Under the Sea~

Welcome to Korea—a country full of seafood, located on a peninsula. You can find all sorts of seafood at the seafood markets. These seafood markets are often in the same area as the traditional markets you saw in the last blog. They sell a wide variety of seafood; live, fresh, or dried. 

Sokcho is a city on the east coast of Korea, famous for its seafood market. When I first entered the seafood market, I was hit with the pungent smell of fish and other sea creatures. There were many seafood vendors arranged in organized stations throughout a square room. One of the first things I noticed was the abundance of crabs. It was almost as if each vendor had their own collection of crabs! Some vendors sold larger crabs than others, but in general, they were contained in a water tank as shown below so that customers could choose what crab they wanted to buy. They are sold by the pound, and they are typically a little more on the expensive side… unless you bargain with the vendors. Some vendors are more flexible with pricing than other vendors, so depending on how you approach them, they may give you a slight discount! If it’s too much to boil your own living crab, the vendors also offer a cooking service where they will cook the seafood for you for a small service fee. It’s normally better when the vendors boil the seafood since they know the temperature, the cooking time, and the seasoning that is needed for the crab to taste just right. 

Alongside the mighty crabs, you might also come across the clams! Similarly, they are all gathered in one water tank where the customers have the freedom to pick out which clams they would like to purchase. It’s great if you buy a couple of clams for the grill. Once they’re cooking on the grill, they start to open up! It’s like you’re seeing their mouths open very slowly. As the cooking process continues, the toasty smell of grilled clams spreads through the air, stimulating your hunger. Because of how fresh these clams are, it’s typically eaten plain after cooking, as the salty flavor of the ocean is embedded in it. 

Here’s something that might catch you off guard: pickled seafood! In Korea, it is very common to pickle the seafood in a mix of red pepper (spicy!), salt, and other spices. It’s usually great as a side dish if you need to spice up your main dish. Never eat this by itself—you will instantly regret it with the highly concentrated salty and spicy flavor along with the pungent odor reminiscent of the ocean. I remember when I first tried it as a child, I was not warned of the strong spices and took a big bite. It is safe to say I was chugging down several glasses of water after. But don’t be alarmed to try it out! Although the texture and taste may seem foreign, it does taste good (if eaten in small amounts) after you get used to the seafood flavor. 

A few tables away from the fresh seafood market lies a new world of seafood: dried seafood. Vendors will often catch a lot of fish to dry over the winter to be sold at the market around spring and summer. Dried seafood is famous for its health benefits (fish oils, etc) and is a common health dish. Since dried food is pretty hard to eat by itself, the dried fish is usually boiled in a soup to allow the soup to take in the savory taste of the fish and moisten the dried fish. 

Korea is the perfect place for lovers of seafood–you can find all sorts of sea creatures that you’ve never heard of before (have you seen a sea cucumber??). I strongly recommend that you have fun while discovering the new creatures of the sea at the local seafood market!