It’s summer in Korea and yesterday was one of the hottest days ever (in my book) even if it wasn’t a “bok nal” or “dog days”. “Bok nal” refers to the three hottest days of summer, based on the lunar calendar. This year, the first bok nal called “cho bok” is on July 15; the second one called “jung bok” is July 25 and the last one, called “mal bok” is on August 14. On these days, Koreans prepare special food said to strengthen the bodies during those hot days.
“Boshintang/mongmongtang/yeongyangtang” or “dog stew” is eaten for the “bok nal”. Koreans believe that dog meat ensures good health during the summer days. Now, most prefer to have “samgyetang” or “ginseng chicken”, a spring chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and boiled with ginseng roots, chestnuts, dates, garlic, onion and leeks. I just love samgyetang that I have it not only in the summer but during the cold days as well. I love eating it with newly made kimchi!
During the summer season, Koreans prepare special food to cool them down. More on this later.
Here’s a recipe for samgyetang/ginseng chicken from the koreankitchen.
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never failed to eat boshintang every summer since 2004
hehe
hi, betchay! i’m just wondering why the price of beef is so high in korea. when i watch kdramas, they always mention of eating beef during special ocassions. a vet friend said that korea’s cattle industry is one of the smallest in the world. they’re also so paranoid about importing beef for fear of mad cow etc. etc. and yet, they have no qualms about eating dog food! why is this so?
Goodness, ellen! I hope you are joking. Why would you make such an assumption? I don’t live in Korea but I don’t think they eat dog food there!
i stand corrected, i should have posted dog meat not dog food!
@ellen >> korea has recently started importing beef from the US… australian beef is also available in korea but for them, the best beef is “han-u” or korean beef… it’s really expensive! if you go to a “han-u” restaurant, expect to pay 25,000 won ($26) for a 200 g order of beef… for koreans, “han-u” is the best beef (not really sure though since i’ve had better beef elsewhere)… regarding dog meat, not a lot of koreans eat them as much as before… in my husband’s family, only his father eats dog meat, and it’s also very expensive so they usually just eat it during the summer… last month, my sister-in-law bought dog meat for my FIL and it costs 200,000 won ($200)
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