
I’m going to try it too!
I have never heard of it either – but it does look tasty!
Hi Jill. I guarantee that it is. I think the mixture of ketchup and sugar give the sandwich a very distinctive taste. My secret is not to add too much of either. I just want to those flavors to come through very subtly.
This is why I love Asia, their food is never boring. Omelette with a fish broth served in a cup – what can be more unique than that? :p
Exactly! A big part of Korean food are the side dishes (banchan), and every restaurant serves up something a little different, so there’s always a surprise.
This is why I love Asia, their food is never boring. Omelette with a fish broth served in a cup – what can be more unique than that? :p This post made me hungry!
Looks delicious… I would love to try it…
Hi Lili. Come over to Seoul, and I’m sure we can find one for you to taste :). Do they have anything similar in Japan?
This looks delicious, I would stop for a bite to try these please!
Hi Noel. I’m sure you would love these tasty sandwiches, and one bite would never do 🙂
Yes, I would totally go for seconds on this
I never had a Gaeran To Su Tu because they didn’t look too appetizing to me. Oh well. One day, though, I was in Seoul and really hungry and having trouble finding any street food. I came across a stand where the woman had small rectangular cakes that looked a bit like a twinkie, but a bit bigger. Since they were clearly freshly-made and she was selling them first thing in the morning, I figured I’d buy one and see what they were. It turned out to be a cake, but only very slightly sweet, and in the middle was a whole hard-boiled egg! The shell had been removed, but the egg was intact. Very surprising, but also surprisingly good!
Hi Rachel. I’ve had those before and they are good. Koreans love their eggs.
Oh this is my kind of food. (If only that Subway we visited had served this!!! 😉 ) Don’t know why my link today shows last week’s post title – it really is about Greece. I am still getting acquainted with Windows 10 (and so far I find nothing about it a ’10’!!) Have a great week.
Hi Jackie. Yes, Subway could take a lesson from a few street food vendors. My poor computer would die right now if I even thought of switching to Windows 10. Hopefully, once I get it working right again, I’ll give it a go.
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The food looks delicious! Never heard of it or tried before!
Hi Jolene. One of my favorites, and I need to try and make it here in my kitchen sometime soon.
First time I heard about this snack / street food. I wonder what was the inspiration for the dish. I was not expecting to see white bread in a Korean snack.
Hi Ruth. I think when Koreans were first introduced to bread it was always white, and often had something sweet in the middle. Remembering back to when I arrived here over fifteen years, I would often be unpleasantly surprised to bite into bread and find it to be filled with very sweet whipped cream. It was awful. Thankfully, these days the bread is so much better, and there is more than just white.
I have never heard of this and as odd as it may sound..it looks delicious. I could probably do without the fish broth. I would love to try one of these. Some of Asia’s street foods are the best. Hope your tech problems get solved soon.
Hi Mary. Yeah, the fish broth is a little much in the morning. For me, the secret of this sandwich is just a hint of the ketchup and sugar.
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I haven’t heard of Gaeran To Su Tu either. Is the egg just plain or are there things scrambled into it? In your photo, it looks like there might be spring onions in it. I’m trying to imagine the taste, but I cannot seem to imagine sugar-ketchup-fish sauce-egg all in one bite. Very interesting.
Hi Michele. Yes, those are green onions. That’s another food that Koreans use a lot of in their cooking. Give is a try one of these day. Just a bit of the ketchup and sugar works for me.
That looks delicious! I’ve never heard of this before, but I’d like to try it. Maybe without ketchup. 😀
Hi Karen. I keep the ketchup and sugar to a minimum. I just like a hint of the flavor.
wow, so unusual! I’d love to try it! I like how you described the process, but for the life of me I can’t imagine the taste of the combination! All the more intriguing.
Hi Betsy. Yeah, I know what your saying. Sugar and ketchup on bread sounds like such a weird combo.
Never tried Korean street food but hope I have the opportunity! Very appetizing post~
Hi Irene. Come to Seoul and we’ll have lunch!
Travel and tasting new foods just seem to go hand-in-hand and I think this would be doubly true in Korea which has such a reputation for great food. I’m having fun reading your posts and virtually experiencing Korea!
Hi Anita. Nice to hear that your enjoying the posts. I’ve been busy with the job and the new apartment since moving to Seoul, but I’m hoping that I’ll soon find some time to get out and about, so that I can some new posts about what to see, do, and eat in the city.
We’re going to Korea in a couple weeks (yay!) to visit our daughter in Seoul. So I’ll have to give this a try. I love Korean food! Waffles filled with ice cream, and I really liked these rice balls filled with tuna that came from the convenience store.
Hi Shelley. What fun for you! There is a lot to see and do. Give me a shout if you have a moment and we can grab a coffee. I love meeting people through the blog.
That would be great Nancie. I’ll message you when we’re there.
Great. I check my email everyday, to you can find me on Facebook…NancieM
We’ve never been to Korea but this little sandwich looks quite tasty. I love that they serve it in a paper cup and give you a side of fish broth to wash it down. Can’t wait to try it!
Hi Sue. It is a wonderful, tasty snack or breakfast.
Great description and photos. I’m sure the proprietress was at least mildly amused that you were photographing your breakfast sandwich. I have yet to visit Korea, but I know which blog I’ll have to turn to first!
Hi Suzanne. Yes, I’m sure she was amused. Koreans are not always keen on photos, but she was okay. I guess she didn’t want to turn away any business. Now that I’m in Seoul, there will be lots more posts. Of course, that’s after I get settled into the new job.
Hi Nancie, I’ve never eaten Korean Street Food. I do like Korean food and this one sounds simple but tasty. Have you ever seen people dunk the toast and egg in the broth?
Hi Jan. I’ve never seen anyone do the dunk, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
I’ll certainly have to remember this one if I ever make it to Korea. I’m not sure about the ketchup and sugar with it but I’m sure it will be tasty as long as I remember your magic word..chokim!