Food adventures in Seoul

1. Sannakji

One of the best places in Seoul for seafood is outside the Noryangjin subway station, south of the river. Cross the overpass and descend into the auction market, where you'll find several restaurants. You can order off the menu or bring your own food and they'll cook it for you. I'm not certain of the name of this place. "Red Fish," maybe?

Here I tried the live octopus, or sannakji. The tentacles' suction cups grab the inside of your mouth. I almost choked once because they wouldn't let go of my throat and had to kinda cough it back onto my tongue. You really have to pulverize these suckers to make 'em cry uncle, like the Hulk rag-dolling Loki.

They don't taste like much, essentially taking on whatever flavor sauce you dip them in, and they're fiendishly difficult to pick up with the stainless-steel chopsticks they use in Korea. I found it easiest to pick them up with my fingers and place them on a sharp-tasting leaf, along with a little spicy garlic sauce, some hot pepper, raw garlic and a dash of sesame oil. Dip this little leafy burrito into a soy-wasabi mixture, and eat it all in one mouthful.

sannakji from Sluggh McGee on Vimeo.

2. Jokbal

Walk in the same direction of the stairway at Exit 3 of the Dongguk University subway station and you'll encounter about a dozen jokbal restaurants on the right side of the street. Each, seemingly, has a picture of an elderly proprietress claiming her pigs feet to be the most original. I randomly picked this place. I think the translation is "Jokbal Place." Catchy.

These richly marinated trotters, to use the euphemistic term, are boiled for hours, then thinly sliced and eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves. They're rich in collagen and supposedly give you a youthful appearance. As long as I don't wind up looking like Melanie Griffith, I'm cool.

One of the great things about Korea is that the many side dishes you're given at every meal can be endlessly replenished for no cost. One of the more remarkable things I've tasted during my visit was this clear, cold soup with bits of turnip at the bottom. It has the savoriness of a meat product with a citrusy undertone. Ice chips float in it. I still don't know what it's called.

The dipping sauces at this place are highly fermented. One bowl of red sauce is made from rotten shrimp, the other from ... I don't know what -- human flesh? Honestly, it's what I imagine eating a corpse would be like. An acquired taste, to be sure, but I gave it my best shot.

I got here at 6:45 p.m. -- just in time. A few minutes later there was a line out the door. Many of the waitresses and kitchen staff are ethnic Korean citizens of China. They can earn a lot more here than they can back home. Sounds familiar to this Arizonan. They send money to their families in the hopes of one day returning to China and owning their own home.

jokbal from Sluggh McGee on Vimeo.

Tip: Unless you're out for pizza, fried chicken or a bowl of noodles, solo dining in Seoul is almost unheard of (Seongbuk-dong's "taxi driver restaurants," or gisa sikdang, being an exception). Some of the more traditional restaurants don't think it's worth laying out all the side dishes and firing up a charcoal grill for just one person, and they may politely (or not so politely) suggest you go down the street.

Don't get discouraged! Keep trying and you'll eventually be shown a chair or a pillow on the floor. You will inevitably order too much food, but every place I've been to is happy to wrap up the leftovers. I still have some jokbal in my fridge. And don't overlook the fried chicken in Seoul. The seasonings are out of this world.