Grilled hagfish over charcoal, the wriggling market grill of Jagalchi and Haeundae, doused in gochujang and eaten with soju as the coals spit.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Gomjangeo, the inshore hagfish, became Busan food during hard times, when its skin went to wallets and the meat to open-fire grills. Postwar market rows at Jagalchi and Haeundae made it a specialty: rich, springy flesh charred over briquettes, either yangnyeom-slicked in chilli paste or salt-grilled with garlic. It remains a market-lane order, a dish for benches, tongs and a bottle rather than tablecloths.
Common allergens: Fish
Tip from the editors. Blanching first stops the marinade sliding off; skip it and the chilli paste burns before the flesh cooks through.
Jagalchi Market is Korea's largest fish market, born from Busan's wartime waterfront, where you pick live seafood downstairs and eat it upstairs.
Tip: Buy on the ground floor, then pay a sitting fee at the second-floor hoe rooms to have it cut and served.
Haeundae Traditional Market packs one covered lane behind Busan's busiest beach with tteokbokki counters, grilled hagfish and gukbap kitchens.
Tip: Walk the full lane before choosing; the famous tteokbokki queue moves faster than it looks.
More cities are in research. Want gomjangeo gui covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.