Noms – (n). Any yummy substance that people chow down on to achieve pleasure and satisfaction. Can be referred to as nomming or om nom nom to mimic the sound one makes while eating hungrily.
Earlier we talked about the Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan and showed you a bit of this famous tourist site. We really loved the access to such amazing fish noms and found ourselves eating as much of it as possible while we were there. We had Olive Flounder (which is a type of flatfish), clam bake, and (as my co-teacher puts it) “Shell Cousin,” which is just a type of shellfish.
We made a video dedicated to all the fish noms we got down on in Busan. Hope you all enjoy!
Hedgers Abroad 
Yum…looks good! Looks like a great anniversary trip…and another good adventure!
I’ve been reading through your blog for my visit to Korea really soon and the Korean nom series is having me really excited! Just a question though, how do tourists with poor Korean communicate with the vendors at traditional markets or at like Jagalchi market? My family intends to try Hwae there but we’re kinda clueless haha.
Hi Tiffany!
Thanks for reading our blog. The Noms series is easily one of our favorites because it forces us to go eat amazing Korean food, so we’re happy you’ve enjoyed it and were excited by it. In regards to ordering food with little or no Korean language skills, it’s important not to stress out. Our first few months living in Korea, we would take a photo of the sign outside where they had pictures of food and then go inside pointing to the picture of what we wanted. We couldn’t read the menus or communicate so we used photos. As you can see, we didn’t starve, and were moderately successful in getting what we wanted.
After that “mute” approach, we would do a lot of pointing and then asking please (same as “I want”) at the end. Learn how to say a few things (“please,” “how much,” “spicy?” etc.) and you can get by quite well in most cultures. Koreans are warm people and will happily guide you along in hopes that you’ll enjoy their food. Also, it helps that the Korean word for barbecue is “bah-beh-kyu.” Barbecued fish is amazing.
Most restaurants have signs and pictures of their most expensive food outside, so look for what you’re interested in trying and go forth in an adventurous and open-minded way. You might be surprised by what comes out of the kitchen, but (apart from only a handful of dishes) it’s probably going to taste good.
If you have any more specific questions, or would like any recommendations for food in certain cities, shoot us an email at hedgersabroad@gmail.com
Good luck and enjoy your time in Korea!
Ryan