Bosintang

Recently, I finally had the opportunity to try an old Korean delicacy: bosintang, a.k.a dog meat soup. It beings to appear in certain restaurants during the summer months because it is said to help keep the body cool in the heat (as well as working as a natural laxative, but let's not get into that). Essentially, it is similar to a lot of other Korean-style soups: some vegetables (leafy greens and onions) and some meat (in this case that of a dog) in a spicy broth served with a side of steamed rice. In addition, there is a side of sweetened gochu sauce (red chili paste) that is mixed with thinly sliced ginger and something that isn't mint but is from the mint family; the dog meat is supposed to be dipped into this. The meat itself had a lot of fatty portions attached to it that I chose to remove, and it tasted like a cross between slow-cooked beef and the dark meat of a turkey leg. In short, delicious. According to my Korean lunchtime companions, only about 25% of Koreans have ever eaten bosintang. Of the two of them, only one had tried it, and then only once. The dog is a specific breed that is raised only for slaughter. As with beondegi, my students are equally split as to whether bosintang is good or not. The other fact that separates it from other meals is that it was more expensive (8,000 won in the restaurant I went to, about twice or even three times what sun dubu jjigae or doenjang jjigae would cost). My first experience had no negatives, so I see no reason for me not to try it again.