Yash Lakhan
April 30, 2025
Korean party snacks continue to evolve across contexts – no longer bound to traditional boundaries, but appearing beside cocktails in both, casual and formal settings. Their making and structure enables flexibility in hosting — bites that can be passed around or plated for a crowd, diversity of profiles being the focus of this spread: salty, fermented, fried or pickled, often layered with spice or umami.
For contrast and balance on a platter, pair hot snacks such as fried mandu with cold fermented components such as kimchi or pickled daikon so that temperature and acidity vary naturally.
Beyond flavour, group things with different textures — think crisp seaweed crackers, chewy rice crackers, soft glazed chicken —s o that every sip of cocktail is reintroduced to a new tactile effect.
Provide a curated selection of dipping sauces — gochujang-infused, sesame-forward or soy reductions — to complement snacks and reinforce flavour aspects in the cocktails being served.
Instead of amping up options, provide a concise list of bite-sized varieties that recur in cadence; this encourages guests to hold their drink for a while and make each bite feel complete.
Palate fatigue from Korean spices can be avoided by including sides such as chilled cucumber kimchi, pickled turnips or Napa cabbage wraps that reboot tastebuds and lay foundation for the next round of bites and sips.
Conceptualise the snack platter around one key Korean ingredient like perilla, gochujang or sesame — and present it in various forms, so that the food and beverage can reflect its presence. *Drink Responsibly. This communication is for audiences above the age of 25.