Holiday Journal

• Start
•  
• Jeongdongjin
•  
• Snow Crab Festival
•  
• Hupo Port
•  
• Finish

Uljin Snow Crab Festival

is held from Feb. 27 to Mar. 1 in order to protection, promotion and sales of snow crabs, the special product of Uljin-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do. According to Uljin-gun, it's 16^th festival this year and it's the biggest festival in Uljin to let people in Korea know the excellence of Uljin snow crab and to differentiate them from the ones from other regions. The festival consists of opening ceremony and various events at Hanmaeum Square in Hupo Port. Along with it, there are special events including the exhibition to promote Uljin snow crab, display and contest of world's cuisines using crabs, demonstration of catch crabs and watching the sunrise on the ship. Plus, there are activity events such as making wishes on the crab shells, rowing on boats, joining balloon art, making incense pouches, free testing of Uljin and red snow crabs, and testing of traditional alcoholic drinks to help tourists enjoy the festival. Other than that, there are more events prepared such as the direct transaction market for Uljin eco-friendly agro-fishery products, promotion and bargain counter for red snow crabs, photo zone of fishing boats, an exhibition of calligraphic works and photo exhibition of relics from prehistoric times in Hupo. (Source: Uljin Snow Crab Festival website: http://korean.visitkorea.or.kr/kor/inut/where/festival/festival.jsp?cid=1892201)

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This is Hanmaeum Square where Uljin Snow Crab Festival is held. This place leads to Suhyup supermarket and Andong raw fish restaurant.

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I came here before any other place because of Daegae-bibimguksu(spicy noodles with snow crap) that you can eat only in Hupo Port.

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The main dish is brown Uljin snow crab and red snow crab.

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When I look into the eyes of red snow crab, I felt sorry and sad at the same time. Does it look like it's missing home?

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By the way, I see something in front of the restaurant. 'Noodles are only for those who order the crab.' My gosh, I woke up at 6 to have noodles for lunch and what the hell is happening?

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So I had to bargain with the lady and asked her if it's possible to eat noodles for lunch and I would get back in the evening to eat crab. So she said yes, and noodles costs 10,000 won for one.

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Maeuntang(fish stew) with crab was served for free.

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The common dishes didn't seem to be special but the anchovies were good quality and muk(jellied food), I don't know what it was made of, was very chewy and delicious.

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Finally snow crab noodles were served. It had enough snow crab so I was satisfied with the look even before I ate it.

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I had one big bite. The noodles taste normal like you can eat anywhere else. But I say that is one special menu that you can only eat during the snow crab season. My hands were busy with putting noodles and crabs into my mouth.

One bite of snow crab and noodles convinced me I did good to drive 350km in the early morning instead of staying in bed. lol

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After we finished Daegae Bibimguksu, we went for Daegaeppang(snow crab bun). The line was already long. There was only one place that sells snow crab bun.

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It really looks like I'm eating a snow crab. I took a photo to show my friend and he said it's gross that it looks too real. The body had adzuki beans inside while the legs had blueberries or walnuts. The surprising thing was that I thought snow crab bun wouldn't be made of real snow crab just like fish-shaped bun doesn't have fish in it but it actually contains snow crabs and powders. Probably that's why people are so into this.

I ordered two different ones. I was surprised to see many people ordered coffee here together with buns.

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Now I understand why the snow crab buns are expensive. The dough contains high portion of snow crabs and powders so the flavor spreads in mouth once you have a bite. Plus, walnuts and blueberries are inside that made them look like high-quality bread.

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Some young pretty lady told me it's good to buy one extra fresh cream to eat with them. Nice marketing strategy! I bet you won't regret it.

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Seeing them altogether made me proud like I actually caught real snow crab. Light taste and crispy bun with snow crabs and powders in it was quite new to me. Not to mention it was more delicious with fresh cream.

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The left one is red snow crab (chionoecetes japonicas) and the right one is Uljin red crab. They're not so cheaper than the ones in Seoul but they look fresh.

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The red color gets thicker under the sunlight.

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Just like any other market, there are people dickering with the merchants.

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Other than snow crabs, there were so many kinds of seafood including squids and dried filefish fillets.

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Red snow crabs on the floor at Hupo Port are sold at 50,000 won a pile on a tray because there's no fish tank such that they keep snow crabs in a red rubber container. So you could buy them then you'll be able to eat them for 2,000 won at a restaurant they chose.

Another way is to choose a restaurant where there's a fish tank then you'll eat fresh Uljin snow crab and red snow crab even if you'll have to pay a little bit more.

Uljin snow crab costs from 30 thousand won for small one to 80-100 thousand won for big one, Bakdal snow crap costs 150-250 thousand won for one, and red snow crab costs 8-20 thousand won.

Small Ujin or red snow crabs were quite cheap but they don't have much flesh to eat so considering we drove all the way to Uljin, we decided to eat one big Uljin snow crab.

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Local people's cheeks are all red just like red snow crabs selling crabs all day outside facing cold sea breezes.

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This is the winter sea behind the market. The seagulls were flying in the sky and the sea looked as cold as weather and transparent.

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A pile of red snow crabs showing off their yummy looks was attracting tourists who came a long way to taste them.