My 보신탕 Boshin Tang experience/ dog meat soup

I had been talking nonstop to Mr Kim about eating dog meat until one Summer afternoon him and the other teachers decided to take me to the dog meat restaurant. The restaurant was deep in the village. We had to travel for almost an hour to get to the restaurant. Its a Korean thing to travel far for food. I just do not understand why most places that supposedly serve the best food are hidden very far from civilization. As far as they are, people still trek to these places. I guess it gives you more satisfaction to eat knowing that you travelled very far for the food. On our arrival at the restaurant, we were greeted by a barking dog. The dog was in no sight we just heard it barking. The first thing that came to mind was that they were preparing the dog for us – like tenderising the dog. You know how people always tenderise meat to make it soft. I've heard a lot of horror stories about the slaughtering of dogs in Korea. They apparently beat the dogs to death; to get rid of the adrenaline. At the restaurant we found a couple of salarymen from KIA motors eating something that looked like rice and a lot of green leaves. It could have been grass, you will never know. In this country everything seems to go! Usually dog meat restaurants also serve boiled chicken. I was tempted to chicken out and order chicken instead of dog but I also remembered that my companions would not have driven so far if it was not for me. So I decided to just do it. We ordered a pot full of dog meat. I couldn't tell which part of the dog we had because the meat was shredded and cooked like stew. We had to wait and let the meat cook for a few minutes before we dug in. Mr. Kim dished the meat out for us and told me to taste the meat and tell them what I thought of it. I was not comfortable eating dog meat but the aroma was just too good to resist. I was stuck between a rock and a sponge – the though of eating dog made me want to puke but the aroma of what was in front of me was too tempting. With bated enthusiasm I used my chopsticks to pick a piece of the meat and threw it in my mouth. The taste did not clash with the aroma. The meat tasted really really good. Though my mind was telling me stories, I decided to ignore it and just enjoy my meal. My companions were very pleased to see me enjoying the meat. As we were eating I was given a lesson on dog meat and the benefits of eating dog. We ate the dog soup alone washing it down with some Soju or some Chilseng Cider. When the meat was finished we ordered rice and threw it in the pot to make what is known as bokom bab. We mixed the rice with what was left over from the dog meat soup and a lot of green stuff. Just like the soup, the rice was also very very yummy. I was not surprised to find out that eating dog meat had no side effects. Here are some of the benefits that one can derive from eating dog. These are just a few that I can remember:

• It cools you down in Summer (my main reason for eating dog, my first Korean summer experience was BAD)

• It increases your stamina.

• It aids in healing. Its more like medication for almost all diseases. Patients who eat dog meat recuperate quicker than those who don't.

• It makes men more virile.

• It helps the obese lose weight...kikikiki

It was good eating the meat but I think it was a good once off experience, I doubt I will ever do it again. I also think that the alleged health benefits that one can derive from eating dog meat are not true. The summer heat got worse for me after eating dog meat.