Food

Peanut butter craze in Korea sees cooks mix it with chilli paste, soybean paste in recipes

South Korea has fallen for peanut butter, having it on apples, in smoothies and coffee and even adding it to chilli paste and soybean paste.

A speciality cafe in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, is gaining attention for its unique focus on peanut butter. The PCafe offers a variety of peanut butter products, including a 100 per cent peanut butter option freshly ground in front of customers. “Some customers buy up to 30 jars at a time,” a staff member said, adding that about half of their customers are middle-aged, in addition to younger patrons.

Peanut butter, once considered unfamiliar in Korea, has now become a kitchen staple. The trend began in 2024 when TV personality Choi Hwa-jung appeared on a YouTube channel and showed eating apples with peanut butter for breakfast..