Ask a Korean in their twenties about convenience store food and someone will mention Mark Jeongsik (마크정식). It is tteokbokki, cup spaghetti, a sausage and melted cheese mixed into one bowl, assembled with nothing but the store’s free hot water and microwave. Here is what it is, why Koreans love it, the exact shopping list in Korean, and how to make it without annoying the staff.
Quick answer: Buy a cup of tteokbokki, a cup of spaghetti-style instant noodles, a frankfurter and cheese at any Korean convenience store. Cook the tteokbokki and noodles with the store’s hot water and microwave, mix them, top with sliced sausage and cheese, then microwave 15–30 seconds. Expect to pay roughly ₩8,000–10,000 in 2026, depending on brands and 1+1 deals.
What is Mark Jeongsik?
Jeongsik (정식) means “set meal,” the word you see on restaurant menus for a full meal with rice and sides. A fan of the K-pop group GOT7 put this convenience store combo together and named it after member Mark. Mark himself had nothing to do with the recipe, but the name stuck, and by the late 2010s it was the best-known convenience store hack in Korea.
What a Korean sees in it
For Koreans, Mark Jeongsik is student food. It belongs to the hour between school or hagwon (cram school) classes, eaten standing at the counter by the window with friends. Calling a pile of instant food a “set meal” is the joke: it is the cheapest way to feel like you had a proper dinner. The name also started a trend, and stores now sell their own “-jeongsik” combos. See our Korean convenience store combos for the others.
Shopping list (with the Korean on the label)
| What to buy | Look for this on the label | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Tteokbokki cup | 자이언트 떡볶이 (jaieonteu tteokbokki, “giant tteokbokki”) or any tteokbokki cup | The base and the sauce |
| Spaghetti-style cup noodles | 스파게티 (seupageti), for example 콕콕콕 스파게티 | Any ketchup-style noodle cup works |
| Frankfurter sausage | 후랑크 (hurangkeu) | Sold near the counter or in the fridge |
| Cheese | 모짜렐라 (mojjarella) or string cheese | More cheese means less heat |
How to make it, step by step
- Open the tteokbokki cup, add hot water from the store’s dispenser about 0.5–1 cm below the fill line, and microwave for about 3 minutes. Less water keeps the sauce thick.
- Fill the spaghetti cup with hot water to the line and wait for the time on the lid, then drain it through the lid’s holes.
- Microwave the sausage for about 30 seconds and slice it.
- Add the spaghetti and its sauce packet to the tteokbokki and mix well.
- Lay the sausage and cheese on top and microwave 15–30 seconds until the cheese melts.
Convenience store manners Koreans follow
- Hot water, microwaves and chopsticks are free for customers. Pay first, then cook.
- Pour leftover sauce or soup into the marked liquid-waste bin, not the trash can.
- Do not occupy the window counter for long at busy after-school or lunch hours.
Ask like a local: 전자레인지 써도 돼요? (jeonjareinji sseodo dwaeyo?) — “Can I use the microwave?”
Make it your way
- Spicier: swap the tteokbokki for a Buldak-flavored cup. Check the heat first in our Buldak spice level chart.
- Milder: add a second cheese and a carton of banana milk on the side, the classic Korean fire extinguisher.
- More filling: add a triangle gimbap and mix the rice into the leftover sauce at the end.
Planning a whole day of eating? Our Korea food budget calculator shows how cheap a convenience store day can be, and the convenience store food guide covers everything else on the shelves.
FAQ
Is Mark Jeongsik spicy?
Mildly. The tteokbokki sauce is sweet-spicy, and the cheese and spaghetti sauce soften it. Most visitors who can handle a little chili are fine.
Which convenience store sells the ingredients?
Any of them. GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and emart24 all carry a tteokbokki cup, cup spaghetti, sausages and cheese, though brand names differ.
Did Mark from GOT7 create it?
No. A fan created the combo and named it after him. He did not invent the recipe.
