The Banana Is Taking Over Korean Food, Snacks, And Life
It's banana-everything! You could say that Koreans are going ... apples over it.
by Cari Kamja
Korean food culture is notorious for falling in love with something ... and then taking to a whole 'nother, slightly insane, level. Recently, that 'something' is banana, which has quickly taken over honey butter's top spot as the hot new flavor. You can find things you'd never imagine could be flavored with banana now, and every day something new is added. Here are just a few common foods that are suddenly tasting a little...bananas. Drinks If you're part of the Snackfever family, you probably are familiar with Banana Milk. It's been popular in Korea for decades and is the favorite snack of idols like SHINee's Taemin and VIXX's N. So it's really no surprise to see banana milk on the shelves. But of course, it gets weirder from here on out.
There's even an entire cafe dedicated to banana milk in Seoul, whipping up some mouth watering banana soft serve ice cream that has people lining up out the door when the cafe opened! Another insanely popular banana dessert here in Korea is one you can get your hands on now with Snackfever - the Banana Choco Pie!
You know a flavor is trendy when the famous Choco Pie introduces a new version of its delicious little cakes. The banana-flavored Choco Pie and Oh Yes! Cakes were flying off the shelves almost as fast as Honey Butter Chips were. The mix of chocolate and banana is absolutely amazing!
Snacks Now it starts to get a little weirder. Korean snacks are often a lot more...creative...than other snacks, and its no different when it comes to experimenting with bananas!
First up are almonds. Yes, those little nuts that you probably would never picture flavored with banana. Korea did that.
Then, because Korea is also going through a small obsession with jellies, they made some banana jelly snacks that would rule the world. Putting two snack trends together made these jellies fly off the shelves!
Now I can understand banana sweets like jellies, choco pies, and even almonds, but I must warn you that what follows on this list may blow your mind. To prove that these exist, we have Hotward here holding a bag. Believe us now?! Meet, Banana Chips.
Banana Kick has been around for a while, but with the recent banana craze they are back on the shelves all over Korea. Imagine a cheese puff, now switch the cheese for banana flavoring. Voila, you have a Banana Kick. If you're really lucky you can also find these guys in green tea or chocolate flavor, but classic banana is the way to go. 
There are also churro-like chips filled with banana cream, and quite possibly the weirdest item: banana flavored potato chips. Salty, savory...banana? And just in case you weren't surprised enough by these snack options, don't worry. Korea also made Banana Popcorn for you too.
Alcohol For the over-21 (or 18 in Korea) crowd, you can get your banana fix with some makgeolli. This rice wine is famous in Korea and comes in a billion different flavors, but there is a new member of the makgeolli club. I'll let you take a guess what it is, go ahead. You have no idea? Really?! Okay, I'll tell you.
IT'S BANANA FLAVORED!!! AHHHHH!!!! Okay, I think you guys get it now. Korea has officially gone bananas for this flavor and I can't wait to see what else the snack lords can possibly whip up next. I think we're all a little banana-ed out now, so I will leave you with this giant banana-flavored cotton candy Ryan head, and will point you in the direction of the SnackFever Shop where you, too, can go bananas.
