North Korea

Ask what North Korea eats and the answer starts with this: restrained northern Korean cooking famed for Pyongyang cold noodles, mild kimchi and resourceful market street foods. Look for Pyongyang Naengmyeon (chewy buckwheat noodles in icy beef-radish broth, the capital’s signature dish), Hamhung Naengmyeon (extra-chewy potato-starch noodles in fiery sauce, often topped with raw skate) and Kimchi (northern-style fermented cabbage, milder and juicier than southern versions). Recorded in the 1849 almanac Dongguk Sesigi as a winter dish; Okryu-gwan’s noodles were carried to the 2018 inter-Korean summit at Panmunjom. This atlas has 30 North Korea dishes catalogued below, from everyday cooking to food kept for festivals and special occasions.