Seomyeon Market, Pohang Pork Soup
Usually, when people think of Seomyeon(Busan), they think of places to eat, drink, and have fun.
However, there is also an old traditional market in Seomyeon.
“A traditional market in Seomyeon, Busan?”
Even when I was very young and used to go to Seomyeon, there was a market.
However, most people who visit Busan remember Seomyeon as a place to eat, drink, and have fun.
If you’re using the Busan subway to get to Seomyeon, you can find the market by coming out of Exit 7 of Seomyeon Station on Line 2 and walking down Bokgae-ro a bit, or if you’re coming from Line 1, it’s not far from Exit 1 of Seomyeon Station.
Coming out of Exit 1, you’ll see a large signboard for Seomyeon Market on the main road, and if you turn into the alley, you’ll find Ediya Cafe.
The street you see to the left of Ediya is Seomyeon Market Street.
Ta-da!! Seomyeon Market.
When you think of a market, you might first think of a place selling vegetables, greens, and fruits, but Seomyeon Market is a bit different from that traditional market scene.
Although I’m not sure if it had the appearance of a traditional market in the past, at least from my memory, the current appearance seems to be the image of Seomyeon Market.
Its official name is ‘Seomyeon Comprehensive Market.’
It was established voluntarily by people who gathered from all over the country after the Korean War.
At the time of its creation, instead of the traditional market scene we know, they built buildings and created a ‘building market’ where various goods were sold.
This unique aspect created the distinctive appearance of Seomyeon Market.
While there are many entertainment facilities like arcades and game rooms, it still maintains the atmosphere of a market.
Anyway, you can find all of Busan’s delicacies within these narrow streets.
The most common thing you’ll see is pork soup, but you can also find milmyeon (wheat noodles) and market kalguksu (Handmade noodles).
I had a gathering in Busan, so I arrived in Busan on a 6 a.m. flight. Since I had some time and needed breakfast, I decided to stop by my regular pork soup(êµë°¥, Guk-bap) restaurant in Seomyeon.
As always, the aunties at Busan’s pork soup restaurants can be a bit gruff.
But in that roughness, you can see their great warmth and attention to detail, which is their charm.
If there were an original for the term tsundere, it would probably be the aunties at Busan’s pork soup restaurants.
Before even sitting down, they bring water and wet towels and ask what you’d like to eat.
“What can I get you?”
“One of pork soup, please.”
When Busanites order pork soup at a pork soup restaurant, they don’t say, “Please give me a serving of pork soup.” Usually, just say, “One serving of soup, please,” omitting the word “pork.”
And if you say it that way, the auntie, as if it were obvious,
“Number 12, one serving!”
she’ll shout out loud to the kitchen.
It’s like an unspoken agreement we’ve all reached.
This ordering style is mainly used when ordering pork soup or sundae gukbap (blood sausage soup) in Busan.
I couldn’t take a close-up photo of the menu.
I took a picture of the menu and prices from a distance.
A bowl of pork soup costs 8,500 won.
Compared to Seoul, Busan is still a bit cheaper.
Since there are many entertainment facilities like bars and clubs in Seomyeon Market, many people eat and drink until dawn and then stop by a pork soup restaurant for a hangover cure before going home.
The combination of pork soup and hangover-curing soju is truly a perfect match.
At 8 a.m., there were tables inside the pork soup restaurant that seemed reluctant to leave.
The familiar Busan dialect heard everywhere adds an extra layer of excitement, especially when I pretend to be a Seoulite listening in on their conversations.
When you come alone, they serve you like this on a tray.
When I was young, I used to call a tray “obong” in Japanese style pronunciation.
It wasn’t until middle school that I learned “obong” was a Japanese expression.
And when a nakji bokkeum (stir-fried octopus) restaurant called Obok Jip opened near my office recently, I was a bit surprised but also delighted to know its meaning.
After receiving my order, I noticed that the composition of the pork soup meal I used to eat frequently had changed a bit.
I prefer to have cabbage kimchi when eating pork soup and always eat it with onions. But today, for some reason, they didn’t come together.
As I ate, I saw kimchi and onions on the table next to me, and only then did I look around the store and notice the self-service corner for additional side dishes, where there were kimchi, onions, and even additional garlic!
Now it felt like I finally had the pork soup meal I wanted.
I like to put whole cloves of garlic in my soup when eating pork soup.
Doing so allows the garlic to slightly cook in the hot broth while eating, making it tender, and it also reduces the spiciness of the garlic, making it easier to eat without feeling overwhelmed.
When eating pork soup, many people look for cheongyang chili peppers, but they’re rarely served with the soup at first. However, if you ask separately, the auntie will often give them to you.
And this is something I’ve noticed after eating sundae gukbap several times in Seoul: the difference between eating pork soup or sundae gukbap in Busan and Seoul lies in the broth.
In Seoul, when you order additional broth for sundae gukbap, they usually give you a broth with perilla seeds or other seasonings. But in Busan, if you ask for additional broth, they give you a clear, light broth in a bowl.
Most of the time, pork soup is made without mixing seasoning or flour into the broth, so you can enjoy the true taste of the pork soup.
If you want to enjoy the true flavor of pork soup, I recommend halfway through your meal, adding some broth and trying it.
As always, you must scrape the pot clean when eating pork soup.
Eating pork soup feels like taking a well-cooked herbal medicine.
You wrap the soft white rice in the hot, thick soup, and it feels like you’re savoring a spoonful of perfectly brewed tonic.
After finishing the pork soup, I walked back into the alleys of Seomyeon Market.
I saw people diligently boiling soup broth at the entrance of another pork soup restaurant.
It reminded me of the grandmothers who used to prepare and serve the soup right away in a large pot when I used to eat pork soup here during my school days.
Pork soup in Busan means more to me than just a meal.
In the afternoon, street stalls like food trucks line the middle of the alleys in Seomyeon Market.
There, you can taste more of Busan’s street food, such as tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), sundae (blood sausage), odeng (fish cakes), mul-tteok (rice cakes in soup), pajeon (scallion pancakes), and jeongguji jjim (Fried Chives cake).
Because it was early in the morning after the evening business hours, I couldn’t see any food trucks selling street food.
Perhaps because of that, the market alleys felt strangely quiet.
There is a movie that well represents Seomyeon Market.
It’s a film called “Baram (2009),” which is based on actor Jung Woo’s real-life story.
The scene where the main character ‘Jjanggu’ gets into a quarrel with a neighboring school takes place right here in Seomyeon Market.
I remember being completely absorbed in the movie because it truly portrayed the essence of Seomyeon Market as I know it.
[Movie Trailer for “Baram (2009)”]
I spent my school days in Busan, and as someone who experienced Seomyeon during a time similar to ‘Jjanggu’ in the movie, I found it very relatable.
The actors’ dialect performances were so natural that it felt like having a conversation with friends, making the movie very immersive.
As I left Seomyeon Market and headed to my appointment, I saw that Cong Cafe in Seomyeon was undergoing interior renovations in preparation for its opening.
I was surprised to learn that the Cong Cafe I tasted during my recent trip to Vietnam is opening in Busan!
Upon searching, I found that there are branches in Seoul, including Itaewon, Yeonnam-dong, and Jamsil.
Why didn’t I know there were branches in Seoul?
I had naturally assumed there were no branches in Korea.
When I go to Seoul, I’ll have to find Cong Cafe and have a sweet condensed milk tea.