Dish guide · Meat
Tangsuyuk
탕수육
Korean sweet and sour pork
Crisp battered pork with a glossy sweet and sour sauce, usually shared on the side of jajangmyeon or jjamppong.
What it is
- Strips of pork are battered and fried, then served with a sweet and sour sauce with vegetables and sometimes fruit.
- Koreans happily argue about the sauce. Bumeok means pouring it over; jjikmeok means dipping each piece. Ask for the sauce on the side if you like it crisp.
How to eat it
- 1Share it with the table, and eat it while it's hot. Small plates and soy sauce with vinegar are often provided.
History
- It's part of Korean-Chinese cooking. The dish was traditionally finished with the sauce, and delivery is said to have made separate sauce containers common, which fueled the debate.
Allergies and diet
Usually contains
- Some shops offer a vegetarian mushroom version. Ask first.
- Frying oil may be shared with seafood.
Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.
🗣️ Allergy card for the staff
Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.
📍 Where to try it
- 🍜
Deokhwajang 덕화장
Korean-Chinese · Dongdaemun · Since 1970
A Korean-Chinese restaurant on Jangchung-dong's food street since 1970, the kind of place local offices and Dongguk University alumni have been coming to for decades. Order the house specials, deokhwa-myeon and deokhwa-bap, alongside classic sweet-and-sour pork and black bean noodles.
Try: Deokhwa-myeon, deokhwa-bap (house specials)
Locals' pickNo wait - 🍜
Sinheunggwan 신흥관
Korean-Chinese · Haeundae & Gwangalli · Since 1954
A Blue Ribbon Korean-Chinese restaurant by Haeundae Market, in business for over 70 years. Regulars come for gan-jajang (black bean noodles with the sauce on the side), sweet and sour tangsuyuk and fried dumplings, and it's an easygoing spot for an afternoon beer.
Try: Gan-jajang (black bean noodles, sauce on the side)
Locals' pick - 🍜
Sinseonggak 신성각
Korean-Chinese · Yeouido & Mapo · Since 1981
A Korean-Chinese noodle shop on a hill near Gongdeok, open since 1981 and only at lunchtime. The noodles are hand-pulled, and the gan-jajangmyeon, with a black bean sauce made without sugar, draws a line most days.
Try: Gan-jajangmyeon (noodles with dry black bean sauce)
Locals' pick30-60 min wait - 🍜
Deokseongwon (Main) 덕성원 본점
Korean-Chinese · Seogwipo & South Coast
A Chinese-Korean restaurant that has served Seogwipo for around 80 years. The order is kkotge-jjamppong: spicy noodle soup with a whole blue crab. Old-fashioned tangsuyuk is a good partner, and there's also a branch in Jungmun.
Try: Kkotge-jjamppong (spicy noodle soup with blue crab)
Short wait - 🍜
Dongillu 동일루
Korean-Chinese · Hongdae
A small Korean-Chinese restaurant in Mangwon-dong run by an ethnic Chinese (hwagyo) family for over 30 years. Locals come for gan-jjajang, noodles with a dry-fried black bean sauce, and chapssal tangsuyuk, crisp and chewy sweet-and-sour pork in a sticky-rice batter. Korean-Chinese food is its own cuisine, and this is a good place to try it.
Try: Chapssal tangsuyuk (sticky-rice sweet-and-sour pork)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🍜
Ilpumhyang 일품향
Korean-Chinese · Jeonju Hanok Village & Nambu Market
A Blue Ribbon Chinese-Korean restaurant about 70 years old, near the old guesthouse Gaeksa. Jeonju has its own noodle: mul-jajang, a glossy, savory seafood sauce over noodles, nothing like the black kind. Fried dumplings here have been praised on Korea's Master of Living show.
Try: Mul-jajang (Jeonju-style seafood noodles)
Locals' pickShort wait - 🥟
Myeonghwawon 명화원
Korean-Chinese · Itaewon
An old Korean-Chinese restaurant at Samgakji, open for just four hours at lunchtime, that people line up for. It is usually named one of Seoul's three great tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork) houses, and its crisp fried dumplings are just as famous. A good stop before or after the War Memorial of Korea.
Try: Tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork)
30-60 min wait - 🍜
Taebaekgwan 태백관
Korean-Chinese · Seomyeon & Jeonpo
A neighborhood Korean-Chinese restaurant in Seomyeon with low prices and big portions. The house special is hwanggung jajang, a big tray of black bean noodles for sharing, and sets pair noodles with old-style tangsuyuk.
Try: Hwanggung jaengban-jajang (black bean noodles on a tray)
Locals' pick 
Wanchai 완차이
Korean-Chinese · Sinchon & Ewha
A second-generation Chinese-Korean restaurant in the alleys by Yonsei University. Its signature is spicy stir-fried mussels, and regulars also swear by the gan-jajangmyeon and fluffy tangsuyuk.
Try: Spicy stir-fried mussels
Locals' pickShort wait- 🍜
Yangjagang (Yeongjongdo Main) 양자강 영종도본점
Korean-Chinese · Yeongjongdo
The noodle stop near Eurwangni Beach, known for its wang-galbi-jjamppong: spicy seafood noodle soup with a huge beef rib on top. It's big, messy and very satisfying. Regulars also recommend the tangsuyuk.
Try: Wang-galbi-jjamppong (spicy noodle soup with a big beef rib)
30-60 min wait
Sources
We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-10-31.