Samgyetang on Malbok day

In Korea there are 3 days that are said to be the hottest days during summer, known as Boknal (literally translated to dog days - I think). 

1st day is Chobok

2nd day is Jungbok

3rd day is Malbok

Since it was Malbok last thursday, Master Sabrina from Amru's taekwondo center gave out a baby ginseng root to everyone to make samgyetang (삼계탕). And whoever has samgyetang (or eat the ginseng raw as salads) for meal they will get 5 points!

Ok lets learn a little bit of korean history.

In the past koreans will indulge in a bowl of dog stew to cool off the body against the summer heat especially during these 3 days. The dog stew is said to be highly nutritious and will strengthen their body during this testing period. But nowadays dog meats are becoming controversial to make stews with, so the koreans use ginseng instead and make chicken ginseng stew (or what they call as samgyetang). A spring chicken is stuffed with pulut and boiled in garlic, onion, red dates and ginseng roots. So healthy. 

So the next day I made a pot of samgyetang for Amru before his taekwondo. And he loved it. Actually it was not the real samgyetang - I made a usual malay chicken soup, with ginger garlic and malay spices and all - plus the ginseng. Glad he loved it. I, on the other hand, immediately got migraine afterwards. Maybe it was too healthy for me😛

She'd use google translate to send english text to me😆

I just realized that the table was nicely decorated..

Back to the story. I really love how the taekwondo center runs. For only one hour everyday, the kids are exposed to a lot of activities, more than just taekwondo. They play water guns on Tuesdays. Spend time at kids cafe (usually playing trampoline and building blocks) on Fridays. On some Saturdays they visit museums or just play air bounce (the inflatable playgrounds) or dodge ball at the center (dah mcm sekolah pulak). The kids love their master. I love how he instills discipline and manners to the kids - while having fun. 

Summer break is well spent. Can't wait until summer break is over and he will be in Year 1. Amru dah besar!😄