Home > Culture > Food & Travel

Spring cabbage sales grow on fresh bibimbap trend

Published: 04 Mar. 2026, 16:23 Updated: 04 Mar. 2026, 19:06

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Spring cabbage bibimbap is seen in KBS show “2 Days & 1 Night” (2007-). [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Back to the green stuff — As the craze for “Dubai chewy cookies” begins to fade, spring cabbage bibimbap is gaining popularity across Korea, boosting demand for spring cabbage and driving prices sharply higher.

Since earlier this year, a growing number of people online have shared videos of themselves making spring cabbage bibimbap at home, mixing fresh spring cabbage with egg and rice.

Against this backdrop, the average wholesale price of 15 kilograms (33 pounds) of spring cabbage, known as bomdong in Korean, at Garak Market in southern Seoul reached 48,841 won ($33) on Tuesday, up more than 10,000 won, from a month earlier, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation on Wednesday.

The price increase comes as recipes for spring cabbage bibimbap have gained popularity on social media. The renewed interest stems from a scene from the KBS show “2 Days & 1 Night” (2007-), in which Kang Ho-dong visits Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla and eats spring cabbage bibimbap. The clip from 2008 has recently gone viral online.

Along with people's growing interest, more videos showing the receipe for the spring cabbage bibimbap are also appearing across multiple platforms such as YouTube.

Spring cabbage bibimbap centers on spring cabbage, a seasonal vegetable harvested in early spring. Unlike regular bibimbap, which typically includes a variety of vegetables and sometimes meat, the dish usually features lightly seasoned spring cabbage mixed with rice, gochujang and sesame oil, highlighting the vegetable’s fresh and slightly sweet flavor.

A shopper selects spring cabbage at a market in Seoul on March 4. [YONHAP]

Farmers mainly grow spring cabbage in warm areas such as regions in South Jeolla, which accounts for more than 90 percent of Korea's production of the vegetable. Spring cabbage grown from January to March reportedly tastes sweeter and has a crispier texture than cabbage harvested in winter.

The supply of spring cabbage, however, drops sharply after March, and the vegetable has a shelf life of only about one to two weeks, which could make the spring cabbage bibimbap craze short-lived.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]