A few weeks back, I headed out to Nampo-dong again. If you recall, Nampo-dong is known for its shopping and I blogged about my experience a while back. But this time, I wasn't in the market for Korean fashion (which I still haven't found since Koreans are hell bent on looking like Americans) but fish. Lots and lots of fish.Jagalchi Fish Market is a very famous Busan seafood market which resides in a large warehouse type building right on one of Busan's many ports. As I got off the subway, I followed the line of fish vendors until I reached a massive building which I thought couldn't possibly be the fish market. It looked too modern. And if I was farther away, you'd see in the picture that the roof line actually resembled the Sydney Harbor Opera House. It was quite beautiful (on the outside!).
The inside was a totally different story. Vendor after vendor had small booths lined up with just
about any fish imaginable. Fish tanks overflowed as fresh water was constantly pumped into them. The water ran off into drains so the floors weren't flooded (much). I was amazed, as I walked up and down the endless isles, at how many different fish and sea creatures were for sale. But my favorite experience was the bloodbath that went on in the eel section. Little old ladies hunched over work benches as they grabbed fresh LIVE eels and ripped their skins off with amazing speed. The eels were still wiggling around (skinless) for several minutes before finally resting in peace.So, how does one skin an eel? Lucky for you, I took detailed pictures of each stage of the process.
1. Have a fish tank full of live eels (the skinned ones are the slimy red things on the top).
2. Drive a phillip's screw driver through the eels head (or tail, I couldn't tell which end was which) to hold the wiggly sucker down. Then take a knife and cut a slit down the length of the eels body.
2. Drive a phillip's screw driver through the eels head (or tail, I couldn't tell which end was which) to hold the wiggly sucker down. Then take a knife and cut a slit down the length of the eels body.
3. Last, pull the inside of the eel out of its skin with blazing speed. Throw the skinned eel in a pile with other freshly skinned eels and sell to the next available customer. 
Alright, who's hungry????
Oddly, enough, I had eel for dinner the other night. A friend of mine has a Korean girlfriend, Sunny. Sunny's mom just opened a new restaurant and she invited us over for dinner. The main dish - eel! But this eel had the skin on (I think!). It was brought out on a plate cut up into small 1" pieces and then placed on a Korean barbecue. (Korean BBQ is a small grill in the middle of the table in which you - the customer - grill up your own meet and veggies to your desired perfection). So, Sunny grilled up the eel and marinated some in Korean hot sauce and other in a nice oil. Both were fantastic. The eel wasn't fishy at all. I would definitely order it again.
So, back to the Jagalchi Market...
I continued on my way, checking out the different fish selections. There were octopuses, squid, crabs, sting rays (that's what those things in the picture are called right?), and a ton of fish which I have no idea what they were.
I meandered to the second floor, expecting to find more of the same. But instead, I was delighted to see rows and rows of tables and tiny little kitchens in the middle. It was like a hundred restaurants inside one place. As I walked up and down the isle, not being able to tell the difference between one "restaurant" and the next, I felt a not so gentle pull at my arm. A very forward old lady had taken my arm and was intent on leading me to the only table with other with foreigners. Two gentlemen had just sat down and she pointed to them. Yeah, lady. I'm foreign but that doesn't mean I know these guys. I tried to back away and explain that I didn't know them. But she insisted I sit down and the two guys welcomed me.
Turns out the guys were both named Thomas and they were from Germany. The more talkative Thomas (we'll call him Thomas 1) was currently living in Germany and taught American Politics. The other professor (Thomas 2) was currently living in Seoul teaching at a University. We swapped travel stories and Thomas 2 shared some advise about living and working in Korea. It was nice since I hadn't been in the country a month yet.
The Thomas' and I shared a fish which was pulled directly out of the fish tank behind Thomas 1's head. It was stripped, gutted and cut into strips of Sashimi. And in true Korean style, side dish after side dish was brought out to accompany the meal including some snails, kimchi and other veggies. At the end of the meal, the fish lady came back to collect the unused fish and she proceeded to make a nice soup which we ate last. (sorry for the lame picture, I didn't pull out my camera till after we were almost done eating).
After we were sufficiently full, the Thomas' invited me to continue with them to hike around Yeongdo-gu peninsula. Ironically, I was looking to head to the exact location because I wanted to check out the Korean Maritime University (long story short, I was looking to transfer schools and offered a job with KMU.. which I ended up deciding not to take). So, I hopped a cab with them, and took the hike up the small mountain at the south end of the peninsula. It was a beautiful day and the cherry blossoms were just starting to bud. I got a few good pictures of Nampo-dong as we circled the peninsula.
The first picture is looking North at Nampo-dong. The second picture (right) was looking east toward Haeundae (where I live... but you can't see it cause I live on the other side of that cliff).
Well, that is about it. Hope you enjoyed the fish market and feel more edgimecated now that you how to skin an eel. ~Em
Alright, who's hungry????
Oddly, enough, I had eel for dinner the other night. A friend of mine has a Korean girlfriend, Sunny. Sunny's mom just opened a new restaurant and she invited us over for dinner. The main dish - eel! But this eel had the skin on (I think!). It was brought out on a plate cut up into small 1" pieces and then placed on a Korean barbecue. (Korean BBQ is a small grill in the middle of the table in which you - the customer - grill up your own meet and veggies to your desired perfection). So, Sunny grilled up the eel and marinated some in Korean hot sauce and other in a nice oil. Both were fantastic. The eel wasn't fishy at all. I would definitely order it again.
So, back to the Jagalchi Market...I continued on my way, checking out the different fish selections. There were octopuses, squid, crabs, sting rays (that's what those things in the picture are called right?), and a ton of fish which I have no idea what they were.
I meandered to the second floor, expecting to find more of the same. But instead, I was delighted to see rows and rows of tables and tiny little kitchens in the middle. It was like a hundred restaurants inside one place. As I walked up and down the isle, not being able to tell the difference between one "restaurant" and the next, I felt a not so gentle pull at my arm. A very forward old lady had taken my arm and was intent on leading me to the only table with other with foreigners. Two gentlemen had just sat down and she pointed to them. Yeah, lady. I'm foreign but that doesn't mean I know these guys. I tried to back away and explain that I didn't know them. But she insisted I sit down and the two guys welcomed me.
Turns out the guys were both named Thomas and they were from Germany. The more talkative Thomas (we'll call him Thomas 1) was currently living in Germany and taught American Politics. The other professor (Thomas 2) was currently living in Seoul teaching at a University. We swapped travel stories and Thomas 2 shared some advise about living and working in Korea. It was nice since I hadn't been in the country a month yet.
The Thomas' and I shared a fish which was pulled directly out of the fish tank behind Thomas 1's head. It was stripped, gutted and cut into strips of Sashimi. And in true Korean style, side dish after side dish was brought out to accompany the meal including some snails, kimchi and other veggies. At the end of the meal, the fish lady came back to collect the unused fish and she proceeded to make a nice soup which we ate last. (sorry for the lame picture, I didn't pull out my camera till after we were almost done eating).
After we were sufficiently full, the Thomas' invited me to continue with them to hike around Yeongdo-gu peninsula. Ironically, I was looking to head to the exact location because I wanted to check out the Korean Maritime University (long story short, I was looking to transfer schools and offered a job with KMU.. which I ended up deciding not to take). So, I hopped a cab with them, and took the hike up the small mountain at the south end of the peninsula. It was a beautiful day and the cherry blossoms were just starting to bud. I got a few good pictures of Nampo-dong as we circled the peninsula.
The first picture is looking North at Nampo-dong. The second picture (right) was looking east toward Haeundae (where I live... but you can't see it cause I live on the other side of that cliff).
Well, that is about it. Hope you enjoyed the fish market and feel more edgimecated now that you how to skin an eel. ~Em
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