5 Crazy, Weird, Bizarre Korean Foods for the Brave
Korean food isย becoming popular world wide, and galbi, bibimbap, and kimchi jjigae have become terms known by Korean food connoisseurs and casual fans alike. One of the reasons Korean food has been successful is that it is generally well suited for taste buds all across the globe and there’s a wide variety of dishes making it easy for people to find something they like.
But Korean food is more than just bibimbap and kimchi. Thereโs a whole range of dishesย that most non-Koreans have never even heard about. This is Korean food for the brave.ย Whether it be because of taste, smell, texture, or spiciness, these bizarre Korean dishesย are on the extreme end of the spectrum, so much that even some Koreans wonโt eat them.
Hereโs a list of 5 of the strangest Korean dishes. ย Read on to see if youโre brave enough to try them.
Beongdegi (๋ฒ๋ฐ๊ธฐ)
(photo credit: http://maskfighter23.blogspot.com/)
Tip 1: Find these in markets and large parks in Korea. They can alsoย be found in Korean supermarkets around the world.
Tip 2: Korean supermarkets in America will sell these in cans, but they are labeled as fish bait.
Jokbal (์กฑ๋ฐ)
Mmmm…looks like another type of Korean barbeque. But While jokbal is another type ofย meat, it’sย not what you might expect. Jokbal is quite literally pig feet. Just like the other Korean meats, jokbal is a food that usually accompanies alcohol, often late at night. To eat, jokbal isย wrapped in sangchu, with a bit of ssamjang and garlic, like other barbecued meats in Korea. This dish is actually quite tasty and is wildly popular with the general Korean public. Now you won’t be surprised if you walk into a restaurant and see a pig foot lying on the chopping board.
Tip: If youโre living in Korea, these are delivered nation-wide, usually 24 hours a day.
Chicken Feet – Dalkbal (๋ญ๋ฐ)
Korea does chicken really well, but this chicken dish probably wonโt be seen on the cooking network in the near future. Why is dalkbal a Korean food for the brave? Well, dalkbal is a whole chicken foot, bones and all. Once itโs in your mouth, scrape off the little bit of meat that is on the bone with your teeth. If the talon scraping doesn’t scare you, thereโs another reason you should be afraid. Dalkbal is known to be one of the spiciest dishes in Korea. The combination of a chicken foot in your mouth and mind numbing spiciness requires a certain level of bravery for even the most experienced Korean food connoisseurs.
Live Octopus – Sannakji (์ฐ๋์ง)
Fermented Skateย – Hongeo (ํ์ด)
This is another seafood that will challenge even the most extreme of eaters. If you ever come across Hongeo, you willย know instantly. The extremely pungent odor, which many liken to the stink of ammonia, makes this one of Korea’s true delicacies. The smell is so strong and off putting that you will have a hard time even finding a restaurant that serves this dish. Manyย Koreans that have had the courage to try Hongeoย vow never to eat it again, the smell is that strong. Hold your nose, shove it in mouth, and pray that you don’t have a gag reflex…. if you’re brave enough to try this Korean delicacy that is!
Do you know any other Korean foods that require a bit of courage? Share with us in the comment section.
44 Comments
The chicken feet is not scary at all. It’s a delicacy in chinese culture too.
I love it.
Now.. the octopus is a different story….. I don’t think I can eat that.
I don’t like the title…calling things that are popular in other cultures ‘crazy, weird and bizarre’ is a little bit condescending. Chicken feet are popular in China…and pigs feet are eaten all over the world!
You’re using the Chinese as a barometer? Dumbass, low-IQ American animal.
It’s very interesting to see what other country eat. The pigs feet and Chicken feet are very common things to eat in Puerto Rico which is were I come from. I’m willing to try the sting ray but the octopus and silk worm are a maybe for me lol.
Octopus is a lot of fun to eat. It’s dead, but moving ๐
chicken feet are also common in our country, i’ts a popular Filipino street food and usually called “adidas”!..sure you’ve guessed easily why is it named like that ๐
I’m guessing adidas is not the traditional name lol ๐
Well that’s interesting but I’m gonna pass on all of the above lol.
Tried em all. They were all pretty good, except beondegi. That stuff is effing gross.
Oh it aiint too bad. Just gotta get used to the popping ๐
I tried only ๋ฒ๋ฐ๊ธฐ, but would like to taste the others^^
Anyone tried dog meat yet? I heard it’s good… but cruel it sounds…
Toughest part about eating the stingray is that it looks like it’s smiling at you.
Chicken feet is quite a common dish in my country (I’m from Indonesia), although not everyone willing to eat it. And, silkworm larve also be eaten in some of our regions. I admit they’re not for everyone though, (not for me either). But that live octopus! God! I will never ever eat it!!
Octopus isn’t that bad! Just get the cut up version ๐
Pigs feet? Pretty common in the grocery stores back home. In the South, anyway. Never have cared for it much myself.
I really don’t like fish or seafood, but I’m tempted to try the octopus. Apart from the wriggling, how’s the taste?
I have eaten ํ์ด and loved it. But, you are right that it is weird and many of my korean colleagues are surprised that I (foreigner) like it ๐
In the Philippines, we have chicken blood..very tasty! I wanna try the live octopus!
Chicken blood? Can you get a lot of blood from a chicken???
lol chicken feet and pig feet bring back alot of childhood memories of when my dad & uncles would try to get me to try them and the sting ray I remember seeing people eat them in soup’s around the beaches in Mexico. (I’m Mexican by the way)
I’ve eaten all of these foods many times over and I’m able to give some advice if needed. The live squid doesn’t taste unlike sushi, in fact it doesn’t taste bad at all if you’ve a liking for raw fish. But the texture is a tough go for some people. In addition to that, you need to chew it THOROUGHLY because the tentacle suckers are still working just fine and will stick to your throat on the way down if not crushed first. Several deaths a year result from improperly chewed live octopus. This might sound funny, but beware an unknawed eight-legger. They’re killers!
The worst of what is listed above if Bundeogi. Hands down. It smells worse that it tastes, but that’s no silver lining. Trust me. It’s a fowl food, disliked amongst almost everyone. And the few folks who claim to like it, are in fact just saying they can stomach it, and there’s a big difference there. I can stomach it too …. but it’s wretched. Straight up.
I’m fine with any of those except for the ๋ฒ๋ฐ๊ธฐ… I don’t know why, but I can’t stomach the thought of eating anything involving “worm” in its name…
And that is why I hate gummy worms xP
Better brush your teeth after eating any of those dishes ๐
Recommended for a romantic meal? lol.
๋ฒ๋ฐ๊ธฐ ๋จน๊ณ ๋ดค์ด์. ๊ด์ฐฎ์๋ฐ์ ^^ ์ฐ๋ฆฌ ๋๋ผ์ ๋ญ๋ฐ์ด ์์ง๋ง ์์ง ์ ๋จน๊ณ ๋ดค์ด์. ํ๊ตญ ๋ญ๋ฐ์ด ๋ง์๊ฒ ์ด์. will try it and live octopus next time I visit Korea. Thanks for this post!
Silkworm larvae is fine. The first time I tried it I only had two or three from a street vendor and thought they were pretty bad, but not disgusting. So I tried them twice more at friends’, just steamed or boiled. By the end I was eating them by the spoonful. I likened it to what it would be like if you could make popcorn soup. A sort of squishy popcorn soup.
I tried the silkworm cocoons in Vietnam, I ate around 10 of them, they wernt that bad apart from the skin which didnt break up.
I also Tried dog meat in Cambodia, as I only eat chicken I found this a bit harder to eat. I had barbaqued dog rib and a bit of leg meat, it was okay until I ate a charred bit which had so much flavour I couldnt take anymore. However the locals in Vietnam told me the best dog meat to eat is boiled, the flavour isnt as strong and its soft and good to eat. A lot of people I spoke to said that dog was their favorite food, Im guessing this will be the same as Korea =)
Chicken feet is quiet common in our country too (Philippines) haha lol but I don’t really like it, mainly bec of having the mentality that who knows where that chicken have stepped on while it’s alive XD lol
and chicken blood, yes. It’s called ‘betamax’, one of the local streetfood ๐ it’s basically a grilled blood, and it might sound revolting, but it actually tastes a bit sweet and really soft with a little burnt taste (depending on how it’s grilled). It looks like this http://www.blogalag.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/12/20080211betamax5x.jpg ๐
Oh another weird local delicacy is called Isaw (barbequed chicken / pig intestines — I prefer chicken. lol) The intestines are cleaned, turned inside out, and cleaned again, repeating the process several times. They are then either boiled, then grilled, or immediately grilled on sticks. It’s quite popular, and you can choose variety of dips, sweet, sweet and spicy, etc! ๐ http://www.flickr.com/photos/imgianamp/6126650154/
and yeah, when I get to Korea, I’d definitely try variety of food! (but maybe I’ll try to stay away from the silkworms and stingray XD ) haha I can’t wait!
Apart the first I can try the others XD
Suggestion for good restaurants in Seul ?
Look also to this horror of the italian cousine cheese with living worms :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfzPzPkSX3s&feature=related
I am going to try all.. but I am going to feel sorry for the live octopus:( lol
I’ve always been extremely intrigued by the live octopus. Definitely something I want to try!! The rest, I’m not so sure… ๐
When I was in Korea I ate sliced live octopus at Yagalchi market in Busan. That was awesome ๐ especially for guy from Poland. Unusual meal hah!
ewwww bailey and jacob im not a bully