Dog

Re: Eating Dog - If people eat dog, now and for hundreds (and hundreds?) of years, there's something to it, something I haven't considered. Right. So, while Chris and I both felt conflicted and emotionally unsettled about eating dog, we both agreed this was a chance that would not likely come again. Here's my review: It was quite tender... a mix of pork and beef. The dishes we had were very fatty. We tried dog spicy, steamed and in a stew - all three ways the restaurant served it. I talked myself up to it by telling myself 'Go big or go home', and I had traveled too far to go home now.

It was relatively hard to find a restaurant that served dog. The ladies in Chris' adult moms' English class were instrumental. After trying to convince Chris not to eat dog, these three very sweet and kind women called every person they knew to find us a place. As they relayed it, eating dog is not common in Korea, and it is "looked down upon". The Korean government doesn't condone eating dog and, in an effort to discourage such a practice, doesn't regulate it in the same manner as other meats. My understanding is that the practice was more common in the past and among poor folks and those rural areas. Dog is believed to increase "male" endurance, so it costs about 2-4x what other dinners would (it cost 22,000 won, which is about $20, per person). As far as I understand, Korean women don't and didn't eat dog - it's a man thing.

All in all, I am glad to have tried dog, conditioned guilt on the side and all, but I don't plan to revisit it for the time being (unless, perhaps, someone visits and is looking for try it).