Sokcho market fried seafood reheated at home: Hwangbuja Twigim

There are a few dishes you can't skip when talking about must-eat spots at Sokcho Jungang Market. Among them, the market's famous fried snacks!! Back in the day, saessi hotteok (seed-filled sweet pancakes) were the huge hit and people lined up for them, but trends shift and the market's popular spots change along with them. I visited "Hwangbuja Twigim," a fried food shop you can't skip on a Sokcho trip.

Hwangbuja Twigim's location, parking, and hours

🏡 Address: 16 Jungang-ro 147beon-gil, Sokcho, Gangwon, stalls 26-27 inside Sokcho Jungang Market

For parking, use the Sokcho Tourist Fish Market lot across from Sokcho Jungang Market (the market's official name is Sokcho Tourist Fish Market) — buy something at Hwangbuja Twigim and they'll give you a 30-minute free parking voucher.

⏰ Hours: closed every Wednesday, open Mon, Tue, Thu-Sun 08:00-20:30.

The fried food shop from that potato pancake scene on I Live Alone

This is the fried food shop that appeared on MBC's variety show I Live Alone when it filmed at Sokcho Jungang Market on May 20, 2020 — the episode featured a potato pancake from Hwangbuja Twigim. Coming here in person, I could see why it made it onto TV; the sheer variety of fried items is enormous.

Back then overseas travel was restricted because of COVID, so people were traveling domestically more than usual, and there was a rumor(?) that the East Sea coast in Gangwon barely had any COVID cases, making it feel especially "clean." Sokcho Jungang Market, the same one featured on I Live Alone! These days it's officially named the harder-to-remember Sokcho Tourist Fish Market, though.

So many kinds of fried food it's hard to take in at a glance

The variety of fried items is endless if you try to count them, and the portions are huge too. I had a hard time ordering since I couldn't take it all in at once — if you have a little patience, it'd help to ask the owner what's tasty and most popular.

The signature dish turned out to be nurungji squid sundae

Nurungji squid sundae (crispy rice squid sausage), griddled fresh to order — I only found out after getting home and searching online that this is Hwangbuja Twigim's signature menu item. What good does regretting it now do~~ ugh. Thinking back, I remember the people standing in line next to me waiting for it. Haha~

Fried squid, mixed tempura, red snow crab tempura, one bag of each for ₩10,000

Freshly re-fried items. Fried squid ₩10,000 a bag, mixed tempura ₩10,000 a bag, red snow crab meat tempura ₩10,000 a bag. I bought a good variety and quite a lot. Since it was hot, they left the paper bag open before putting it in a plastic bag, and I carried it straight home. There was seating inside the store, so if I'd had more time I might have eaten there.

Reheated at home in the air fryer for 5 minutes

The Hwangbuja Twigim goodies, cooled down and carried carefully home~ I didn't get a chance to eat any in Sokcho, so I didn't touch a bite and brought it all home nicely to reheat. Five minutes in the air fryer and it was warmed through perfectly. I kept it short since I worried too long would make it hard, but I think a heated pan would work well too.

The red snow crab tempura was genuinely pure crab meat, the pepper tempura genuinely just pepper

Sokcho is famous for red snow crab, and it was great that the red snow crab tempura had actual crab meat inside, not fish cake or crab-flavored surimi mixed in — it was truly just the meat. The plump squid, the Gangwon potato, and the perilla leaf all tasted familiar and were easy to eat without any hesitation.

The pepper tempura was purely just fried pepper, which threw me off a bit, but I figured that in Sokcho they must fry the peppers without stuffing anything inside.

That wrapped up a fun food-focused trip to Sokcho, and what stays with me most is the beautiful Sokcho sea and the delicious food. For my next visit to Hwangbuja Twigim, I'm absolutely getting the nurungji squid sundae freshly griddled to order by the owner. Haha~ Let's go again~!!