Noryangjin Fish Market: Culture Shock Experience in Korea

The Noryangjin Fish Market is one of the highlights of a trip to South Korea.
The hectic Noryangjin is a very wet market in the heart of Seoul.

Ugh, What The…

OK, hang loose! They aren’t what they look like. They are so-called Chinese penis fish. Actually, they are not even fish but fat innkeeper worms or Urechis unicinctus.  
In Korea, they are consumed as food. No kidding. What is more, they are often eaten raw. If you try it, make sure to use a lot of hot chili paste, the so-called gochujang. 

I Wanna Eat Cocks, Urechis Unicinctus, Right Now!

The best place to try them is in Seoul, at the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market.

Once there, you will find hundreds of hawkers selling every sea creature possible. (Even impossible ones. I mean, have you ever imagined a penis-shaped fish?)

After strolling around for a while, you will realize that the penis fish is not the weirdest thing around here. For instance, have you ever seen sea pineapples? It is an edible sea squirt. In his book The Ancestor’s Tale, Richard Dawkins describes the typical sea squirt as “a bag filled with seawater, plus a gut and reproductive organs anchored to a rock. In Korea, where it is known as meongge (멍게), sea pineapple is usually eaten raw but it is also often pickled.

I Have Seen it All. Now What?

After shopping for fish and other thingies to your heart’s content, you can immediately consume your prey. After paying, someone will guide you to the connected seafood restaurant.
The server will probably ask you how you want your food prepared. Hoe (회) (pronounced ‘hweh’) is raw fish, similar to Japanese sashimi. For the other things, if you don’t know, just nod and agree.

If you bring shellfish, they’ll probably ask you how you want it cooked, and you can choose between steamed (찐 jjin) or grilled (gwee 구이).

You can order some sort of soup to complete the meal. Maeuntang (매운탕) is a spicy soup made from the bones of your fish and some vegetables.

Depending on what you’ve bought, you’ll be charged cooking fees (around ₩5,000 per person).

You probably won`t get a fresher or weirder meal anywhere near.

Speaking about fresh seafood, Noryangjin is The Place to savor live octopus.

And now, vegans and members of PETA! Please close this page, shut down your computer, and throw it out of the window!

I present myself eating live octopus.

How to get to Noryangjin Fish Market?

Noryangjin Station of the Seoul Metro is a bit confusing because there are two unconnected stations on two lines (Lines 1 and 9). Either way, you will see a lot of vendors sitting on the ground, which is a sign that you are getting close.

Noryangjin Fish Market is open 24/7, but if you want to witness the well-known fish auctions, you’ll have to visit around 3 am.

What to wear to a wet market?

In Korean fish markets, the fish are kept living in tanks, which means the water constantly flows into the tanks and then out through hoses on the ground. So you’ll probably want to wear something closed-toe.

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