Tight clusters on rocky shores, both battered and fed by the crashing waves. The banks of these filter feeders, exposed for the time being by the low tide, are much easier to reach for harvesting than the fare usually collected by the Haenyeo (해녀) of Jeju.
The rough and pitted surface of the volcanic island’s coastline provides all the texture necessary for these bivalves to fasten themselves securely, and their abundant presence begs for moving with care along the edges of the rock. It would have done me no good to have made the trip all the way down from Seoul, on one of the most turbulent flights I’ve ever experienced, to step poorly and lose a foot or myself into the water beyond.
There was little incentive anyway to risk my own well being trying to pick through the mussels when the Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market back in town offered piles of the sea’s and shore’s bounties but chosen, cleaned, and prepared by far more skilled professionals. I just hope my shameful secret is never discovered, that I opted for the garlic fried chicken from 경성통닭 that evening instead of fresh seafood.