A Korean Pantry for ₩60,000 (2026): The 12 Staples, What They Cost, How Long They Keep, and Five Dishes Costed per Serving — Cost-per-Serving Calculator

Everything that makes food taste Korean comes from a dozen jars, and in Korea those jars are cheap: a full starter pantry is about ₩60,000 online, less than three delivery dinners. This part lists the twelve staples with 2026 prices and storage, then costs five weeknight dishes per serving, with a calculator for what a serving of each costs you against the restaurant price from Part 2.

The twelve staples

#	Item	Korean	Online lowest (Sept 2026)	Keeps
1	Red pepper paste	고추장	₩5,140–9,340 / 500 g	Fridge after opening; months
2	Soybean paste	된장	₩2,150–4,200 / 500 g	Fridge after opening; months
3	Brewed soy sauce	양조간장 (샘표 501)	₩4,000 / 500 ml · ₩18,000 / 1.7 L	Cupboard; a year
4	Sesame oil	참기름	₩4,800–8,610 / 320 ml	Dark cupboard; 6–12 months
5	Red pepper flakes	고춧가루	Korean ₩15,900–16,930 / 500 g; imported ₩6,000–9,000	Freezer; a year
6	Kimchi	포기김치	≈ ₩7,825 / kg (3 kg ₩24,720)	Fridge; sours over weeks — stew it
7	Rice	쌀	₩28,000–36,000 / 10 kg	Cool cupboard; months
8	Dried anchovies	국물용 멸치	₩8,000–15,000 / 300 g	Freezer
9	Kelp	다시마	₩3,000–6,000 / 100 g	Cupboard; a year
10	Canned tuna	동원참치	₩2,500–3,500 / 150 g	Cupboard
11	Fish sauce	액젓 (멸치/까나리)	₩3,000–6,000 / 500 ml	Fridge; a year
12	Rice vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic, spring onion	—	₩5,000 for the set	—

Prices are the lowest online listings in September 2026 (Danawa); a mart shelf is 20–40% higher, a market cheaper for the fresh items. Items 1–5 plus rice and kimchi are the working minimum — about ₩45,000–60,000 depending on the gochugaru you choose. Buy the 500 g tubs, not the 1 kg, until you know your consumption; refrigerate the pastes once open, as CJ's own guidance says, and do not worry when gochujang darkens.

Five dishes, costed

Kimchi jjigae (김치찌개, 20 min): fry 80 g sliced pork belly in a little oil, add 150 g sour kimchi and a spoon of its juice, a teaspoon each of gochugaru and gochujang, garlic, 400 ml water or anchovy stock; simmer 15 minutes, add half a block of tofu and spring onion. About ₩5,000 a serving with rice — the pork is most of it — against ₩8,769 for the restaurant set. The older the kimchi the better the stew — this is what the last third of the tub is for.

Doenjang jjigae (된장찌개, 20 min): a stock from a few anchovies and a piece of kelp (10 minutes, remove), 1½ tablespoons doenjang stirred in, diced potato, zucchini, onion, a chilli, tofu last. ₩3,000 a serving. Less sharp than kimchi stew and the daily-lunch soup of the country.

Bibimbap (비빔밥, 25 min, or 5 with leftovers): rice, a fried egg, three or four blanched or sautéed vegetables dressed with salt and sesame oil (spinach, bean sprouts, carrot, zucchini — whatever is cheap), a tablespoon of gochujang mixed with a teaspoon of sesame oil and a little sugar. ₩3,500–4,000 against ₩11,615.

Jeyuk bokkeum (제육볶음, 15 min): 150 g thin pork (shoulder or belly) in a marinade of 1 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp gochugaru, 1 tbsp soy, 1 tsp sugar, garlic, sesame oil; stir-fry hot with onion and spring onion; eat in lettuce wraps with rice. ₩6,000–6,500 — the home version of barbecue night (Part 1) at a fifth of the price.

Gyeran-bap (계란밥, 5 min): hot rice, a fried or scrambled egg, a teaspoon of sesame oil, a tablespoon of soy, a pat of butter if you like, kimchi on the side. ₩1,200. Korea's student dinner, and better than it sounds.

Two techniques

Anchovy-kelp stock (멸치육수): 8–10 gutted dried anchovies and a palm-sized piece of kelp in 1 litre of water, simmer 10 minutes, strain — the base of most soups and the reason home doenjang jjigae tastes like the restaurant's. Make a litre and keep it three days. Yangnyeom (양념), the all-purpose sauce: equal parts gochujang and soy, half as much gochugaru and sugar, garlic, sesame oil — marinade for pork, dressing for noodles, dip for lettuce. If the pantry cost is a concern: everything above except Korean gochugaru is under ₩10,000, and the jars outlast the visa.

Cooking Korean at home has one complication for some readers — the fish sauce in the kimchi, the anchovies in the stock, the beef in the broth. The last part of the course is for vegetarians, vegans, Muslims and people with allergies.