Horse

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a teachers training with one of my schools. First did a great hike, but I’ll write more about that later, because I’ll definitely do it again with Mike and friends. After the hike we went out to a traditional sit on the floor restaurant that specialized in horse. I gathered from the pictures that they mostly cater to wedding celebrations.

Fortunately my schools know that I don’t like meat, and they ordered me basic rice and veggie fanfare, but I did try some things, and just being there to see what happened was an experience. When we arrived the table was already set with the kimchi, other side dishes, soup, and a beverage. I ate the rice soup which was made with horse broth, and contained a few tiny bits of meat. The soup was really good, and didn’t taste anything like beef or pork broth.

Then there was the beverage. It was served in a tea cup that was slightly larger than a shot glass. The cup was probably 3.5 or 4 ounces. Inside was a dark black liquid, that looked like coffee. I’m not sure the mechanics of this, but my teachers explained that it was juice squeezed from horse’s bones. They told me that in traditional Asian medicine it is used for joint pain. The drink thick like a good dark beer and it was served warm. The taste was bitter, burned, a little of chicory, and kind of nutty too. It wasn’t terrible, but I didn’t like it. I tried really hard to finish it, if only for the health benefits, but I only got through half. I did try harder than one or two of my colleagues though, so I think I did okay. The ones who did drink it, tossed it back like a shot. I should have tried that with the last half, but I was afraid of gagging.

After the soup and medicine came hunks of bright red, raw meat, about as long as my thumb. All but one teacher was really into it. I had never seen raw meat eaten like this before. In the United States the meat is so dirty that you couldn’t eat it raw unless you were trying to get sick. It makes sense to eat some raw meat because it has more nutrients than cooked meat. After the first round of raw meat came two other rounds of raw meat which were each cut and served differently than the previous. I assume that they were different parts of the horse, or maybe even marinated differently. Then came several rounds of cooked meat. Finally there as another soup and some juice. All in all the meal took nearly three hours.

I wanted to try a bite of the horse because it is novel. I was afraid and curious at the same time. (I’m so afraid of raw meat!) I have no reason to believe that I would have liked the meat, but it’s nice to try new things. Those who know me well know that I just don’t like meat, and I’m getting more set in my ways about it. I didn’t offer to try it though because they had gone to the trouble of ordering me something special. Additionally I was concerned about setting up a dynamic where they think I only eat what I want when I want. The language barrier makes me uncertain if everyone would really understand my ideas about eating and adventure so I just stayed in my little veggie box. Perhaps other opportunities will present themselves.

Eating horse is super expensive. A whole horse is over $1,000. I think the bill from our feast must have been in the $500 range. More than the bone juice is considered medicine. The whole horse is supposed to be very healing. My teacher explained that the school accountant was so happy to be at the restaurant because a few years ago he had troubles with his back, and horse helped him recover.