Crazy, Weird, Strange Korean Food: 6 Dishes You'll Be Afraid to Eat

As an American, I associate October with Halloween. Some people like to extend the Halloween spirit by dressing up as spooky characters or watching horror movies, even after they have finished trick-or-treating (or as they say in Korea, "Halloween funeral, give me candy or I'll prank you"). But that's not my style.

I'm not bothered by the fact that North Korea is only a few dozen kilometers away, but there are some things in South Korea that really frighten me. These are dishes that I can't bring myself to eat. I love Korean dishes, but there is strange Korean food that I have tried once and never again.

개불 (Spoon Worms)

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These creatures burrow deep into the sand and mud along the coast, and they look like penises. They are supposed to enhance male potency because of their shape, but I think even Hannibal Lecter would be shocked by this bizarre delicacy. They are usually eaten raw and cut into pieces the size of rigatoni, a type of Italian pasta. 

먹장어 (Hagfish)

Another strange Korean food is hagfish. Hagfish, like dogfish, are also believed to boost male virility. Hagfish are cooked, not raw. But even if someone put a plate of hagfish in front of me, I would refuse to eat it. The hagfish looks like an eel and secretes slime from its body, which it uses to slip into fish and devour their innards.

닭발 (Chicken Feet)

I have eaten chicken feet. I'm not scared of them, but I do wonder why I bother. Many Koreans enjoy chicken feet, especially spicy ones. But like most Westerners, I find chicken feet a "weird" food. As the famous American poet and novelist Gertrude Stein once wrote, "There is no there there." People eat chicken feet with no meat and only skin and bones, like dogs gnawing on bones.

엽기 떡볶이 (Yeopgi Tteokbokki) - Bizarre Rice Cakes

I like rice cakes, which are made with water, red pepper paste, sugar, and a few other ingredients depending on my preference. They have a sweet and spicy flavor. Once, I went with my girlfriend to eat 'bizarre rice cakes', or 'yeoptteok' for short. Having this strange Korean food was a huge mistake. Normal rice cake sauce is orange, but yeoptteok sauce is dark red. I usually like spicy food, but the spiciness of the rice cakes was unbearable. It was so hot, and the rice cakes were not chewy enough, so I couldn't swallow them quickly. It was a painful experience.

• You may also be interested in: Tteokbokki: A nostalgic dish for Koreans

홍어 (Redfish - Fermented Skate)

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Redfish is a specialty of Jeolla Province. It is wrapped in boiled pork belly and kimchi, or eaten raw as sashimi. It was the hardest food I ever ate. I was amazed that there was such a foul-smelling dish in Korea, a country known for its delicious cuisine. Redfish don't pee, but instead excrete uric acid through their skin. That's why when redfish are sliced, ammonia is produced. Ammonia preserves the flesh of the redfish, but it also gives off a very strong ammonia chemical odor. It's like eating fish with Vicks Vaporub (a cough relief ointment).

산낙지 (Live Octopus)

In case the readers of this article think that I'm a picky eater or too sensitive to taste, I'll end with a dish that I initially found weird and scary, but actually enjoyed. It's live octopus. When I heard that people ate live octopus, I was disgusted and shocked. In fact, if I was alone, I wouldn't have ordered it, but a foreign friend of mine wanted to try sannakji for his birthday, so we did it together. The vendor chopped up the live octopus with scissors and tossed it with chili sauce and sesame oil, and we put a piece of squirming tentacle in our mouths. To my surprise, it was really delicious. It tasted very fresh and had a nice sea flavor.

If children show up at your doorstep looking for candy, you'll have no choice but to offer them these six horrible foods.~

Do you agree with this list of strange Korean food? What other foods do you find weird? Let me know~

• You may also be interested in: What foreigners really think about Korean dishes: The top 5 most loved and hated revealed! 

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