Dog Day Afternoon (aka. Who Let The Dogs Out?)

So, the big day finally arrived, and although I was very excited to have a reason to begin drinking so early, thoughts of the later activities were tinged with unease. I've decided not to use much of this blog to justify my reasons for wanting to try dog meat, there are countless self-serving and pretentious discussions ongoing elsewhere online, but I suppose I should explain them briefly.

First of all, I love dogs. I don't mean in a soup, I mean as cute, fluffy, lovable pets. I genuinely love most dogs I see (even the one that ripped my shoes in Incheon), and definitely would love to have one in the future. Lassie, Eddie from Frasier, Beethoven, not to mention all dogs belonging to friends and family.....I'd never stand idly by if some wanker abused them.

Before coming to Korea, I thought the dog-eating was mostly just a myth. It turns out that, while the majority of younger generations find it as disgusting as you or I (how can I say that now?), many older Koreans still indulged on a fairly regular basis. Korean people believe that dog meat is a fantastically healthy food, particularly to give men great virility and stamina (doggy-style?), and most commonly eaten to provide sustenance in the hot and humid peak of summer.

Which brings me to the main point of controversy. If dogs were simply reared and farmed in the same style as pigs and cows, and allegedly all killed humanely, then anyone opposed to the eating of dog would have a tissue thin argument in my eyes. However, the general belief seems to be, that many of these dogs are brutally tortured in order to raise their adrenaline levels, creating tender meat full of these hormones and goodness that people deem beneficial to their health. On the other hand, many Koreans will argue that this practice is far from commonplace, and most boshintang restaurants operate using "humane" dog farms. One thing is for sure, it's something you would never be able to find a conclusive answer to, unless you planned on staking out some restaurants I guess.

At this point, as most of us are dog lovers, I've probably easily awoken a lot of sympathy for our canine friends, and even more hatred for me, the monster. Anyway, to break it down, I ate puppies because:

1. I came here to fully experience all facets of Korean culture. I'm sure many people do that without boshintang, but I realised how common it was, and that many Koreans I speak to regularly recommended it.
2. I don't believe that by me ordering it, a dog that would have lived, was forced to die. I'm not stupid, I understand if the world population one day decided to eat it, then many dogs would die. But I planned to do this one time, and never again, and doubt I affected the supply and demand between restaurant and farm.
3. After drinking all afternoon, I could've eaten a horse. Is that worse?

It's one of those situations where both sides can be easily argued to infinity, and hopefully nobody is utterly appalled with me. On the bright side, it tastes pretty bad so there's no chance of a return visit. All I know is, the owners claimed the dogs were killed humanely, and they themselves had a pet dog chained up in the driveway. Which goes some way in explaining how many people here treat dogs in two exclusively seperate categories, livestock and beloved pets. That's all that I can say, but after that justification, I'd be lying if I didn't feel a little bit strange the next day.

Ach the damage is done, here are the pictures!

(Lynne and Aneta looking happy (not eating dog))

(Northy looking happy (not eating dog))

(Dr.Oh, friend and fan of eating dog, looking happy (not eating dog tonight))

(Denis and myself looking terrified (nasty dog eaters))

We tried three dishes off the menu. First was the classic that everyone quickly learns of when you get here, boshintang (dog soup). Surprisingly, it didn't smell like wet dog like I'd heard, and actually tasted fairly decent. Had a bit of spice to it. The man who ran the place kept us informed on the proper ways to eat each dish. Next up, we had a set of dog ribs placed on a gas burner. Even though we attacked these with bravery/stupidity (depending on where you stand!) this is where things became apparent we weren't eating normal meat. Normal as us "Westerners" know it at least. The meat was very fatty, and disconcertingly tender to the point it was falling off the bone. It tasted pretty strange, and if it weren't for a whole afternoon of downing beer to "Fools and Horses", I doubt we would have finished them off. Lastly, was a plate of stir fried dog fat and skin. As delicious as it sounds, and pretty raw by the looks of it. No amount of beer would have helped us past the couple of bites each we endured. The owners said that foreigners usually enjoy it in the opposite order to us (ie. skin>ribs>soup), but that has to be lies.

(Northy tentatively prodding the Samgyetang. It's a boiled baby chicken stuffed with rice, ginseng, garlic, and other treasures. I didn't like the one I tried previously, but this one was quite tasty. Perhaps that was only relative to the main course)

(A right dog's dinner!)


(Mmmmm tender)

(The Boshintang Adventure Troupe. Can we take home a doggy bag?)

(Here Boy! Rrrrruff!)

(The old woman was quite funny, as she delayed this photo while she applied her lippy especially. I regretted not bringing a coat as it was raining cats and dogs)

After moving onto a bar owned by Denis' fantastically named Muay Thai friend, Mr. Kill, we indulged in the Korean standar bar snack of dried squid to wash the taste of pooch away. Certainly the lesser of two evils. Look at my face, after all that excitement I was dog-tired. Sorrysorrysorrysorry.