Busan | Jalgachi Fish Market

Living in Korea we have access to, and eat, a good amount of Korean food on a daily basis. However, when we have food cravings, it’s usually a taste of home – like classic non-Koreanized, American-style food or pizza that has not been topped with canned sweet corn – that we seek. When we traveled to Busan, Korea’s second largest city, we knew that we had access to some of the most popular and well-reviewed American-style restaurants in Korea. And yet, we chose to eat seafood. Because, Jalgachi Market.

Jalgachi Market, otherwise known as the place where people eat live baby octopus, is Korea’s largest fish market of its kind. We initially assumed the market was contained in a single building, but we quickly learned that the market spanned many streets, consisted of hundreds of small mom-and-pop shops, and filled several multi-level buildings. In search of a particular restaurant, we entered one of the multi-story buildings and were immediately pulled and tugged every which way by all the fishmongers wanting our business. Menus were thrust in our faces and vendors called out their best sales pitches from across the room. Buckets and tanks of fresh seafood lined the front of each make-shift restaurant. A man reached into one of the tanks, pulled out a spiny lobster, squirming and frantically wiggling its legs, and beckoned us to sit down at his stall. “Big one for you,” he smiled, “Fresh.”

I’m a sucker for sales tactics like these as I always feel bad saying no when someone is trying so hard to work a customer, or in this case, us. We almost sat down but for once we actually had a name of a restaurant in mind and we were on a mission to find it.

Several floors and two buildings later we found the building we were looking for – a massive, newer building, with architectural lines that curved along the waterfront. Once in the proper building, we found Jacky’s rather easily as it was practically the only restaurant with an English name, which by the way, didn’t match it’s Korean name (Dwejichobap 돼지초밥) at all.

There are two ways to eat seafood at Jalgachi: buy your food from the wet market on the first floor and bring the seafood upstairs to have a restaurant cook for you or pick a restaurant on upper levels, sit down, and order off the menu. We chose to do the latter, and after being seated at a Korean-style table, we were handed a picture menu with pages of photos of prepared seafood from which we made our selection.

Resisting the urge to order every single thing off the menu, we opted for a dozen barbecued oysters and a half dozen grilled scallops to start. The seafood was plucked from the water tanks, briefly grilled, and brought out to us piping hot with a bunch banchan, or Korean sides. We dipped each delicious morsel in a one of three condiments: a gochujang (red chili paste) sauce, soy sauce, and wasabi.

The preparation of the seafood was so simple, and yet, that’s what made it so good.

Ajummas, or married Korean women, traditionally ran the show at Jalgachi market. Known as “Jalgachi Ajummas,” these hard-working women served as the fishmongers of the market, cleaning their husbands’ daily catch while simultaneously running the business side of the fish stall. Ajummas sometimes get a bad rap because of their no-nonsense, somewhat gruff, approach. But beneath their tightly curled hair and badass ability to wear bold, mixed, patterns, lies a heart made of gold. Once an ajumma befriends you, you can expect to be taken care of as if you were one of her own.

Our ajumma at Jacky’s took care of us from the moment we sat down. When we had a hard time communicating that we wanted clams, our ajumma disappeared for a moment only to reappear beside our table with a massive clam the size of her forearm, dripping huge wet puddles onto the tile floor. She smiled proudly as she pointed to the clam, asking if that was what we wanted. Of course we couldn’t say no.

For our final course, we ordered a large flounder to split between the two of us. We watched somewhat regretfully (:-() as the fish was scooped from the tank and taken to the back room. Poor fishy.

When our fish came out, ever-so-lightly battered, crispy, and hot, we were surprised to see two fish instead of one. “We gave you two fish – same price, no extra charge.” I already felt pretty full by this point but there was no way I was letting that fish go to waste. Plus, it was some damn fine fish, perfectly cooked, delicate, and slightly sweet.

This was the before shot:

And postmortem:

We felt it was only right to respect the fish by practically picking every bone clean.

Delicious.

Once again, and because we seriously don’t know any other way to eat, we left the restaurant completely stuffed and in desperate need to walk it off.

At night, Jalgachi market took on a new life as plastic stools and tables assembled outside of mom-and-pop shops and charcoal fires burned in the street. Most of the fish markets were closed but a few street vendors still called out in the darkness, hoping to make a sale before the day was done. The streets filled with pojangmachas as people gathered together for a bite of fresh fish and a glass of cold soju. Vendors balanced long sticks on their shoulders, weighted on each end by metal boxes containing what looked to be sweet rice treats. They weaved in and out of the crowds, singing a special song to let customers know what was for sale.

Despite the tourists, flashing neon lights and modern buildings, there was still a strong sense (and taste) of traditional Korean life. At times it felt as if the past was so tangible that we could touch it, and I suppose in a way, we did. We connected to the past through all the sights, smells, and flavors that have been a part of Jalgachi’s over 100 year old history. We connected through the people; the kind Jalgachi ajummas and the aggressive vendors hawking their wares.

Most of all, we connected, as we always do, through the food.

Our nighttime stroll took us through a quiet street, untouched by time, and towards the ever-modern Lotte Mall, where we watched a strange Vegas-like water fountain show (supposedly the world’s largest indoor musical water fountain, registered in the Guinness World Book of Records) and climbed huge overstuffed teddy bears.

Old and new, past and present, all intermingled into one place.

Pretty much sums up Korea.

DETAILS

Jacky’s Seafood | CUISINE: Seafood  | COST: Moderate – Expensive. On average, a meal for two will probably set you back $40 on the low end. We were pigs so we probably spent at least twice as much. | DESCRIPTION: Located on the second floor of Jalgachi Market’s largest and newest multi-story building located along the waterfront. The first floor consists of a wet market where you can select and purchase from a wide array of seafood and either take it home or have it cooked (for a fee) at one of the restaurants on the second floor. Many of the fishmongers speak English, or at least enough to say something along the lines of “buy here, cook upstairs.”  We opted to sit down at the restaurant and make our selection from the picture menu which had set prices. The seafood at the market isn’t “cheap,” especially by Korean food standards, but depending on what you order (and how much), the prices arent’ too bad for seafood. The market that houses Jacky’s is probably the most touristy one, so I imagine that seafood is most likely cheaper the further away you get from the market.  Foodwise, you can expect the usual Korean seafood selections, including all sorts of shellfish, flounder, and  of course the most popular menu item: raw fish. If there is sometihing in particular you want that is not on the menu, just ask. Or go back down to the wet market where you can seriously find every kind of sea creature imagineable. | VERDICT: I found Jacky’s by via a guidebook and various online travel forums (who had probably found it through the same guidebook), but honestly I think that the English name had a lot to do with it’s popularity. I’m not saying the food wasn’t good — it was really fresh, delicious, and memorable — but I think most every restaurant in Jalgachi had a picture menu that you could point to and order from. That being said, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Jacky’s, or for that matter, a visit to Jalgachi market.