Tuesday, June 1, 2010

My seafood-venture!


Those of you who are at all averse to fish or other sea-dwelling creatures, be advised: THERE WILL BE NO ESCAPE FROM THIS POST.

So last night, I went to dinner with a friend of mine from college who is hear visiting her family. This was possibly my last opportunity to visit with her before she goes back to America, so I am really glad I got the opportunity. However, I might have been a bit more hesitant had I fully comprehended the tremendous undertaking this dinner would be.

I knew from the outset that it would likely involve raw fish, but I was wholly unaware that it would also involve five hours total in transit time. That was just a lovely surprise! Hurray! So I left my school at my normal time, knowing that it would take me at least an hour to make it to the station where I was to meet my friend Junghee. Once I arrived, I was informed that we'd be taking a bus to get to Sorae fish market near Incheon harbor, and that the bus would be about an hour. And let me tell you! I was super excited for all this transit time!

It turns out I should have been...guys, fish caught fresh from the ocean is just AMAZING. Especially when it's only been killed approximately 90 seconds before you eat it. So we started out with a quick walk around the fish market to see what was there, and also to get a few amuse-bouches, such as sweet black bean cakes or roasted boll weevils. I know, right? And yes, I did try some of the boll weevils. They tasted like meat-flavored lima beans. Not terrible, but not something I think I'll order on my own.

Then we began walking the outer stalls in earnest. These are the stalls where you select your fish that is swimming around in the tank, and the owner then plucks it from its temporary home, kills it, and fillets it for you to eat raw. I believe the Korean word for this is hoe (the hangul on this computer doesn't work so I can't write it out for you in Korean, sorry. You can see our delicacy here:



Our fish included whitefish, flounder, these gross pink things that looked like wangs, and conch
The darker fish on either side of the very white flounder was our white fish. He splashed us, so we ate him. SUCKA.The whitefish, the flounder, and the wang-looking fish were good. The conch was not my favorite. We also had, not pictured here, sea cucumber. It has a very interesting texture, much firmer than I was expecting, and not a bad flavor at all!

And then they brought out the surprise. Sannakji, which literally means "live octopus". This particular octopus was no longer alive, but that was a VERY recent development in its personal history. The tentacles were still furiously wriggling, and the suckers were still...sucking... It's a delicacy here, and one I was not sure I would actually try, and definitely not so soon!



They are still wriggling around on the plate! It was mildly terrifying.


But as you can see, I definitely went for it. Really, it wasn't that bad! You just have to chew furiously as the tentacles are wriggling around in your mouth so the suckers don't stick to your throat on the way down and the octopus takes its final revenge. Death to the land-walkers!



I was scared. I think it's reasonable.

The taste was surprisingly good. Very mild, and it easily picks up whatever sauce you dip it in.

Following our raw course, it was time to move on to the main meal: GRILLED CLAMS.

I think this photo says it all


We had: approximately 2 and a half pounds of clams, plus oysters, and about a pound of shrimp grilled on a bed of rock salt.

It was delicioius!

And we ate the whole danged thing. The ajumma taking our money looked at our check and said "Yuk man won??" with a tone of incredulity that these three people could possibly have eaten 60000 won worth of seafood. Oh but we most certainly did.

Three hours later and I'm back at home exhausted, stuffed, and thoroughly happy
with my decisions for my evening. It was a win if there ever was one.

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