Butter is having a moment in Korea

Good butter comes from good milk — a principle that has shaped French baking traditions for centuries and is now finding new ground in Korean cuisine.

Butter has become a staple of Korea's growing dessert scene, with locally adapted creations such as salt bread and butter tteok drawing long lines of customers, including international visitors. As interest in butter grows, more consumers are paying attention to its quality and seeking other ingredients to pair it with to improve their gastronomic experience, both at restaurants and at home.

Among the options gaining attention is French butter, particularly products bearing the Appellation d’Origine Protegee (AOP) designation, which certifies a product's region of origin and ensures that it is made according to specific production standards.

An event to promote French butter, the Butter of Europe campaign, organized by France's National Interprofessional Centre for the Dairy Economy (CNIEL) and supported by the European Union, was held in Myeong-dong, Seoul, on Tuesday.

The event featured a demonstration by Ha Hyung-soo, executive chef at JW Marriott Jeju Resort & Spa, who showcased six pastries made with French butter. He studied in France and has more than three decades of experience in hotel kitchens.

Ha emphasized the importance of milk quality and milk fat content in determining the quality of butter, which in turn affects the quality of baked goods. For French butter, he said, the milk fat content must be at least 82 percent, which contributes to the rich flavor and texture of pastries.

In laminated pastries such as croissants, butter is folded into the dough to create dozens of layers. The process helps produce crisp exteriors, tender interiors and the rich scent associated with the pastries.

Alongside French classics such as pain au chocolat and croissants, Ha presented recipes incorporating ingredients familiar to traditional Korean desserts: mugwort, injeolmi and black sesame.

With Korean food gaining international attention, Ha said combining French techniques with Korean ingredients offers new possibilities for the use of butter.

"Ingredients like mugwort and injeolmi emulsify well with butter and cream," Ha said. "Also, their flavors can be brought out even in small amounts. We consider the intensity of the flavors as well as the texture before combining them with butter."

Korea's love for butter is only growing.

According to the Food Information Statistics System and Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, Korea's butter market has grown exponentially since 2019. The market reached 27.8 billion won ($20.7 million) in 2021, up 17.8 percent from the previous year. The report also projected that the butter market will reach 35.9 billion won this year.

The ingredient is finding a place beyond desserts, as local businesses experiment with savory combinations for everyday meals.

On Jeju Island, the shop Mellow offers homemade butter blended with local specialities such as local tangerines and peanuts from nearby Udo island, as well as ingredients that are more commonly served as side dishes, such as hijiki and other kinds of seaweed. The unusual combinations add a rich, savory flavor and are designed to be served with rice, grilled meat and potatoes.

At Mellow, each butter bar is hit with butter paddles to remove excess moisture and shape it without melting it. The added ingredients also give the butter different colors, such as orange, brown and green, adding visual appeal before reaching the taste buds.

In Seoul, The Butter Pantry takes a similar experimental approach, combining butter with ingredients ranging from coffee, lemon and dill to tomatoes, dried persimmons, peaches and chestnuts. The shop presents the flavored butters alongside recipes and photographs online, showing how they can be used in dishes ranging from savory meals to finger foods.