Boshingtang
There's this real fringe-of-society kinda character that I know -- not a friend, not a buddy -- just someone I sort of know (some arrogant people might call him a loser, but who's to say what path in life is right?), since I run into him every now and then at this awesome dive bar that I occasionally hit. A real character, with all sorts of fascinating problems. Well, he complained about how his doggie had gotten really cranky and bitey in its old age, so he was looking to put it down. The dog was part of an inheritance from his mother, and affixed to the condition that he had to look after it until it died, but he'd just about had about enough of the little carpet shark -- it's a dwarf terrier or something, I think.
So when I told him about this Korean soup made from dog meat, called Boshingtang, he was pretty conflicted. I would talk to this guy about food whenever I saw him (mind you, I talk to everybody about food), and he'd always be fascinated by it although he never cooks, himself. He just loved the idea that I'd eaten things like snails, pickled eggs and whale meat. The fact that he lives in a trailor park and is unemployed (and that the local vet apparently charges $50 for that sort of things, while I offered to compensate him $20 for the same service) probably affected his decision more than me talking about the food, mind you...
Well at any rate, he agreed. So this became a pretty interesting deal for me. I've never tried cooking dog before, although I've always wanted to.
It's a pretty simple recipe, but some of the items aren't easily available in the US. Hell, I tried asking for some of them in various Asian markets, and was met with nothing but cold stares -- some of them even cussed at me.
But this is the recipe I ended up with:
Prep:
2 lb dog meat
2 quarts of water
3 lemongrass stalks
1/2 cup soy sauce
Soup:
1 quart of water
2 lb sliced onions
10 cloves
3" cinnamon stick
16 cloves of garlic
4" stick of ginger
4 sliced Serrano chilies
1 lb. small red potatoes
4 tbsp coarsley ground black pepper
2 tbsp salt
1. Slaughter and skin one small dog, yielding about 2 lb.
2. Bring a saucepan with water to a simmer, and add the dog carcass, lemongrass stalks and soy sauce, for 3 hours.
3. Remove meat from carcass (it's no different from a chicken) and set aside.
4. Combine the ingredients from the soup in another saucepan and simmer, while skimming, for 1 hour.
5. Add the dog meat to the soup saucepan, let simmer for 1/2 hours. Serve.
So when I told him about this Korean soup made from dog meat, called Boshingtang, he was pretty conflicted. I would talk to this guy about food whenever I saw him (mind you, I talk to everybody about food), and he'd always be fascinated by it although he never cooks, himself. He just loved the idea that I'd eaten things like snails, pickled eggs and whale meat. The fact that he lives in a trailor park and is unemployed (and that the local vet apparently charges $50 for that sort of things, while I offered to compensate him $20 for the same service) probably affected his decision more than me talking about the food, mind you...
It's a pretty simple recipe, but some of the items aren't easily available in the US. Hell, I tried asking for some of them in various Asian markets, and was met with nothing but cold stares -- some of them even cussed at me.
But this is the recipe I ended up with:
Prep:
2 lb dog meat
2 quarts of water
3 lemongrass stalks
1/2 cup soy sauce
Soup:
1 quart of water
2 lb sliced onions
10 cloves
3" cinnamon stick
16 cloves of garlic
4" stick of ginger
4 sliced Serrano chilies
1 lb. small red potatoes
4 tbsp coarsley ground black pepper
2 tbsp salt
2. Bring a saucepan with water to a simmer, and add the dog carcass, lemongrass stalks and soy sauce, for 3 hours.
3. Remove meat from carcass (it's no different from a chicken) and set aside.
4. Combine the ingredients from the soup in another saucepan and simmer, while skimming, for 1 hour.
5. Add the dog meat to the soup saucepan, let simmer for 1/2 hours. Serve.
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