Hey you asked me what I learned today, that's what I just learned thanks to @penderis.

Upon waking up I checked my notifications on Busy.Org and surprise surprise, a Penis Fish was waiting for me. Hahahaha. A few days ago I asked what's the best exotic food and that's the answer I got + a bit of SBD!

No of course this is not about Candiru, the other penis fish, which is a variety of small catfish that can allegedly go up a man's urethra because hey, its supposedly parasitic. This is about a worm, an edible sea worm.

What is Gaebul?

Gaebul (개불) is Korean for Urechis unicinctus, also known as The Fat Inkeeper Worm or yes, Penis Fish. It is actually a worm, a big fat marine spoon worm.(1) It is also native to Japan, China and Russia. There are other kinds of spoon worms of course, some were also found in Los Angeles, California.

Koreans usually eat it raw and also freshly prepared in street markets, if you happen to be in one.

Wanna see it moving about? If you're kind of queasy please do not watch it. 

What Does Penis Fish Taste Like?

Quit chuckling and let's take this post seriously, come on people! Only Koreans know what this tastes like, and the Chinese, Japanese and Russians... like other people haven't tasted it? Hahaha.

So based on Bburikitchen website, it is said this tastes kind of sweet if washed in sea water (2)

Also corroborated by agogolihack's comment under the YouTube vid I linked. Hey she's a 70+ years old lady from the Philippines so I guess we have them here too!

If you use tap water to rinse it, it will be a little less sweet or kind of bitter too according to the above website and the person who commented. Plus it is chewy too and is best eaten fresh. But of course you can cook it into dishes like you've seen in the video.

Another person says it tastes like clam and that you might get sprayed with salt water if you bite into it. Huh, maybe that'll happen if you don't remove the innards and eat it while it's still alive (like they eat small live octopuses in Korea.)

(source)

Imagine seeing this upon waking up, would you be hungry for it? :P Personally it looks like some longganisa based on the picture. You know, the uncooked version encased in pig intestines. (3)

How to Eat This Spoon Worm

Oh you should know very well now how this is eaten. It's best eaten RAW (and still squirming). I mentioned it above silly! And you can see in the video it was still squirming while being cut up.

Is watching the video too painful for guys, er, for people to watch? I've seen the sea cucumber version when I blogged about it so I wasn't too shocked anymore. I dunno about you but if you like watching horror shows maybe you weren't put off by it either.

Not only should the marine spoon worm be eaten raw and rinsed with salt water but Koreans usually prepare it sliced diagonally and garnished or dipped in salt and sesame oil. It can also be eaten whole if you'd like that. Make sure to cut off both ends and clean it well first.

Best time to look for it according to the Korean food blog I mentioned? Between December to March when it is sweeter and plumper. Mmmm hmmm. Hahaha, I guess the time to find the best ones is past. Too bad.

The Chinese also eat this stir-fried and powdered to add to umami (4), as you can also read on Wikipedia.

Should you eat this?

Well a lot of you Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Russian people might be eating this regularly, but most of us probably haven't. Or maybe just the single ones? Just kidding. Haha. Have you tasted this sliced and still squirmy? I haven't, have you?

It is said that this food is an aphrodisiac and very healthy. I can't find any nutrition facts on it though but it eats plankton or seaweed and mud (5)... so maybe it's as healthy as eating a sea cucumber. At least this seems to be not on the verge of extinction like sea cucumbers. (6) So go eat more Gaebul than sea cucumbers people, puhleeez!!!

So anyway, let's watch another Gaebul food review. I might try eating this once, eh, ok maybe more or depends if it tastes good. Uhm, just watch the video.

Maybe I should start hunting for this down south eh? Perhaps I'll go to wet markets to find one or two when I go to some beach down there.If it is even sold there. Living in the northern islands make you wanna explore the southern ones, perhaps I will find this exotic marine worm there. Haha.

If you don't want to eat it, you can use it as fish bait instead. Perhaps the smaller ones because if you use the big sausage sized ones, maybe you'll get a really hungry shark or something? Haha.

What about you? Have you found a penis fish and eaten it yet? I have good timing in seeing the TIL contest post eh? Hahahaha.

XOXO,

@artgirl

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