Street Food Tour of the Largest Traditional Market in Korea: Namdaemun Market

This next market I am at is the oldest and largest traditional market in all of Korea. Having been around for over 600 years, the Namdaemun market is a behemoth with thousands of stores stretched out across dozens of multi-story buildings. And when you walk in, you have literally entered a labyrinth. But don't worry, this place has basically everything and at really cheap prices. Want souvenirs? They got them. Want beautiful traditional Korean dresses? They got Want to visit an entire alley devoted to just one particular food item? Look no further. First thing you should do when you get into the market is head for Galchi Alley. Galchi in Chinese is dai yu or cutlass fish. It's a beautiful, flat, very meaty fish that's good braised, it's good grilled, it's good in a house, it's good with a mouse, you get my point. And here the dish to get is Galchi Dorum. Dorum is a method of preparation where the fish is braised in red chili stew with vegetables and scallions, all sorts of deliciousness. And supposedly one of the places that does it best is Jungang Galchi Sikdang. Some banchan. They also brought me some cutlass fish that looks like it was just cooked under a salamander. And a little bag of crispy seaweed, some steamed eggs. Wow, that's good. This egg is fluffy like a snorlax. Also, look how delicate this fish is. And there's only three sections of bone. Oh my god, this is broke apart. There's only three sections of bone in this fish. Right here, right here, and in the middle. And the rest, you see that? That's all tender. Wow. This is just flaked off like it was uncanned. Ah, so good. Oh man. I love this fish because it's really easy to debone and also this might be the most tender fish I've ever had. Look, as I'm slightly pushing on my chopstick and all that meat is just coming off the bone. I should be a waterfall in your mouth right now. And I'm not gonna blame you if you decide to lick your screen. Dip that in some of that beautiful spicy sauce. That's so buttery and delicious. Of all the fish in the oceans and the seas, this is my favorite. And inside the soup you have some scallions, radish, and take this, put it over your rice. Tell me you don't want a bite of that. Oh, that's awesome. That was a flavor bomb of a bite. The whole braised soup is so spicy and there's so much flavor infused in here because everything, all the ingredients just simmer together giving that 100% taste penetration. This fish is not a very common fish that you will find in the U.S., but trust me guys, this is one of the best fish you'll ever have. And they gave me this big, big piece of radish. It's a little forklift action. That radish has been braising for a long, long time. This is so good. I don't even think I can stop at one bowl. Give me like a rice cooker full of rice, I'll be happy. Also what you can do with the seaweed is make a little ssam. Put some rice in, just a little bit of the sauce, a little of the kimchi, then take the meat off this. That is out of this world. Also guys, if you want, just take the seaweed, dip it in the sauce. That's a great way to eat this too. Please come here and get this because at least to me, this is one of the best food items I've ever had in Korea. I can't even describe how amazing this is. And only for 8,000 won. I'd pay 50,000 won for this. This is supposed to be a really popular dumpling stall. All the dumplings are made fresh and they look like they're fried or steamed. I got a group of mixed dumplings and I'm just like squeezed in here. I'm eating with all the locals. Some pickled radish, some chopsticks. No hot oil and vinegar this time, but I'll make do. Five different types of dumplings for 3,000 won. Three dollars for all this. That's a great deal. This is probably the most anticipated for me. This kimchi dumpling. Already I can see through the thin little dumpling skin. Smells great. This is awesome. I've had kimchi dumplings before, but I never tasted ones where the kimchi is so crunchy. Looks like there's some pork in here, some leeks, and it's just stuffed. Kimchi, onion, little pork in there, chives. Not heavy at all. The skin, ridiculously thin. You don't really need any dipping sauce. I mean, it'd be even better with some hot oil and vinegar, but this on its own is fantastic. Next I want to try this. Oh, this is juicy. You can see there's cabbage, chives, a little bit of pork, onions. This is basically the kimchi bun without the kimchi. And the dough to filling ratio is fantastic. I'm gonna go ahead and stuff a little half pickle in here. That's how you should do it. Finally, a fried dumpling. This is my favorite. The reason I like this so much is look at the skin on this dumpling. Like little crispy flaky layer on the outside. That's a good dumpling. And five of those will definitely fill you up. And for three dollars, you can't beat that deal. One thing that caught my eye when I came to this market is huge pig knuckles. This thing looks ridiculous. It might be kind of gross because a little spot of hair there. But the rest of this, beautifully marinated, glistening. That's good. Oh, this is awesome. This is awesome. I haven't had pig's feet in a long time, I guess. Oh man, the skin on its own is delicious. So flavorful. Look at this. All that tendon in there. That's all good eating. I could just sit somewhere and all I would need is a couple pig's feet and some sparkling water and I'll be a happy camper. This is absolutely perfect. I didn't know how this was gonna be. I saw a lot of people selling this. If you cook it wrong, it could become a little too soft, a little too soggy. This is delicious. And this is the best part. The toe right here. Guys, don't knock it until you try it. This is fantastic eating. Is it weird if I say I love you to a pig? I mean, is that too much? Besides being supremely marinated and the texture being absolutely perfect, the cook time on this is just precise. This whole thing is only 4,000 won. That's four bucks for a whole chopped up, beautifully, beautifully cooked pig's feet. Welcome to Kaikuksu Alley or Handmade Noodles Alley. Don't confuse this with, you know, Daigon Alley. I love this. Everyone's just cooking noodles everywhere you look. People are just sitting right in front of the noodle stalls. Everything is handmade. This is like noodle heaven right here. What's really cool about this alley is the meals are so insanely economical. I ordered Boribab, which is barley rice with veggies, and I get kimchi. I get naengmyeon, cold noodles. I get a soup and I get a bowl of hand-pulled noodles. All this for 5,500 won. You cannot beat that deal in Seoul. The barley rice looks like it has some sprouts, some carrots. You just mix everything together with some chili paste. I'm gonna take a nice big spoonful here with some sprouts and some greens. Of course, a lot of barley rice. The sauce, just a hint of spice, not too much, but crazy flavors. What the barley rice does is it combines everything together and it offers that unique barley-esque texture. It's just like the most flavorful rice salad you'll ever have. This is the cold noodles and it's just covered in sesame. Wow, that's so pretty. This profile picture should be like on the front page of match.com. And every piece of noodle is just infused with the sauce right now. Oh, a lot of sesame oil in here. Korean chili paste, not really spicy at all, but just really sesame-y. And I think that's where a lot of addictive flavoring comes from, is from the sesame and the sesame oil. Now let's look at the kalguksu. Some scallions on top, spices, some sesame. This is way different than the kalguksu I had at the Gwangjang Market. It seems to have less broth, but the noodles look a lot more like the noodles I like, the daoxiao mian, the knife-cut noodles in Chinese cuisine. And the soup looks a little more thick. Bottoms up. Oh, the noodles are really good. Take a little bit of the soup. Soup is deliciously thick. You know what the soup tastes like? It tastes like mian tang, what we call Chinese flour soup. It's basically the leftover water after you boil dumplings or after you boil any sort of noodles. So after you put the dumplings or noodles in water, the water becomes a lot thicker. And this soup right here just tastes like that thick liquid. It's less flavorful than the soup I had earlier today. The noodles here in this one is much better. It's smooth, al dente, nice and chewy. I think you take the noodles from here and the soup from earlier this morning, then you just get the perfect bowl of noodle soup. I noticed that in these alleys, most places, they kind of serve the same things. But what's so great about the hand-pulled noodle soup alley is that if you want something delicious that will fill you up and you're on a budget, that's where you go. This place has a huge line all the time. They're famous for hotteok. And I've been eating these all over Seoul and I love it. But this is the first time I actually got a salty one. So it has vegetables inside instead of the typical honey and nuts. Look at that. You gotta get this if you come here. Oh, they brushed some kind of sauce on the outside of this and it looks like it's just simple marinated soy sauce. The outside of this pancake is so crispy and the outside is really flavorful already. Then the inside, the noodles kind of, they almost have a mochi-esque texture because there's so many noodles in here. This is a great savory pancake. And of course, I couldn't walk out of that stall without getting the original. The honey and nuts. Crispy, a little burnt almost on the outside. Inside, you see honey, some nuts, sesame seeds. You know why I love movies like Forrest Gump and The Big Fish and The Shawshank Redemption? They've got a great ending. This is a great last food item on this trip. It literally has everything I'm craving for right now. It's crunchy, not overly sweet, wonderfully aromatic. 100% the best Korean pancake I've had on this trip. And my god, it's just addictive. If you've never had this before, go give this a try. And even if you have had hotteok, try it from this stall. Because last time I had this, it was really heavy, really greasy. This is the Shawshank Redemption ending of Korean pancakes. I mean, if I'm not convincing enough about how good this is, listen to it. Did I work? Did she tell you? What a great food-filled day. I mean, this is how I have fun. I go to a place that I've never been before and I just eat. Namdaemun Market is a place I feel like I could just spend the whole day walking around and I would never get bored. The hand-pulled noodles and the gochujang, which is by far favorite food I had in Korea so far. Oh, and also if you come here, don't forget to get the hotteok. I'm sure you're gonna have a great time. Thank you all so much for watching. And until we eat again, I'll see you later.