Seafood dinner at Sokcho’s Daepohang Port after a day out at Seoraksan National Park

11 November 2014

From the entrance of Seoraksan National Park, we took the local bus No 7 to Sokcho city for dinner.  I had mistakenly read somewhere that T-money card could be used to pay the fare. I was wrong. So, cash was needed. 1200 KRW per person. 

By now, the sky had turned dark as the bus sped along the road towards the town. I followed the progress of the bus using the GPS on my smartphone and knew we were coming close to Daepohang Port, a place known for its seafood restaurants. We alighted from the bus, together with some other Koreans hikers, and headed towards the bright lights of the restaurants by the sea.

The restaurants were all lined up inside several single storey buildings, along a small bay. The first building that we entered was selling fried seafood and squid sundaes. I would loved to have these for snacks or lunch but not tonight. Tonight, we were craving for some Red Snow Crabs, a Sokcho speciality and apparently Daepohang Port is the place to buy and eat these.

Stall selling fried seafood and squid sundaes. Pick your food and eat in the small table inside or takeaway.

Fried prawns in tempura batter. Sign in Korean and Chinese language shows the prices of the items.

Sokcho speciality – Squid Sundae. The squid sundae consists of whole squid, stuffed full of pig’s blood, barley, cellophane noodles and other goodies, boiled, then sliced up, covered in egg yolk and fried.

We browsed through a few blocks, each containing many shops cum restaurants. Each shop has tanks of live seafood for customers to pick and choose what they fancy. Crabs, various types of fish, squids and other strange sea critters. We spent some time observing the sale process and seafood on displayed before selecting a restaurant for our dinner.

Rows of shops selling live seafood at Daepohang Port.

A customer selected a live fish and the staff expertly turned it into sashimi for takeaway or consumption in the restaurant area behind.

Tanks of Red Snow Crabs and King Crabs. The greyish King Crabs are more expensive by weight and is also larger.

The red snow crabs came in various sizes. We chose a restaurant with larger and liveliest crabs, manned by a young man who understood English. We were offered 2 large red snow crabs for  60,000 KRW, plus a “service dish” which was free of charge. The stall offered us a live squid as a service dish.

The restaurant/eating area was located behind the tanks. Once the live seafood were selected, price negotiated and agreed, we were ushered to our seats. Seating was on the floor, traditional Korean style ondol. The ondol was heated (electrically now in modern times) and it actually felt very good since the night air by the sea was quite chilly, even without the wind.

The first item served was the steamed whole squid, sliced, with its insides still intact. We asked the ahjumma if we are supposed to eat the jelly-like stuff inside. She says “delicious” in Korean which we understood from the many K-dramas we watched. In any case, we ate just the squid and left most of the insides aside.  The freshly steamed squid was best eaten on its own to taste the sweetness of the flesh or it can be dipped in the hot spicy sauce provided. We did both since the squid was quite big. Seafood is best eaten with soju, the Korean rice wine, served chilled.

The squid was steamed whole and served sliced. Freshest squid I ever eaten. It was swimming in the tank about 15 minutes ago.

Seafood goes down well with soju.

When we were about to finish the squid, the red snow crabs were served. Steamed and expertly cut up into pieces for easy eating.

Red Snow Crabs is one of the recommended dish in Sokcho.

The ahjumma showed us the quickest way to get the meat out from the legs of the snow crab. Need to know the sequence and where exactly to break the legs.  We certainly needed more practice to perfect the skill. 

After our meal, we spent some time exploring the port at night. Weather was nice. Cold but no wind. 

Rows of seafood restaurants along the bay at Daepohang Port.

Calm waters on this windless night.

Enjoying the night view of Daepohang Port after dinner. Bright lights of the seafood restaurants in the back.

Besides live seafood, there were many shops selling dried seafood along the main road. On our way to the bus stop, we stopped to buy 2 bags full of dried cuttlefish, dried pollack fish and crispy seafood snacks from one of the shops. The lady stall-owner was pretty pleased with us since there was not many customers on this night. She told us where was the nearest bus stop for the bus back to Seoraksan. Fortunately, we did not have to wait long for the bus.

A row of shops selling dried seafood along the main road. The cuttlefish and stuff hanging outside looked like some monsters from outer space.

The bus passed through a few small villages along the road to Seoraksan. We were the only passengers left on it by the time the bus reached the Kensington Stars Hotel. Seoraksan entrance would be the next and last stop. The bus stopped outside the driveway entrance to the Kensington Stars Hotel for us to alight.

A cheery “kamsa hamnida” to the driver as we got off the bus and he responded with “An Nyeong Hi Ga Se Yo” or goodbye.

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Free and easy in Sokcho, the seaside city

12 November 2014

Our plan for the afternoon was to visit the attractions in Sokcho, namely the Fisheries Market, Abai village, Sokcho beach and then have seafood dinner before returning to our hotel.

We took the local bus ( No. 7 or 7-1) from the entrance of Seoraksan National Park into Sokcho city. We alighted near the end of the blue Geumdangdaegyo Bridge and made our way to the Dongmyeong-hang port, under the bridge. 

Fishing boats at the Dongmyeong-hang port, beneath the blue Geumdangdaegyo Bridge.

Restaurants lined the side of the road by the port. Most seemed to be closed and the port seemed deserted.
Restaurants at the Dongmyeong-hang port.

Drying lettuce outside a restaurant.

I loved walking along a wharf or pier. There were so much to see and shoot.
Stacks of fishing nets.

Rows of lamps on a fishing boat. This will be brightly lit at night to attract fish and squid.

Moving along, we were lucky to see a boat unloading their catch.

Fishermen at work, unloading their catch.

I am not sure if it was a co-incident. Most of the folks doing the hard work seems to be the adjummas and ahjussis (elderly Koreans). Where are the younger Koreans?
Women at work.

Getting fish out from the net.

Part of the catch.

We also saw rows of squids, hung out like laundry, drying in the sun and wind.
Squid drying in the sun and wind – not a single housefly seen.

If we did this in South East Asia, the squids would be covered with swarming flies. Here in Korea, not a single fly was seen. Amazing. Must be the weather. So, the dried seafood that we bought yesterday must be clean and safe to eat. Ha ha.

The waters at this area were crystal clear and I could see some starfishes at the bottom. Surprising, since I expected dirty waters in a built-up area like this.

Starfish could be seen in the clear water by the Dongmyeong-hang port.

Continuing down along the port, we soon saw the Gaetbae boat with the red Seorakdaegyo Bridge in the background.

Gaetbae boat with the red Seorakdaegyo Bridge in the background.

The boat was featured in a popular K-drame “Autumn in my Heart” and crossing over using this boat would bring us to the Abai Village.

As we still have unfinished business on this side of the bay, we did not do the crossing now. We would be back later.

We made our way inland, in search of the Fisheries Market.  We found a local market instead and bought some of snack foods sold within, included the famous Dak-gangjeong (deep fried chicken with sweet sauce). I loved visiting local markets when I travel. This is where you get to taste and see the local foods, culture and people.

On the way to a local Sokcho market.

Finally trying the deep fried prawns in batter. It was not as delicious as we expected.


Medicinal herbs and roots, including ginseng that Korea is famous for.

We went back to the main road in search for the Fisheries Market. Along the way, we saw the Bronze Ox at the Hwangso (Ox) Plaza. It reminded me of the ox we saw in New York City, but the design of the ox is different.
Bronze Ox at the Hwangso (Ox) Plaza in Sokcho.

Typical street scene in Sokcho. Modern shops in this seaside fishing city.

Then we finally found a market selling seafood – dead and alive. I found the sea critters that were on sale quite amazing and some quite strange looking. One could pick and buy whatever seafood and then bring that to the restaurants behind the stalls to have them cooked for immediate eating.

Fisheries Market in Sokcho.

Live Octopuses in nets.

Stack of Red Snow Crabs.

Stalls selling all sorts of sea critters.

Vendor outside the market with strings of dried fish.

Fruit sellers outside the fisheries market.

Live Red  Snow Crabs.

Some sort of fish with big suckers on the bottom. Looked yucky!

Having seen what we came to see in the town area, we made our way back to the Gaetbae Boat to make the crossing to the Abai Village.

More about the Abai Village in the next post.

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Gaetbae boat to Abai Village and across the Seorakdaegyo to Sokcho beach.

12 November 2014

Abai Village is now the hometown to many people of North Korean ancestry. The word Abai means “an aged person.”  Many elderly people fled here from North Korea during the Korean War and remains stuck here after the war.

Gaetbae boat is human-powered and the passengers are expected to lent a hand to pull the boat across the water.

After exploring Sokcho town, we made the Gaetbae boat crossing into the Abai Village. The boat is human-powered and the passengers are expected to lent a hand to pull the boat across the water. I naturally did my share of the pulling. The process goes like this: Using an iron rod with hook to snag the steel cable at front end of the boat. Then pull on the cable and walk to the other end as the boat slides along the cable in the opposite direction.


That’s me doing the pulling.

Each passenger was charged a fee of 200 KRW for the trip, whether you supplied labour or not.

Abai Village was the filming location of a popular K-drama “Autumn in My Heart”. The Gaetbae Boat was featured in that drama, as well as a small shop within the village where the lead actress stayed in that drama. There were many symbols and signs to remind visitors that this was the filming location of the drama near the landing location of the boat.

Filming location of "Autumn in My Heart" in Abai VIllage, Sokcho.

Bronze replicas of the lead actor and actress in a famous scene in "Autumn in My Heart" k-drama.


There is even a TV screen showing excerpts from that drama. Lead actress is Song Hye Kyo (shown above).

Filming location of "Autumn in My Heart" in Abai VIllage, Sokcho. Shop belonging to the lead actress’s mother in the drama. It is now a restaurant but it was not open on this day.

The speciality food of Abai Village is the Abai Sundae and Squid Sundae. We walked around the small village and several shops selling the above were opened. The Abai sundae used pork intestines as the casings while the typical Sokcho squid sundae uses squid for the casings. Rice, squid, seasonings and vegetables are stuffed inside the cavity of the squid, which is then cooked whole. Then the squid 'sausage' is sliced, dipped in egg and fried. Quite unique and tasty dish.

We had Squid Sundae for 10,000 KRW.

Abai Village is quite small and after our meal, we headed out to view the lighthouses (red and white) marking the entrance to the port. Then we walked across the red Seorakdaegyo to Sokcho beach. The sun was setting behind the Seoraksan mountains as we walked across the bridge.

The whole of Abai Village as seen from the Seorakdaegyo bridge.

Red and White lighthouses marking the entrance to the harbour.

By the time we reached Sokcho beach, about 1.5 to 2 km away, we were pretty tired. Nothing really much to see on the way there and also nothing much to see at the beach really. This place would be very different in summer. It was cold and deserted in autumn.

Sokcho Beach in the evening.

At this point, we decided to go eat the Red Snow Crabs again at Daepohang Port. After a 10 minutes taxi ride, we were back at the restaurants of Daepohang Port.

This time round, we wanted to try the King Crab and walked around looking for a restaurant with a small sized King Crab. An aggressive ahjumma soon climbed all over her tanks to fish out a King Crab and a Red Snow Crab and made an offer to us. 110,000 KRW for both, with a free service dish (live squid). The King Crab was more expensive compared to the Red Snow Crab. Since this was our last night in Sokcho, we decided to splurge on a good meal. Besides, a similar meal like this is not easily available back home.


From this:
Live Squid.

King Crab and Red Snow Crab.

To this:
Squid sashimi – not really something I fancy.

I was expecting the squid to be steamed but it came as a sashimi. We only finished part of this.
The larger King Crab and the Red Snow Crab – steamed and prepared for easy eating.

We wanted to compare the taste of the King Crab and Red Snow Crab. The cooked flesh of Red Snow Crab was delicate while the King Crab was more textured. Both were extremely tasty! On hindsight, we should had just stick to the Red Snow Crabs.

The stall owner then took the large shell of the King Crab and use the stuff in it to cook up a dish of fried rice with chopped laver. The fried rice was then served within the crab shell. There was a mouth watering fragrance while the rice was being cooked. It was delicious too. But by then, we were too full to finish all of it.

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