Eating Live Octopus in Korea

Published on by Matt van Vuuren

Bizarre food adventure at the Noryangjin Fish Market where my friend and I choose 3x living baby octopuses which we took to a restaurant for instant consumption. Not for the foodies out there with a weak stomach.

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Tips & Advice What: Eating Live Octopus

Eating Live Octopus Why: Experience hardcore local Korean culture

Experience hardcore local Korean culture Where: 674 Nodeul-ro, Noryangjin-dong, Seoul [Map]

674 Nodeul-ro, Noryangjin-dong, Seoul [Map] When: Open 24 hours

Open 24 hours Price: 3x baby octopuses @ $10 USD

3x baby octopuses @ $10 USD Entrance: FREE, bring your seafood to a restaurant within the market.

FREE, bring your seafood to a restaurant within the market. Notes: Make sure you chew enough otherwise you may suffocate and die due to the tentacles grabbing hold of your throat.

Make sure you chew enough otherwise you may suffocate and die due to the tentacles grabbing hold of your throat. Related: Eating Sheep's Head in Iceland, Eating Raw Chicken in Japan and Eating Raw Horse in Holland.

My Korean friend and I decided to go to the fish market today. The Noryangjin fish market is a popular fisheries market south of the Seoul city center.

I was really surprised by the selection of fish they had to offer. I even noticed species I have never seen before nor do they offer some of these fish at markets in Europe or Canada.

noryangjin fisheries wholesale market in Seoul, Korea

We were hunting for some quality Sannakji (live octopus) because one of the reasons I came to Korea was to try eating a whole live octopus.

Eating Sannakji can be very dangerous if you do not chew enough. If you swallow the octopus to early it could suck onto your throat with its suctioncups and you would be unable to breath. There are reports of people dying while eating Sannakji due to suffocation.

We bought 3 baby octopuses to try. The first one I tried as a whole, the other 2 we had cut up. When the octopuses are cut up, their body parts will still move for quite some time due to spasisms and can still suck onto objects. Eating this is definitely a lifetime experience but isn't for everyone.

Afterwards we headed back to the market since we were still hungry and picked up some fresh Salmon sashimi which was flown in fresh from Norway. This was definitely one of the best Salmon sashimi I have ever eaten.

My friend found this really cute hidden restaurant at the side of the fish market were they just prepare the fish which you bring from the market for consumption at their restaurant, this will guarantee you everything is super fresh.