Ansan Station Market

After a disappointing outing to a non-existent racing event, I decided on a late lunch at Ansan Station Market. I had to go past there to get home, so why not use the opportunity, right?

I'm not sure what the rest of Ansan is like, but the market area at the station is a hub for peoples from all around the Eastern part of the Asian continent. It is known for vendors who sell food and wares from the home countries of the various people milling about, as well as a large collection of non-Korean restaurants that cater largely to the nationals from these same countries.


I ended up having a meal at what I think was a Vietnamese restaurant, tasty, before making my way slowly through the market back towards the station.

Something that strikes me every time I’m in a place like this is the meat on display. It's never at safe temperatures, and it's always displayed in ways that would make many a Westerner shiver in disgust.


Any idea why they thought it a good idea to display the pic’s head like this? That is indeed the tongue, if you were wondering.


The next image is of dog meat. I have no moral qualms about eating dog meat. I understand that many people see dogs only as a pets, but for a few hundred million people the very idea of eating beef is disgusting and immoral. Strange that we somehow rationalise that as something of no concern. What does bother me is how they animals are killed. People who eat the meat tend to be older folk, and they are often of the more superstitions, uninformed types out there. They still believe that by beating the animal before you kill it, you improve the taste. Apparently it has something to do with the adrenalin. This is, of course, a rubbish theory.

There are markets in Korea that sell dog meat. I have never been to one, but I have heard stories. Carcasses on top of the cages of live animals. The smell of burnt off hair that hangs in the air. And the cries of dogs being tortured before they are killed.


I have never actually seen dog meat being sold in a market though. Not in Korea, or any of the other Asian countries that are known to eat it. And I can assure you that I have been into many markets to see what they look like.

Not everything at Ansan Station Market was disgusting though. Most of the food and wares were rather normal to my eyes, although I can’t say anything about the taste :)