Hairtail Stew At The Namdaemun Market In Seoul Is A MUST Try
There’s so much to see, explore, experience, smell, and EAT at Seoul’s famous Nandaemun Market. It’s truly hard to know where to start.
Lined with various shop after shop with food vendors interspersed throughout, the marketplace is a sprawling space with many alleyways waiting to be explored. This is a massive marketplace area.
After walking around taking in all the sights and sounds, I narrowed my search down for one specific alleyway – Hairtail Alley.
I had seen the famous Mark Weins eat at a restaurant here in one of his videos and knew it was a place I wanted to visit to give their famous hairtail stew a try. It did not disappoint. I hadn’t heard of hairtail before, let alone eaten it, but it’s a long, silver, slender, fish also known as beltfish There’s quite a few restaurants down this alley and they all seemingly have similar menus so I dipped into one and ordered a nice piping hot bowl of the stew.
The broth is bright red and laden with chili flakes so I assumed it would be very spicy. While it does have heat it’s not overly spicy at all, it’s just the right amount and is very tasty. The fish is nice and tender and absorbs all of the broth nicely. It’s quite bony though so you’ll want to be careful while eating this dish. On the bottom of the bowl is radish which really absorbs the flavor of the broth and is quite delicious on its own.
The meal also comes with a fluffy steamed egg which is always delicious and really paired well with the stew alongside the usual side dishes like kimchi and radish. This meal also came with a couple pieces of deep fried (I assume) hairtail which was very good as well. Getting a spoonful of the fish, radish, broth and eating it over rice was really a spoonful of heaven.
There really is a lot to see at Namdaemun Market and this alley is pretty easy to overlook and just walk right by. Be sure to keep your head on a swivel and be on the lookout for that hairtail in bowtie sign atop this lovely alleyway. You won’t be disappointed!
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