10 Best Foods in Daegu - Native Local Delicacies

Daegu is home to some great foods that will delight your mouth and stomach, while you have fun exploring the tourist attractions in the city.

Daegu is one of the top-visited cities, and they are famous for textiles and apples. But one more thing makes them very famous and leading, and it is the hot and spicy foods that are local to the Daegu city. The city is not as popular as the city of Busan, but they have a very unique and flavourful taste in their dishes. Daegu is home to some great foods that you must try on your trip to South Korea.

Table of Contents

Daegu Spicy Beef Soup

Beef soup is the heart of the Daegu city, and they have the spiciest and wide range of these soups in several options. They use a thick chili oil that is generally red in color, and this is one of the specialties of the Daegu special beef soup. Locals do not use any additional red pepper powder in their soup, and they melt the beef tallow and make the chili oil with it to use as seasoning. The spicy beef soup of Daegu is famous among the refugees coming from all around the country, and gradually the beef soup became the native local food. It also represents Daegu’s unique taste.

Grilled Entrails

From the early 1970s, the grilled entrail has been one of the most popular snacks of Daegu, and it is best served with soju. A cattle’s fourth stomach, generally called Abomasum, is grilled persistently over a highly heated briquette or coal fire, and it is served especially with scallion and garlic. It is dipped in freshly prepared soybean paste sauce. The calcium content of the food is very high, and it is very low in fat, so it is one of the best foods for children. The trend of making this dish was started and originated in Daegu, and later it was spread across different countries.

Beef Shin

Daegu is popular for its unique invention regarding food items, and they prepare their food mostly with meats and porks. In the late 1950s, this was the only city that used and still uses raw meat for the recipe of this special beef shin dish. The recipe is started by cutting the meat of cheo jjigae (the cow’s hind leg’s inner silverside) in chunks. The chunks are totally immersed into a freshly prepared seasoning of garlic sesame oil crushed red pepper. To get the authentic taste of the dish, only fresh-cut meat is part of the preparation.

Dong-in-dong-style Jjim Galbi

Daegu has another special recipe with beef ribs and other seasoning items that make the food spicy and tasty. The preparation of the Dong-in-dong-style braised beef rib is in a dented nickel-silver pot. There is the mixing of the main seasoning, which includes hot red pepper powder and crushed garlic with the beef. Its preparation is unique to Daegu, and it is best as a snack with alcoholic drinks. You can also eat the hot seasoning with steamed rice.

Spicy Catfish Stew

Daegu city houses special and unique dishes made with great combinations of spicy sauces and meat. The spicy catfish stew is a fresh and new concept of spicy and hot stew prepared by the best chefs of Daegu city. It is prepared by immersing an alive catfish in a broth that is brewed radish and kelp. The hot and spicy flavor comes from a whole lot of red pepper powder and minced garlic. It is one of the best hot and spicy foods in Daegu if you are on a budget.

Puffer Fish Bulgogi

The Pufferfish bulgogi is one of the native dishes of Daegu city. It was specially developed by a restaurant in Daegu around the year 1970 when pufferfish dishes were at their best and were very famous among the people. This special dish is prepared by stir-frying the pufferfish with bean sprout, green onion, spicy seasonings, and onion. Generally, you eat the pufferfish bulgogi with liquor and finish the remaining seasoning with steamed rice. The flavor of this special dish comes out a little soft and spicy that is perfect for the Daegu locals.

Pressed Noodle

According to reports, Daegu city has the largest consumption of noodles in Korea, and they have unique dishes too. The pressed noodles were first developed in Daegu city. This is the only noodle dish in the whole country with a thick anchovy broth. It is made by mixing an appropriate amount of soybean flour and normal flour, then the dough is rolled out into thin bread slices, and then they are cut into very thin slices. Then the sliced noodles are put into boiling anchovy stock.

Spicy Seafood and Vegetables Salad

The spicy seafood vegetables and salad is one of the prime dishes of the Daegu city that raw fish prepare by dipping them into freshly prepared seasonings. The process of making this dish is pretty fascinating, it is made by mixing boiled squid, freshwater snail, conch, and conger eel instantly with shredded water parsley and radish, and they are also mixed with the seasoning of red pepper powder, ginger, and garlic to give it the unique and special flavor of the Daegu city.

Yaki Udon

In the late 1970s, Daegu city developed another unique and tasty dish named Yaki udon. It is spicy and hot stir-fry udon with a touch of Daegu-style flavor. It is made with napa cabbage, onion, mung bean sprouts, zucchini, chives, and black mushroom in summer, and in the winters, it is made by using pork, shrimp, spinach, and squid. The udon has a seasoning of spicy and hot red pepper powder and garlic, and the last step is stir-frying of all the ingredients.

Flat Dumpling

Dumplings are one of the popular and most eaten dishes of the Daegu, and the taste of these flat dumplings is absolutely bland. It is made by filling the thin dumpling wrappers with glass noodles, carrots, green onions, chives, and cabbage. Then they are shaped into the shape of a half-moon and are boiled in hot water, and the next step includes pan-frying. Before eating, there’s a sprinkling of soy sauce on top, and nowadays, people also enjoy it with hot and spicy vegetables.