Saturday, March 30, 2024
FOOD&DRINK

What is Pok-nal?

It’s the first day of bok-nal today in Korea, said to be the hottest time of the summer. So to feel comfortable in the heat, it’s traditional to eat samgyetang, chicken and ginseng soup.

poknal

samgetang, chicken and ginseng soup.

There’s a whole chicken in the soup with ginseng and glutinous rice, jujube fruit, garlic, ginger, and lots of leek. It has a mild flavour and comes with a small bowl of salt to dip pieces of chicken in. This one has a nice big pile of raw finely sliced leek on top. 

The hottest part of the summer in Korea is considered to be around mid July to the beginning of August. The first day of this hot season is called cho-bok (초복)  the actual date changes every year as of course we have to follow the Lunar calendar but this year it’s today, July 19th.

The temperature in Seoul at the moment is 86ºF (30ºC) so not too bad, but hot enough. The middle of the hot season is chung-bok (중복) on July 29th and the end is called mal-bok (말복) on August 8th.

Because it’s hot in the summer people can feel sluggish and low on energy so as this dish is full of good things, it’s supposed to make us healthy and strong during this period. It follows the traditional medicine theory of fighting heat with heat.

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