World Food Gacha › 🇰🇷 South Korea › Hongeo-hoe 日本語

Hongeo-hoe

Fermented raw skate

SnackUR🇰🇷 South KoreaTime A few weeks (fermenting)Level Don't try at homeEasy to eat ★☆☆☆☆
Straight up the nose! That's ammonia!

What does it taste like?

A sharp ammonia smell that hits your nose, with firm, crunchy flesh. Extremely funky.

SweetSpicySourSaltyFunkSmellTextureCrunchy

What is it?

Fermented skate served raw like sashimi. It has a strong ammonia smell and is sometimes called the world's second-smelliest food. A specialty of the Jeolla region.Source: Wikipedia

How locals eat it

Stacked with boiled pork and kimchi as samhap and eaten with makgeolli. It's also served at celebrations.

Watch it

Hongeo-hoeJapaneseTap to play (YouTube)

This video is not in English. YouTube auto-translated captions can help.

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Where is it from?

🇰🇷South Korea
CapitalSeoul Populationabout 51.6 millionUN estimate for 2026 IndustriesSemiconductors, Cars, Shipbuilding, K-pop and K-dramas Common surnamesKim, Lee, ParkFrom national statistics and surname surveys; rankings vary by source
Famous peopleBTSGlobally popular group HelloAnnyeonghaseyo CurrencyWon And JapanOne of Japan's closest neighbors. Fukuoka to Busan is about 200 km Fun factPeople eat seaweed soup on their birthday The flag🇰🇷 Called the Taegukgi: white is peace, the circle in the middle is yin and yang, and the four corner symbols are heaven, earth, water and fire. From Tokyoabout 1,150 kmstraight line, Tokyo to Seoul Getting thereabout 2.5 hours from Tokyo (direct)rough guide
✈ Check cheap flights
Best timeSpring from April to May, or October to November for fall colors. Also tryBibimbapSamgyeopsalTteokbokki More from here🐛 Beondegi🐙 Sannakji🪱 Gaebul🌭 Sundae🍲 Budae-jjigae

🇰🇷 Sounds & life in South Korea

안녕하세요Hello(Annyeonghaseyo)
Hangul
Right now…
Anthem"Patriotic Song" (애국가)
MusicK-pop Pop with seriously polished singing and dancing
SportBaseball (soccer is hugely popular too)
Son Heung-min (soccer; captain of the Korean national team)
World HeritageSeokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple and more National animalTiger (unofficial) National flowerRose of Sharon (mugunghwa) FestivalChuseok (around September-October)

Ingredients

How to make it (one way)

  1. Get a fresh skate
  2. Wrap it in straw or similar and ferment it in a cool, dark place
  3. In a few weeks it develops a strong ammonia smell
  4. Slice thin like sashimi
  5. Eat with boiled pork and kimchi
⚠️ The smell is overwhelming, so fermenting it at home isn't recommended.
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