Controlling invasive species
What the Donguibogam Proves About Korean DNA: Turning Invasive Species into Food
We have a copy of the Donguibogam, written by Heo Jun, at home. The variety of animals our ancestors used to eat is really something.
Birds
Chicken, goose, duck, wild goose, sparrow, swallow, bat (Heo Jun classified bats as birds), hawk, black kite, crow, magpie, mandarin duck (said to restore harmony to a troubled marriage if eaten), jackdaw, pheasant, shrike, domestic pigeon, turtle dove, quail, sandpiper, woodpecker, crane, swan, stork, cormorant, kingfisher, myna, egret, pelican, bushtit, bunting, junglefowl, cuckoo, lesser cuckoo, owl, watercock, night heron, seagull, yellowhammer, partridge, wild duck, oriole, paradise flycatcher.
Mammals
Horse, deer, bear, ox, water deer, sheep, tiger, leopard cat, musk deer, sea otter, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, raccoon dog, cat, rabbit, dog, pig, donkey, mule, fox, otter, badger, wolf (jackal), marten, wolf, camel, wolf, monkey, hedgehog, rat, mole, flying squirrel, weasel.
These days, nobody hunts or eats most of these animals anymore.
And yet, on YouTube, I keep seeing people protecting Korea's ecosystem by eating invasive species instead.
People catch snapping turtles, grill them over charcoal, and toss them into ramyeon. Those who cook nutria say it tastes like chicken, chewy and all. People who eat bullfrogs say the bones are big enough to look like chicken, and the meat tastes like it too. Largemouth bass is another invasive species — incredibly fertile and adaptable, it devours anything in its path: fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, amphibians, waterfowl, mice, even snakes. But Koreans point out it's a white fish, and share recipes for frying or grilling it, insisting it's delicious.
The US, Australia, and Japan also cull invasive species, but they don't have much of an eating culture around it. Korea, true to its reputation as a nation of *mukbang*, is eating its way through the problem instead.
It seems like the greatest natural predator of invasive species is... Koreans.
🪄 Written by Soosoo, translated by Claude
We have a copy of the Donguibogam, written by Heo Jun, at home. The variety of animals our ancestors used to eat is really something.
Birds
Chicken, goose, duck, wild goose, sparrow, swallow, bat (Heo Jun classified bats as birds), hawk, black kite, crow, magpie, mandarin duck (said to restore harmony to a troubled marriage if eaten), jackdaw, pheasant, shrike, domestic pigeon, turtle dove, quail, sandpiper, woodpecker, crane, swan, stork, cormorant, kingfisher, myna, egret, pelican, bushtit, bunting, junglefowl, cuckoo, lesser cuckoo, owl, watercock, night heron, seagull, yellowhammer, partridge, wild duck, oriole, paradise flycatcher.
Mammals
Horse, deer, bear, ox, water deer, sheep, tiger, leopard cat, musk deer, sea otter, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, raccoon dog, cat, rabbit, dog, pig, donkey, mule, fox, otter, badger, wolf (jackal), marten, wolf, camel, wolf, monkey, hedgehog, rat, mole, flying squirrel, weasel.
These days, nobody hunts or eats most of these animals anymore.
And yet, on YouTube, I keep seeing people protecting Korea's ecosystem by eating invasive species instead.
People catch snapping turtles, grill them over charcoal, and toss them into ramyeon. Those who cook nutria say it tastes like chicken, chewy and all. People who eat bullfrogs say the bones are big enough to look like chicken, and the meat tastes like it too. Largemouth bass is another invasive species — incredibly fertile and adaptable, it devours anything in its path: fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans, amphibians, waterfowl, mice, even snakes. But Koreans point out it's a white fish, and share recipes for frying or grilling it, insisting it's delicious.
The US, Australia, and Japan also cull invasive species, but they don't have much of an eating culture around it. Korea, true to its reputation as a nation of *mukbang*, is eating its way through the problem instead.
It seems like the greatest natural predator of invasive species is... Koreans.
🪄 Written by Soosoo, translated by Claude
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