UPDATE: More complete travelogue tonight, with more pictures.
ORIGINAL POST: Spent Sunday running around Seosan-si, a small town in Chungcheongnam-do. Most of my photos are for possible magazine use, but I’ll post a couple of shots anyway.
Just playing around with black-and-white, just because it’s the pretentious thing to do.
This is “dakdoritang” my wife and I ordered ala “yasik” at a motel in Seosan. Dakdoritang is a spicy chicken soup — it would be a bright red if the photo weren’t taken in black and white. Interestingly enough, its name is a source of controversy — the “dori” is Japanese for “chicken,” which not only makes the name translate as “chicken chicken soup,” but is also viewed by some as a linguistic vestige of Japanese imperialism.
Neither of us knew that when we ordered the dish, however.
Another pretentious black-and-white shot, this time of a memorial just outside the West Gate of Haemi Fortress. This is where many of the 8,000 Korean Catholics slaughtered during the Byeongin Persecution of 1866 met their fate. More specifically, this is where the Catholics who refused to desecrate Catholic holy objects were killed — the rest were brought into the fortress and executed there.
The Buddhist temple of Gaesim-sa (”Open Your Heart Temple”) might be small and a real bitch to get to (there’s no direct bus, and unless you’re lucky enough to be offered a ride, it’s a three km walk from the nearest bus stop just to get to the front gate), but it really is worth the effort. The Simgeomdang Hall, seen here, is how Korean temple buildings should look, IMHO. Natural, unpolished, and very intimate. You feel good just looking at it.
Two pairs of shoes outside the door? Hmmm…
I think he likes the camera. Photo taken on the mudflats near Ganwol-am Hermitage.
Of course, there is always the slideshow.
6 Comments
The best way to avoid the imperialist flavoring of takdoritang is to just eat the vegetables, and leave the chicken meat for the running dog sympathizers and their slovenly collaborator ilk. Not only is it lower in cholesterol and Niacin, but it also contributes to reducing Han throughout society.
Most restaurants usually give diners an empty pail for them to discard of this imperial legacy, but if they don’t, you can just ask.
Thanks for the tip.
On a more serious note, though, some people apparently call it “gakboggeumtang,” although I’ve never heard someone call it that (or seen it on a menu like that).
There have been books written about just how many “hidden” Japanese loanwords are in common use in Korea. I do wonder if the effort to replace them will be (I suppose replace is not the right word, but you know what I mean). A couple of good examples of successful replacements within recent memory have been “조선시대” for “이조시대” and 초등학교 for 국민학교.
For my money, Gaeshimsa is quite possibly the most beautiful temple in the country.
I’d come across the dakdoritang ‘controversy’ when I came across this. Did you discover the this at the restaurant (ie. someone told you the ‘correct’ way to say it) or later? I ask because all of my friends who are in their late 20s or 30s use ‘dakdoritang’, but if I say that word to students in high school or younger, I’m immediately told “It’s dakbokkeumtang!”, said as vehemently as if they were correcting the use of “Sea of Japan”. What I wonder is where they’re getting this from. Schools? The internet?
I got it from the Internet when I was doing the post. And like I’ve said, I’ve never heard anyone refer to the dish as anything other that dakdoritang.
Looks good, even in black and white. I’ve also run into the dakdorit’ang / dakbokkeumt’ang word war also. Most of my university students call it dakbokkeumt’ang while my in-laws and friends in there 30s+ go by the Japanese loan word.
On a side note, my in-laws prepare it 9/10 when my wife and I visit as my father-in-law goes for some old tradition where the wife’s family is supposed to serve a chicken when the son-in-law visits. Hadn’t heard of the tradition in any Korean culture book, just something my wife told me. Might be a Lee / Yi family tradition I guess.