From dog meat soup to boiled rabbit, Pyongyang recommends eating a 'revitalising' diet to survive the hottest days of the year. Daily NK reports

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

When the summer heat strikes the Korean peninsula, it's not ice or water that North Korea's authorities recommend to get through the sweltering conditions – it's dog meat, among other "revitalising" foods.

On the Korean peninsula, the three hottest days of the year are known as sambok, which usually takes place in mid-July (the dates depend on the lunar calendar), and are a time of feasting for Koreans to energise tired bodies and improve appetites.

In South Korea, soups such as samgyetang (made with chicken and ginseng) and dog meat are popular at this time of year, and the North is no different.

In 2013, the state-run Korean Central News Agency released an article with the headline The three hottest days of summer and foods for revitalisation in North Korea, explaining that “with the start of sambok upon us, many restaurants are serving customers foods to revitalise their bodies and increase their appetites against the heat”.



The "bok" part of sambok originates from Hanja, the Korean name for Chinese characters, which KCNA says means "to lie face down because the summer days are so hot that even a frog cannot endure it, lying flat with its stomach stuck to the humid earth". "Sam" means three.

KCNA and other North Korean media regularly offer advice on diet. In 2006 they posted on the message board Choson Sinbo about the virtues of dog meat, which "has a variety of different vitamins including Vitamin A and B. It aids in digestion and helps one recover from exhaustion".

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dog meat soup, said to help one recover from exhaustion. Photograph: flickr

A 2005 article recommended dog meat soup for protecting the body, guarding against illness, and fighting the heat. With an added tip: “if you mix millet rice in with the dog meat soup, the heat will be subdued and symptoms of weakness will disappear as well”.



Even spilling the broth of dog meat soup on your foot during sambok is good for your health

And the benefits don't stop there. There's a saying in the country that goes “even spilling the broth of dog meat soup on your foot during sambok is good for your health”.

Steamed chicken is also popular "revitalisation" fodder, specifically a dish where the chicken is stuffed with milk vetch root, sticky rice, ginseng, and black soybeans cooked in an iron pot. It's similar to samgyetang enjoyed in the South but without the broth.



A cheaper alternative is boiled rabbit stuffed with chestnuts, dates, black soybean, and milk vetch root, popular since the 1970s, partly due to the “Kid's Plan”, which spells out children's activities and responsibilities.



To encourage them to contribute to a prosperous socialist society, the Kid's Plan required children to hand in a certain number of rabbit pelts – skin with the fur still on it – every year, leaving the rest of the meat to be eaten.



For North Koreans struggling to make ends meet, dog, chicken and rabbit are not an option. Instead they eat foods like yujigo, made up of sticky rice, oil, eggs, and sugar. The ingredients are mixed together and left to boil for 24 hours, when ready everyone eats a tablespoon three times a day. It's believed that eating yujigo will prevent colds throughout the winter.

Being sure to eat revitalising foods during sambok season is one thing all Koreans have in common



Daily NK spoke to a defector who said: "being sure to eat revitalising foods during sambok season is one thing all Koreans have in common. North Korean women work hard to make sure their husbands get to eat revitalising foods. The most well-known food for revitalisation is steamed chicken, but different regions have different specialties.”



"There are dog meat soup restaurants popping up all over Pyongyang,” he added, "but in rural areas of North Korea families typically raise rabbits, because they don’t cost much."



A version of this article first appeared on Daily NK