Another one that ranks high on the cruelty scale, this dish involves hacking the tentacles off a baby octopus and serving them up to the customer, still wriggling. We can take solace that on occasion the tentacles get revenge and choke the consumer. They have suckers on those things… didn’t you realise?
If you’re a stickler for fresh sushi and have a flair for the dramatic, you may be in for an unexpected and controversial treat. Sannakji, otherwise known as “wriggling octopus,” has been making the Facebook rounds on various YouTube videos for its heebie jeebies-inducing preparation and consumption. This live animal entree, most commonly found in Seoul, features a chopped up baby octopus that is still moving—we repeat, still moving. We’ll break it down for you below.
What is Sannakji?
A Korean raw dish, or hoe in Korean, that features a young live octopus cut into small pieces and served immediately. This is not the food to eat after a screening of Finding Dory.
How is Sannakji Prepared?
With a really sharp knife and a fearless chef. Many Korean natives also eat the octopus whole by wrapping it around chopsticks and popping it into their mouths like oversized Tootsie Roll pops.
What does Sannakji Taste Like?
The flavor is extremely mild, but it’s the slimy and chewy texture that attracts culinary daredevils. Traditionally, the legs are served with sesame oil and seeds to complement the dish’s ocean-fresh aroma. For some heat, add red chili paste (because we’re sure that’s not going to piss off the moving legs even more).
Where to Find Sannakji
Korean restaurants, both internationally and domestically. You’ll have to do some serious research for the latter, but a few New York and LA restaurants have found room for it on their menus. Globetrotters can also venture to Seoul’s famous Noryangjin Fish Market for a quick bite.
How to Eat Sannakji
Very carefully. Approximately six people die each year by choking (those suction cups are not going down without a fight!). Make sure you chew, and chew and chew a little more to ensure that you won’t have the most preventable and embarrassing death in human history.
Outside of seeing the cherry blossoms, eating sannakji or “live” octopus was the one thing I was most excited about on this trip. I couldn’t wait to try it.
If you’ve never heard of sannakji before, it’s basically just octopus sashimi. Sounds innocuous enough right? What makes it so notorious though is that the tentacles are still squirming when the octopus is served to you. Bought live before being chopped up and served raw on a plate, the tentacles continue to wriggle about for a long time despite being detached from the octopus’ body. Kinda like a gecko’s dropped tail I guess.
I rarely get queasy with food so I didn’t find the moving tentacles off-putting, but I can understand why many people do. The sight of food dancing about on your plate is plenty bizarre on its own. Add to that the possibility of it killing you, and sannakji without question becomes one of the strangest, most extreme things I’ve ever eaten.
Noryangjin Fish Market
Noryangjin Fish Market is one of the most popular places in Seoul to try sannakji, at least for tourists. It’s huge, occupying an entire warehouse. On the first floor is the market, and on the second floor the numerous restaurants to cook your fresh seafood.
It’s a Saturday night in Seoul, and seafood lovers are prowling the stalls of the bustling, brightly lit Noryangjin Fish Market looking for dinner. Some might settle on sannakji, a traditional Korean dish, and take a bag of small, fresh octopus to the restaurants upstairs. As they wait for the chefs to slice up their meal, they sip soju, a Korean liquor made from distilled rice, wheat, or barley that pairs particularly well with raw seafood.
When the dish arrives, the severed octopus tentacles wriggle among crunchy sides of cucumbers, carrots, and pickled turnips. The diners deftly retrieve the moving meal with chopsticks, dip the pieces in sesame oil, and pop them into their mouths. The taste is chewy, salty, and fresh.
Sannakji appears on many menus as a meal or late-night snack in Korea. But restaurants abroad have been criticized for serving it. In the United States, for instance, animal rights activists argue that the still-moving octopus parts must be alive, making for a slow, painful death.
Whether or not the octopus is still alive is a matter of debate, which is also tied to our evolving understanding of octopus consciousness. Among humans, death occurs when heart, breathing, or brain functions cease. No one would suspect an amputated hand of being alive and feeling pain. These parameters, however, don’t exactly apply to the unique body and mind of an octopus.
Their nervous systems are decentralized, for one: The majority of their neurons reside not in their brains, but in their tentacles. As Peter Godfrey-Smith, author of Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness, writes, “It is not clear where the brain itself begins and ends. The octopus is suffused with nervousness; the body is not a separate thing that is controlled by the brain and nervous system.”
So although the octopus is technically dead after decapitation, some argue that its neuron-packed tentacles are still alive. They still respond to stimuli, recoiling from touch or suctioning to chopsticks.
Some tasters feel a tight pull when the tentacles suction to their mouth or throat. So should you decide to eat sannakji, remember to swallow quickly.
Need to Know
Sannakji is served throughout South Korea, as well as in Koreatowns in cities around the world. It pairs especially well with a glass or two of soju. The dish also goes by the slang of just “nakji.” The Korean word for “four” is “sa,” leading to some confusion.
