Nothing is really more exciting than getting a bit risky with your dinner and by risk I don’t mean trying out a new recipe. I mean knowingly eating something that could cause potential death. Why the hell not right? You only live once.
This particular death trap is what we like to call Blowfish or Fugu (Japan) or Bo Go 복어 (Korea) a Japanese delicacy that has migrated over to Korea where they have added their own twist. Blowfish is the most lethally poisonous fish in the world and a small dose of its death inducing tetrodoxin and your well, pretty screwed. Death by asphyxiation, while you are still fully conscious, with no known antidote? Sounds like a fun dinner right? Luckily every single Fugu Chef in the world has to have a certificate to be able to prepare Fugu. These Chefs go through a grilling process of over a few years where they ultimately have to prepare and eat their own dish. Pass = Live, Fail = Death and this system has been strictly enforced in Korea. It’s pretty safe to say that no matter what Blowfish restaurant you end up in, you’ll still be alive by the second course.
We headed to a great Blowfish restaurant out in Sangin. Take Exit 4 from the subway. Walk straight for about ten minutes and it will be on your right hand side on the second floor. The name of the restaurant is 복어마을 and there is a picture of a happy blowfish with a chef hat on. You can’t miss it.
Being the first time anyone of us has ever tried it we decided to go all out and try everything. We had the set menu which costs us each 13 500W. One set can easily serve 4 people. First on the menu was blowfish skin salad. The spikes had been removed and the skin sliced into small pieces mixed with spicy red sauce, onions, carrots and cabbage. To be honest it didn’t really have much flavor as the sauce was quite overpowering. The skin was chewy and soft and tasted like nothing. I was just snacking on the side dishes of fried fish, cucumbers, dried fish and japchae (noodles). At this point I was starting to get more excited waiting in anticipation for my mouth to start tingling and my breath to quicken, with my life flashing before my eyes as my body falls into paralyses. Well…..clearly that never happened. Guess our chef was really good. No tetrodoxin for us.
Blowfish Skin Salad
Second on the menu came a big steaming plate of blowfish flesh and bean sprouts in yet another spicy red sauce. This we cooked over the gas stove on our table. The fish was delicious and melted in my mouth. There were a lot of bones and the strong flavor of the bean sprouts was a little overwhelming. Nevertheless, the meat was juicy and tasty.
Blowfish Skin
Dried Fish in a Spicy Red Sauce
Fried Blowfish Deliciousness
While we were nibbling on that THE BEST course arrived. Fried Bok!! (Fried Blowfish) hell anything fried is delicious but this was pretty darn good. The batter was crispy and thick and the meat inside was tender and cooked to perfection. It also came with fried green peppers which was a great addition.
Blowfish Soup
The final course was blowfish soup. Just a few chunks of meat, some bean sprouts and a little garlic. At this point the waitress also took our second course plate and filled it with rice which we put back onto the heat to create some kind of ricey pudding with the leftover juices. Always got to have rice.
Dancing with the devil at dinner was quite an exciting experience and is definitely a must while you are in Korea.
mybigbiteoflife 