Boshin tang (보신탕)


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Asia » South Korea » Ulsan
September 15th 2007
Published: September 27th 2007
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보신탕=DOG STEW!



That's right ladies and gentlemen. I ate Fiddo and he was SO good!

The Korean delicacy is a must when adventuring to the "Land of the Morning Calm". Many will tell you that you should follow your morals and values and "don't sell out" on your beliefs. I say bollocks! "When in Rome do as the as the Romans do". This is the belief that I follow in my life and it has lead me to many, MANY, experiences that I would have been without if I had not sucked it up and jumped right in. "If everyone jumped off a bridge would you follow?" It's not peer pressure....it's just your turn. I urge all you readers to follow this philosophy if you find yourself adventurous enough. Because the benefits definitely out way the loss.

Off of my soap box spiel and on to the actual story.

Kiwi Craig, a co-worker of mine, is tragically leaving Korea, in a couple weeks, to move on to bigger and better opportunities. (working in London as a marketing guy for Tiger Beer....bigger, definitely...better, if he loves beer!) There were a few things that he had yet to experience before he left, however, and 개고기 (dog) was one of these that was on the agenda. After one extremely long night at "W Bar", the local foreigner bar that "the group" likes to go to, Craig announced that two days later would be the time to try it and anyone who wanted to go was more than welcome to come along. This was my second full week in Korea and being that I'm the open-minded newly formed carnivore that I am said, "Sign me up!"

At around 7 pm we all met up in Samsan (new downtown) at "WA bar" (not to be confused with "W Bar", but still a foreigner bar in another district of Ulsan) and walked over to the dog restaurant. It is known by the flexing dog on the sign and is apparently a very famous dog restaurant in Ulsan. I don't remember the name, but it is a pretty famous place. ("황구정" is apparently the name, gotta love Korean friends. This is in case you find yourself in Ulsan at any time.)

There were 9 of us (8 Westerners and 1 Korean) who were all about to dine on Rover for our first time. The reservations were abound as many people kept thinking of their family pets growing up or the ones that they missed back in their home country. Everyone eventually agreed that we should no longer speak about our own "man's best friend" and down the Hite (Korean beer that many Westerners refer to as 'Shite') at the table and sit down for a new experience.

About 7 1liter bottles of Hite later (for all 9 of us) we were ready for the 보신탕 and 삼개탕 (dog stew and chicken stew). Apart from the fact that Koreans LOVE their food to be overly cooked (the boiled water is the hottest I have ever had in my life) the taste was amazing. The Samgae tang (chicken stew) I had had for lunch with Aussie Craig, other "Craig" co-worker, and his Korean wife Skye. I was basically an expert and relished the opportunity to teach the other Westerners how to eat it. The Boshin tang tastes like lamb. I swear to God my taste buds couldn't tell the difference. Everyone at the table either said it was lamb or mutton (old lamb), so it was unanimous. The stew was much tastier than the chicken stew. The meat was very yummy too.

This is where the history portion of why Koreans eat dog comes into play. It is very sad and (being a long-time dog lover) if it weren't for the cultural exprience I would never have tried it knowing what I know now:
There are three times in the year that, traditionally, Koreans eat dog. In the past it was only farmers or people who worked outside. Being that the majority of Korea has been agricultural until the last couple of decades...this was many people, both men and women. The three times that dog was digested were at the beginning of the harvest season, the middle of the harvest season and very end of the harvest season. "But why dog?" you are probably asking yourself. It is said (I have no verifiable proof on the matter) that the nutrients in gaegogi are absorbed into human muscle faster than any other meat. This is because the amino acids are more alike in between the two than they are in beef, pork, fish, or baby (just kidding!). I have heard rumor that it takes a mere couple of hours before gaegogi is pumping into human muscles whereas with chicken/fish it is 3 days, pork is 4, and beef is 5-6 (very rough estimate, but the point is the same....it's hella faster!). I do know that you get the "high" (to be refered to later) in a matter of hours...so it's possible. As I said, I don't know if this is true, it's just hearsay.

This next part, I can prove, is true. The way that the gaegogi is acquired is through very brutal methods that do make sense (give it a chance). Most of the gaegogi is farmed by...you guessed it....farmers! There are dog farms in Korea that have been govermentally approved to raise dog and take 'em to the markets. There are also other ways of acquiring the meat that does still go on. The most common uncommon method (the most common being the farms) is to go to your next door neighbors house and, while they are gone, steal the mutt. Others find the animals roaming the streets and take home dinner. It really takes the fun out of the hunt, but if a deer walked into your backyard, came up to you, started licking you, and you REALLY wanted venison for dinnner would you really let it walk away unscathed? Maybe, but you get my point.

Once the animal has been raised to the desired weight/muscle mass it is rounded up (not unlike catching a greased up pig) and corraled into a waiting area. (this is where it gets sad...so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want a heart plucker) From here (mainly in the olden days and some today, but not as popular) the dogs are strung up to a tree and beaten to death with bats. This sounds barbaric, and it truly is, but there is a point to it. The reason that this happens is because they are getting the adrenaline pumping throughout the dog, tenderizing the meat, and killing the animal all at the same time. (I made a comment about the Koreans liking things to be compact and this just follows suit.)

The adrenaline "high" later comes to be the main reason that people eat gaegogi because it is then transfered to the person eating the meat. (I swear it's true....you truly get an adrenaline high after you eat it.) In more recent times the farmers have strayed away from this barbaric method of slaughter to a more "humane" method of electrocution. The adrenaline doesn't get pumped as much and therefore it isn't liked as much either. But for gaegogi fans all over Korea it isn't stopping them from going out and ordering their favorite Korean delicacy.

After the meal it was time to get our "high" butts out on the streets on Samsan and explore more bars. That story, unfortunately, will have to come later.

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