With the dog days of summer, the Korean tradition of 'fighting heat with heat' is changing

Moon Jung-hoon

The author is a professor of agricultural economics and rural development at Seoul National University and director of the Food Business Lab. 

The old custom of eating dog meat soup during the dog days of summer has disappeared. Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) is now also enjoyed more often in spring, autumn, and winter. What remains unchanged is the wish for health and well-being.

Bokdallim refers to the Korean food tradition of cooking meat soup and eating it during the dog days to endure the hottest days of the year. Historical records show that bokdallim was not limited to eating hot meat soup. In the past, when air conditioning did not exist, people used various ways to overcome the heat: drinking cool mineral water from mountain springs, cooling their feet in streams, catching fish, and cooking them by the water. Eating hot food to fight the heat was one of these customs, known as “fighting heat with heat”. Its practice was to simmer meat for a long time, drink the hot broth, sweat and restore one’s energy.

Historical sources suggest that during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), eating dog meat on the dog days was more common than eating chicken. Cattle were needed for farming, and pigs were not widely raised as livestock in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, making dogs and chickens the most common edible animals. In addition, “The Rites of Zhou,” a Confucian classic that defined royal rituals, listed dogs along with cattle, pigs and sheep as livestock used for food in the royal court and even described their use in ancestral rites. Therefore, in Joseon, a Confucian state that followed the principles of the "Rites of Zhou," eating dog meat was not considered unusual according to the values of that time. Naturally, ordinary people eating gaejangguk (dog meat soup) on the dog days was also a normal part of the culture.

Food culture changes. In modern times, wealthy families in Seoul began eating samgyetang — a whole young chicken slowly cooked with precious ginseng — as a form of dokdallim. Samgyetang gradually became the more prestigious version of the tradition. After the 1988 Seoul Olympics, dogs moved away from being considered food animals and became companion animals in Korean society.

Although eating dog meat was not considered unusual in the past, it is now viewed differently. The shift became official with a 2024 law, the Special Act on the Termination of Breeding, Slaughter, and Distribution of Dogs for Consumption, that will end the breeding, slaughter and distribution of dogs for food in South Korea from February 7, 2027. With it, bosintang (dog meat soup) will disappear from Korean tables. Food culture evolves with the values of each era, and today samgyetang stands at the center of bokdallim tradition.

Data from Food Diary, a food consumption database managed by big data company Open Survey, shows another interesting change. Between 2022 and 2025, overall samgyetang consumption declined, largely because summer consumption during the dog days fell by 53.4 percent. Home cooking, convenient meal products, and restaurant consumption including delivery all fell by more than half. Yet consumption in spring, autumn and winter increased by 4.4 percent, driven especially by the rapid growth of convenient meal products. Samgyetang consumption increased by 10.8 percent in autumn and 15.3 percent in winter. While the growth of convenient products was the fastest, both home cooking and restaurant consumption have also continued to rise. The hot broth of samgyetang is now becoming a winter comfort food enjoyed on cold days.

This summer, Korean convenience store chain GS25 announced an interesting finding. An analysis of last year’s dog days health food sales showed that dishes other than samgyetang accounted for 61.2 percent of sales — 7.7 percentage points higher than in 2024 and 29.3 percentage points higher than in 2023. Sales of eel dishes and chicken dishes increased sharply. Catch Table, a restaurant reservation platform, also reported that demand for samgyetang is shifting toward various chicken dishes and other health foods based on restaurant reservation data. Food culture changes.

Dog days still return every year, but the way Koreans observe bokdallim continues to change with the times. From bosintang to samgyetang, and from samgyetang to eel, chicken and perhaps something new in the future. What does not change is the wish to overcome the heat and stay healthy.