Live Octopus Dinner

Earlier this week I went with some of my coworkers to a new octopus restaurant in town.  It is a restaurant that serves primarily octopus in a variety of forms.  I am an adventurous person determined to make the most out of my year here in Korea so coming here was definitely a treat although almost pushing my limits.

There were tanks of little live octopuses!

The menu - thank goodness I was here with Korean speaking people!

As an appetizer, a little octopus was pulled from the tank, cut up and served to us on a plate.  Octopus legs continue to squirm for a long time after being cut from the body!  They are served raw with a sesame oil dipping sauce.  This was certainly the freshest 'sushi' that I've ever had.  (By the way, that's the head with an eyeball on the left side of the plate!)

This is a video of the squirming, severed legs and footage of me eating some!  Just note that I had to upload the video via Blogger because YouTube apparently won't let people in Korea upload videos.  I hope it works for everyone!

We also ordered a spicy octopus and vegetable dish that was mixed and heated at the grill on our table.  I  know that eating octopus may sound gross to some people but calamari is quite common in the States.  Calamari is squid that is usually breaded and fried.  Octopus is really similar to calamari.  It doesn't have a strong taste and it has a firm, chewy texture.  Octopus actually has the same taste and texture whether it's raw or cooked.

This is a video of mixing and cutting up the octopus and vegetables.  As I mentioned before, scissors are much more common for cutting food than knives here in Korea.

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"Put a grain of boldness into everything you do."

~Baltasar Gracian