Now, Both JweeBong and I knew what the main course was going to be: 보신탕.  Literal translation: Protector Soup, or Guardian Soup.  (dog soup).  To my surprise it didn't come out as a soup, but came out as a BBQ dish with a side of soup.  The meat was seasoned well, cooked along with veggies.  The taste was quite interesting, not nearly as gamey as I would have expected, but definitely a very unique flavor.  I must admit it might have been the most tender meat I've ever eaten.  

After dinner, we decided to head over to a HOF (aka Beer House) to chat over a drink.  It was a good time, I found out quite a bit about Ohjodoe's past, what brought him to Korea and his experience in the past five or so years since he's been here.



During the middle of the conversation he stops and and asks me if I'm okay eating something that doesn't look appealing but tastes good?  Hmmm, NO.  I'm not okay with that.  So he says fine and orders something.  A few mins later a dish comes out and it's some sort of chicken.  Of course I let Jwee taste it first, and he shakes his head in approval.  (Jwee doesn't talk much, probably because he knows about 12 english words and 30 or so Korean words.  But we end up communicating with sign language, of sorts, and by drawing pictures or pointing at pictures on the wall).  So I proceed to eat the chicken and it's pretty good.  The texture is sort of like calamari and it's seasoned quite well.  While I'm eating it, Ohjodoe mentions that some things, although they'd sound funny are really quite tasty.  I stopped and paid closer attention to what he was calling this: 닭똥집. hmmm.  Literal translation: Chicken ***** House.  (aka, Chicken rectum)!  Hmmm... I couldn't help but start laughing and as I looked over at Jwee who, still not knowing what it was, was going to town on the the Chicken. 

 

Next Ohjodoe ordered 번대기찌개.  Literal translation: Silk Worm Soup.  Hmmm... I've seen cooked silk worms here before at the 17 and Under World Cup, and it didn't look very appealing then.  Let me just say, it looked less appealing in a boiling soup!  The boiling water made the silk worms look like they were moving... Definitely something out of fear factor.  I looked up at Ohjodoe... who appropriately responded.. 로마 안에때 "When in Rome..." I clamped down and took a bite.... (Just for the record, I ate 2).  While the soup was quite good, it was hard to get over the little worms in the soup.  Even Jwee, who'd eatin ants, grasshoppers, and other crawly things couldn't get over it.. but we used peer pressure and he tried it.

All in all it was quite a night.  Soon after, Ohjodoe's wife showed up (they own a chiropractic/massage clinic) and we chatted some more.  She told us about Korea and eating interesting foods, we told her about school and America.  One of her life dreams is to see the grand canyon!  Jwee and I got back around 1Am... I was beat, but I can add a few more interesting tales to my collection.

~tim