Hot Dog

I'm teaching some morning classes during winter break at the school where Clark works and noticed this place across the street today.

It was immediately evident that they weren't serving western-style hotdogs from the hangul "Korean alphabet characters" 보신탕 (bo-shin-tang); bo-shin translates to 'body strengthening/protecting' and tang means 'soup'. Put it all together and you've got 'dog meat soup'.

Consumption of dog meat is a long-standing tradition in Korea that has fallen out of fashion with the younger generations and is, in fact, illegal now (though that doesn't seem to be deterring anyone). Those who do it eat, do so primarily for its supposed health benefits and aphrodisiac properties.

Clark has eaten it a handful of times in his younger years and describes the meat as "tender, but stinky and greasy". As for me, I'm more than happy to abstain.