Noryangjin Fish Market,
Seoul
Personal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Noryangjin Fish Market, Seoul, South Korea. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Noryangjin Fish Market and navigate the world using Google Earth
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N 37° 30.908
E 126° 56.468
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Other stories:
When I got off at Noryangjin station, I was not immediately sure where to go. It did not seem likely that there would be a large fish market on the street side of the station, so I decided to cross the bridge over the railway tracks. And indeed, when I approached the building on the other side, which seemed like an enormous concrete car park, I smelled the distinct flavour of fish. Strangely enough, I did not notice the smell after that. When I entered the building, I looked down at the bustling and enormous fish market of Noryangjin.
I came down the stairs, and stopped at the very first stall. What diversity of seafood! In fact, this market offers much more than just fish in various sizes and sorts: you can find clams, crabs, prawns, sea cucumbers, and many, many other creatures from the sea. It would even be more appropriate to call it a seafood market, as there is a relatively small amount of especially bigger fish for sale. Yes, I did see stingrays, small sharks, and salmon, but most of what is on offer is actually pretty small. Tanks full of baby octopus, a delicacy when eaten alive in Korea, squid, anchovies, mackerel, lobster, ribbonfish, and all kinds of crab.
Most of the creatures are kept alive in small water tanks or simple buckets, with a tube administering oxygen to the doomed animals. You can often buy transparent plastic bags with the sea animals inside, guaranteeing a meal with very fresh fish indeed. But you can also find fish sliced in two, fish with their intestines lying on their side, or seasoned seafood on a skewer. Then there are stalls with fish neatly stacked, arranged in piles, as if to decorate the stall. Originally established in 1927 as Gyeongseong Susan, it moved to its current location in 1971. On the second floor is the auction area, as well as restaurants serving, well... seafood. Fresh, very fresh.
