[Non-halal] This was the highlight of our trip to Gwangjang Market in Seoul. Hong Lim Banchan stall is located in Gwangjang Food Market – the oldest and largest traditional market in South Korea.
Featured on Netflix’s Street Food Asia series (Episode 6), Hong Lim is known for selling side dishes (banchan) that are served with the main meals in Korea.
Hong Lim offers a variety of pickled side dishes from preserved fish roe, to marinated lotus root and radish kimchi.
However, the one dish to eat here is the soy sauce marinated raw blue crabs – popular among Koreans and tourists alike.
Hong Lim Banchan Stall
Opened in 1952 during the Korean War, Hong Lim is currently run by Madam Gunsook Jung – the third generation in the family.
The stall offers a huge variety of side dishes on display – and mostly caters to families who purchase these delectable banchan for home.
The best-sellers here, however, are the Soy-Sauce Marinated Crabs 간장게장 and the Spicy Raw Crabs – which were made more popular when they were featured on the Netflix show.
In fact, the Soy-Sauce Marinated Crab was the main reason for our stop here at Hong Lim.
Soy Sauce Marinated Crabs 간장게장
First, we really enjoyed Madam Gunsook Jung’s warm and friendly service during our visit.
While the stall does not have any proper tables for dine-in, they were kind enough to prepare us a few stools and a low table to enjoy our food.
We ordered a portion of the large female Soy-Sauce Marinated Crab (KRW20,000 or US14) – which is the best option really, as they often contain beautiful roe inside the shell.
A variety of jeotgal 젓갈 (salted fermented seafood in Korean cuisine), the dish is prepared by marinating fresh raw crabs in soy sauce.
Comes with free Yakult!
Upon order, our crab was cut into five bite-size pieces.
The delicious crab roe is then strategically placed on each piece, with the shell portion filled with warm rice.
The dish is also served with two free Yakult/Vitagen probiotic drinks to help wash down the delicacy.
Madam Gunsook Jung was also kind enough to let us sample some of their banchans – octopus, jelly fish, and radish kimchi.
Sweet crab flesh!
The dish is super delicious! While we were expecting a “fishy” flavour – there was none of that at all.
The crab meat was surprisingly smooth, sweet, and tender!
We really enjoyed the natural sweetness of the crab, which was wonderfully accentuated by the soy sauce.
We particularly enjoyed slurping the meat out of the crab claws and sucking out the juices from the little legs.
Beautiful creamy roe
However, the highlight has to be the creamy roe!
Looking all resplendent in its orange hue, the roe was superbly creamy and buttery – the perfect complement to the silky smooth, sweet flesh.
But the best way to enjoy the roe is by eating it with a spoonful of rice served in the crab shell.
The rice was warm and nutty – which goes perfectly well with the creamy roe and soy sauce marinade.
Summary
We tasted a few of the recommended foods at Gwangjang Market, but this is easily our favourite of the lot!
The crab flesh was just melt-in-the-mouth goodness with lovely accents from the soy sauce marinade and creamy roe. The warm rice sprinkled with sesame seeds was the perfect addition.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Check out the Reel below:
Hong Lim Banchan stall 洪林홍림
Address: Stall no. 59 , Gwangjang Market, Yeji-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Phone: 02-2267-1751
Hours: 8am-8pm (Closed on Sundays)
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This post is part of our Seoul trip series. Check out our archive here:
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