After 3 years in Korea, I’ve finally done it.

Justin and I went out for dinner with one of our classes – for octopus. Some of the dishes were tasty and harmless. We had a tofu & kimchi dish, a seafood and noodle soup, and a rice,vegetable,spicy sauce and octopus stir-fry.

Then, there was the ‘Fear Factor’ dish I thought I would be too squeamish to try: live octopus.

The server put the plate down on the table and all the severed little tentacles were still squirming. I watched as the students tried to pry the pieces off the plate, while the little tentacle suckers were clinging tenaciously to the surface. By the time I worked up the nerve to try a piece, I was able to get a tiny little piece that had stopped wriggling. It was dead, but raw. I dipped it in some sesame oil and munched away. All I could taste was the sesame oil, so it was actually pretty good!

Next time I’m invited to an Octopus restaurant, I won’t be so hesitant to accept. It was actually a really tasty meal. However, even though my palate enjoyed it, my tender little heart still has doubts about eating food that moves.