Korean cuisine is world-renowned for its particular flavors such as kimchi and bulgogi, and Korean people are known for their ability to eat and drink a lot during a meal. Some of the same tolerance for the amount of delicious food and beverages you’ll find while traveling throughout Korea can be applied to smaller doses of more unique foods available to the adventurous.

First off, how about bugs? Bundaegi are silkworm pupae that you can find at the corner store or simmering on the streetside. These brown bugs look like small beetles and have the color of a copper coin. You’ll get more than a penny’s worth of experience out of these little guys when you take a bite, as the combination of unique flavor and texture stick with you for at least a few minutes, and maybe a few years.

That indelible memory comes along with another rather unique Korean culinary experience, the eating of live octopus. Sannakji is a sesame-seasoned dish of live octopus that has been cut up quickly and then served. The suction cups are often still functional when this octopus is eaten, which can present a choking hazard. Whether you chew well is up to you, and if you prefer, you can eat the whole thing without it being cut into pieces.

Whatever you decide to try, your affable restaurant hosts (or travel companions who have been to Korea before) will help educate you and, when necessary, encourage you to take the right steps on what can be an ambitious culinary journey in Korea. As many who go for the authentic, sometimes squirm-inducing foodstuffs can attest, once you set your mind to eating these interesting foods, you have to commit to it!