An old man in South Korea had a heart attack because he choked on a live octopus. The octopus was still moving when he ate it and it is a popular food in that area.
The fire station in Gwangju received a call on Monday morning about a man who was choking on a piece of san-nakji, a type of food.
When the people who help first arrived at the place, the man’s heart stopped, and they tried to bring him back to life by doing CPR, said the official.
The official did not say if the man is still alive.
San-nakji is a type of small octopus that is cut and eaten raw. People in South Korea who live near the coast or visit seafood markets often enjoy eating it.
The dish is called “live octopus,” but that’s not completely true – the octopus is actually killed before it’s served, and its tentacles are cut into pieces.
However, the octopus is served right after cutting, and it is so fresh that its tentacles’ nerves are still active. This makes the octopus look like it is still alive as it moves on the plate.
San-nakji is usually eaten with sesame oil, sesame seeds, and occasionally ginger. It has a rubbery texture.
It showed up on a 2015 episode of Anthony Bourdain’s CNN show “Parts Unknown,” when the famous chef and TV host went to South Korea to try various things like soju, Korean fried chicken, and san-nakji. Bourdain used his chopsticks to remove a sticky tentacle from the plate.
The food dish we’re talking about has been in the news before. Local media has reported that there have been cases in the past where people have died after choking or being unable to breathe because of eating “live octopus. ”
In a well-known case called the “octopus murder,” a man from South Korea was given a life sentence in 2012 for supposedly killing his girlfriend and saying it was an accident involving san-nakji. However, in 2013, the Supreme Court found him not guilty because there wasn’t enough evidence.
Date:
Korean man, 82, suffers heart attack after choking on meal of ‘live octopus’
