Eating on Jeju

Jeju is a volcanic island with its own dialect, farming habits and table. Its food grew out of limits: little rice-friendly water, a long ban on leaving the island, and a coast worked by divers. The result is a cuisine of pork, seafood, buckwheat and citrus that differs from the mainland. More background is on the Jeju region page.

Why Jeju eats differently

VisitKorea explains that from 1629 residents were barred from migrating to the mainland, an order that lasted more than two hundred years. The ban discouraged large boats, so people relied more on farming and livestock than on deep-sea fishing. Volcanic soil held little water, which favored dry-field crops over rice. Households usually raised just one or two pigs, so pork was a food of celebrations.

Black pork

Heukdwaeji (black pork) comes from a small, dark-skinned island breed. VisitKorea says the fat contains less moisture than regular pork and is chewier, and notes that most pork served as black pork in restaurants comes from crossbreeds rather than the native pigs. Grilling over charcoal or on a plate is the most popular way to eat it, and the page suggests trying a bite with a little salt before wrapping it in lettuce. The pork basics are in pork. Beyond the grill, VisitKorea lists:

• Dombegogi: boiled pork sliced thickly and served on a cutting board.
• Gogi-guksu: noodles in a rich pork bone broth.
• Momguk: a soup made with gulfweed seaweed.
• Sundae: a local blood sausage stuffed with buckwheat and seonji. Compare with the mainland style in sundae.
• Salted anchovy sauce (meljeot) served as a dip with grilled pork.

Haenyeo seafood

The haenyeo, Jeju's women divers, harvest mostly abalone and sea urchin, diving about ten meters on a held breath without oxygen masks, according to UNESCO, which inscribed their culture in 2016. Their story is in the haenyeo. On the table, the catch appears as raw seafood at markets and coastal stalls, in abalone porridge and as grilled abalone. See abalone for the ingredient. Eating seafood raw has its own precautions, covered in food safety at home and seafood, omega-3 and mercury.

Tangerines

A Korea Herald history of Jeju citrus notes that the island was known for citrus long before the modern era, and that the Joseon state managed orchards there to supply the king. The standard mandarin, gamgyul, traces to trees brought from Japan in 1911. The larger, sweeter hallabong is grown in greenhouses and harvested in winter. The article counts at least 126 citrus varieties on the island. See gyul for the ingredient.

Markets

VisitKorea calls Dongmun Market the largest traditional market in Jeju City, selling produce, seafood and souvenirs, with food such as omegi rice cakes, buckwheat crepes filled with radish and sliced raw fish. Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market is described as the largest in Seogwipo, formed in the early 1960s and now running about 620 meters; it also deals in produce and seafood. For how markets work generally, see traditional markets and the market notes in five-day markets.

Planning tips

• Buckwheat appears often (noodles, crepes, sundae). If you avoid specific allergens, read allergens in Korean food.
• Hours, stalls and prices change; check Visit Jeju or the market's own listing before you go.