Raw Eats

The famous Jagalchi fish market, that we've visited on many occasions, is also a massive restaurant. This past week, Amy and I made it out there with enough time for a meal.

The market consists of an outdoor fish market and an even larger building in the center of the action. Hundreds of vendors sell every kind of fish, crustacean, and sea creature imaginable in the first story of this complex.

Amy and I were lucky enough to find a helpful fisherman who knew a few words we understood. He instructed us to get a large flounder for 'sashimi' (raw) and a purple? fish for 'BBQ.' He threw in a handful of shells that I'm assuming were oysters and two sea cucumbers. Yay!

He handed our fish to an older woman who motioned for us to follow her upstairs to a room littered with dozens of short tables assorted around small kitchens. The deal is, if you buy the fish downstairs, they cook it for you for $3 a person. This $3 includes a couple types of kimchi, garlic, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and other fermented veggies for sides. They brought out the oysters and sea cucumbers first. For whatever reason, they only serve the inner most part of the 'cucumber,' because it got much skinnier after the cutting board. The oysters went down smooth and salty. I could eat a million of those things! The sea cucumbers were a mix between cartilage and fish that was still moving. I know, not the most familiar or appetizing thing to see on your plate. But with a little soy sauce and wasabi, they weren't too bad. It was very foreign to feel something move as I chewed it, but not as repulsive as some may think.

After the appetizers?, they brought out our plate of sashimi. The fisherman precisely cut that flounder into twenty or so perfect bites. We dipped them in either soy/wasabi or a spicy red sauce that seems to find its way into every restaurant.

Last came the BBQ! The fish was cooked whole, head 'n all. No spices, no need...straight business. The scales easily peeled back to reveal a wonderfully tender fish. We wrapped the fish with garlic, bean paste, and some kimchi inside a lettuce leaf.

This was definitely one of our more foreign experiences to date, but one that I cannot wait to do again! Next from the ocean, I really want to get into some of Korea's famous crab soup.