April 26, 2010 – Seoul, Korea

Ok, I know, you must be thinking what kind of dish this is or is it a dish at all. This is the hard shell of shrimp, scientifically known as exoskeleton, which forms the head, thorax, and abdomen. Shrimps, or saeu in Korea, living near the water’s surface has exoskeleton often in transparent color, making them less visible to their predators.  They have a high tolerance to toxins in polluted areas, and may contribute to high toxin levels in their predators. Together with prawns, saeu are widely caught and farmed for human consumption.

Saeujeot, a variety of jeotgal (salted fermented Korean cuisine), depends its quality largely on the freshness of the saeu. In warm weather, fishermen may immediately add salt for preliminary preservation.

*credit to Wikipedia