Blow Fish Soup

I had always heard about people eating blowfish in Japan, but I didn't know until yesterday that it is quite common in Korea. Blowfish have a toxin that, if eaten, can cause paralysis or even death (aparently 1 fish has enough tetrodoxin to kill 30 humans). Many westerners are wary of blowfish restaurants, but sickness/death is rare (or so we were told). The blow chefs (as I prefer to call them) are required to have a special liscence - so why not give it a try. I'm not sure how common these types of establishments are in the rest of Korea, but you see them everywhere in Busan - just look for the friendly blowfish on the sign. The fish is served raw, fried, or in our case mixed in with a soup. I think they put two fish in each bowl of soup and its usually served on the bone. They do cut the lips off before hand and make a special banchan (side dish) out of them. It was relatively cheap ($6000 won or $6 per person) and delicious. The meat was very dense (almost like chicken). The soup was accompanied with other banchan including kimchi, pumpkin pancakes, and dried fish. Rice was also served with the soup. They put it in a piping hot stoneware bowl so the rice gets nice and crispy on the bottom - after you scoup the rice out its customary to pour water over the top and drink it afterwords (its actually pretty tasty). It was a really tasty experience and we'll probably go back soon.