Ads

When in Seoul: Eating Raw Baby Octopus at Noryangjin Market

Leave a Comment

Watch any You Tube video regarding Korea and you're bound to see one (probably more) where the subjects are eating raw, moving octopus parts. Eeew, right?!? But we came halfway across the world, over the Pacific Ocean  and sat 13 hours on a plane. We're already on an adventure, my friends, so why the heck not try it?



From our home base in Hongdae, we took the Subway Line 1 train to Noryangjin station. It's a few minutes ride out onto the burbs and a great way to see another part of Seoul that is certainly less touristy. Alighting at the station, exits are clearly marked in English and Korean, so it's easy enough to follow the directions.



As you follow the street directions towards the market, you'll be led into this tunnel that is filled with makeshift vegetable stalls.

If you've never been to a wet fish market, let me enlighten you: the first thing that will arrest your senses is not the sight of the fish but the stench of the sea. It is off-putting at first but you get used to it. It is, after all, a natural smell.


This is not the Noryangjin Market that is prominent in most YouTube videos. Evidently, there is a new market (this one) and an old one, which I later found out was tucked beside this enormous building. Apparently, the tenants at the old building did not want to move here yet, so now you have two markets that are each half-full. Needless to say, the new market is clean and bright and I'm assuming, that had I known how to read Korean, those digital signs would be helpful, as well.

Prawns of every sort

Live clams

If you're a seafood lover, this is paradise. Most of the sea creatures here are still alive and breathing when you buy them, so you can't get any fresher than that. Also, apparently, if lives in the sea, it can be eaten. Just as in the case of the crudely named Penis Fish.


These are actually some sort of sea worm, if you squish it, it squirts! :) We did not taste these creatures.

Some sort of ocean tube worm
Our order of business here is to sample the great Korean delicacy of San-nakji-- the raw octopus. But first, another raw fish-- salmon.



I exercised my considerable lack of haggling skills to full competence by getting our small salmon fillet from KRW 15, 000 down to 12,000. That doesn't sound too impressive until you remember that we spoke no Korean and they spoke no English. We mainly communicated through calculator-speak-- which is the same way we clarified to the nice ahjumma (auntie) that we only wanted to try a grand total of one baby octopus and not the five that she wanted us to buy.

The Lucky Octopus
All is well. The ahjummas called a runner to bring us to the restaurant upstairs that will prepare the food for us. You can also cook it yourself at home, if you please.




We were quite frugal, with our meal only amounting to KRW 17,000. I mean, we only had the prawns grilled and the rest were prepared raw, so that's reasonable. Most people pay upwards of KRW 50,000 because they add the drinks in. As you can see, we're quite content with the service water.


The food finally arrived. We got our raw octopus cut up into squirmy bits. The suction cups in the tentacles are still active at this point, so it is imperative that you chew and chew and chew before you swallow. They try to climb up and down the chopsticks, too, or walk out of the plate altogether! Hilarious.

The meal came with sesame oil, chilli, garlic, lettuce and wasabi.


Our grilled prawns.
The verdict? It is actually not bad! Just close your eyes and forget about what you're chewing and you'll appreciate the gummy texture, fading into softness and sliding down without protest.  I gotta admit though, the sesame oil makes it all palatable.

The salmon hoe or sashimi was juicy and creamy, and the prawns were sweet and succulent.


Our neighbors next table were already at it with the soju at 11:00 AM! :) Ahhh, to enjoy food and drink like Korean millenials...

Definitely check out this cool market when you come to Seoul. You don't have to try the San-nakji but there's fish aplenty. Just bring your appetite and don't let your nose lead the way.

If you haven't seen it yet, come watch our Noryangjin Market video!

Xoxo,
Karrisa and Ketie
Previous PostOlder Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment