The most exotic thing I ate in Korea…


Nudge the ones that are lying still with your chopsticks and they’ll start wriggling away. The octopus that my friends and I had was a small one so the tentacles were small and thus easier to swallow.


It is served with a small plate of sesame oil which helps add some flavour and also helps it to slip down the throat more easily. Wouldn’t want it getting stuck in your throat! Actually the octopus itself doesn’t have much taste, the fun is really in trying to wrestle that tentacles off the plate as its suction pads stick to the plate. It’s a real test of one’s chopstick skills! Takes quite a bit of strength!
The moment you get it off your plate, give it a quick dip either in the sesame oil or the red fermented bean paste sauce. Take care not to let it stick to the plate in which the sesame oil is in otherwise it’s another wrestling match! You’ll have to be really quick as the tentacle tends to also curl round the chopstick and not let go!
The moment you put it in your mouth, chew as fast as possible to try to break it down into as small a piece as possible so it can be easily swallowed. But really, there’s only so much chewing you can do as being raw, it’s rather difficult to break down. You might feel a suction pad or two sucking on your tongue or the side of your cheek. It’s not painful but it’s a weird sensation to have something sucking on the inside of your cheek. Haha. But really, chew and swallow fast enough and it’ll be fine.
A very fun and interesting eating experience indeed…I’m definitely game for another round!