Day 30- Dog Meat

  Seoul, Korea Rep.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Today my cousins took me out to Dinner. On the menu…. DOG MEAT. Most people in Korea don’t eat the meat but the ones that do, eat it for medicinal purposes. It is a delicacy that is suppose to energize the body and give you stamina. A few days ago I asked my friend about dog meat and he inform me of how they prepare it. He said they would beat the dog and set it on fire to let all the adrenaline go to the meat. I asked my cousin about this and she said they don’t do that anymore. I asked how it was prepared and she said they only use a certain type of dog and that they electrocute it to death.  A little less inhumane but I guess it still makes all the adrenaline go to the meat. Anyways, we had it prepared two ways… the first was sliced cooked meat with green onions that were steamed. At first I was very hesitate to give it a try. I watched my cousin go first and he didn’t hesitate to take it down. So I grabbed a piece of sliced meat and dipped it in a hot pepper paste and took a bite. I was surprised by how familiar the taste was. At first I actually doubted it was dog meat. It was very tender and tasted a lot like beef with a hint of lamb. I love dogs, but it was actually pretty good. I had another bite of sliced meat and I was done with the first dish. My mother who to my surprise had never tasted dog before tonight said it also tasted a lot like beef and usually when people eat it the first time they don’t tell the person and the person never suspects anything. The second dish was a soup with similar pieces of meat throughout the stock. I grabbed a spoon and tasted the stock but I didn’t like it. It was very gamey with a hint of ginger. I hate ginger. My mother said that in different parts of Korea they cook it different ways. She said a town called Mokpo is famous for their style. I had another bite of the meat in the soup and I was done. For the medicinal purposes I didn’t feel energized and I couldn’t attest for the stamina part. Overall I thought it was a great experience but I am sure I will probably never try it again.

Tags: South Korea

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