Our 10 day vacation in Seoul was finally coming to an end.
After doing some duty-free shopping and finishing our last few bites of Korean food at the lounge, we headed over to the departure gate for our flight home.
As we reached, we noticed an eomuk shop just opposite the gate. The Wife and I are quite fond of Korean fishcake and add it to various homecooked dishes, especially ramyeon and tteokbokki.
However, as it was already time for boarding, we decided to give it a miss.
We’ve tried various brands of eomuk available in Singapore, and our favourite so far is Samjin Amook (삼진어묵). Originating from Busan, the eomuk capital of the world, the 70 year-old Samjin is supposedly the number one producer in South Korea.
As we were about to join the queue, we heard an announcement that our flight would be delayed by 15 minutes, giving us a valuable window of opportunity.
I guess we were fated to buy some eomuk that day.
The name of the shop, Goraesa Fish Cake (고래사어묵), was unfamiliar to us, but it did have a long 60 year history and also hails from Busan. You could say that it was the dongseng (동생), or younger brother, of our preferred brand.
A wide variety of fishcake was displayed in the warmers that fronted the small store.
Some were flat and round and others were long and cylindrical. Half of them were on skewers, and many were stuffed with various ingredients.
While the shop catered mainly for takeaways, there was a small seating area for customers who wanted to consume it at the store.
It was a no-frills setup, with tongs and trays provided for people to pick and choose before paying at the cashier.
For those who wanted to heat up their food further, microwave ovens were available. But everything was on a purely self-service basis.
It would have been nice if we had time to try the eomuk at the store, but 15 minutes was too rushed for us to enjoy it properly.
So, we did the next best thing and got takeaway. The Wife had a look in her eyes that hinted that she was thinking about buying one of everything.
But she managed to restrain her impulses and only picked out three pieces. One with a leg of crab, another with a tail of prawn and the final one that was wrapped in perilla leaf.
After travelling 5,300 kilometres, we heated all three in our trusty Phillips airfryer for a light lunch the following day.
They were really nice; soft to the bite and very flavourful. After finishing half as-is, we polished off the rest by wrapping them in kkaennip.
As we finished up our last few bites, we couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of regret. We definitely should have bought more when we had the chance.
Well, I guess it’s time to plan for a Train to Busan. Minus the zombies, of course.
