Man Food: Korea's Obsession With "Stamina" Eats
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Cordyceps Sinesis, also known as Yarsagumba is Nepal's emphatic answer to Viagra |
Korea, in some
instances, has double standards in a sense that the country's roots are based
on Confucian, closed, hermit-style, highly cultural, highly "shh!
shhh!" culture, while its citizens have now progressed, prospered and
embraced neo-cultures that were, in a sense, quite foreign to them. Like how
the westerners like to call it, Korea has been in a process of
"Westernization." This in turn has brought in concrete conflict on
how people think on the inside and how they behave on the outside; it almost
feels like the new generation has a step towards being completely
"modernized" (as west says) and on step on trying to retain the
culture.
The neo-values
that they are constantly exposed to in media and through external exposure
(visits, homestays; thanks to their awesome passports, Koreans travel a lot)
and what they have learnt being embedded in the society are contradicting in
many ways. This has led to confusion on how people, in general, should have an
attitude towards an aspect of basic need that people here seldom in public
touch on; sex.
Interestingly,
everywhere you go, at every restaurant you bite on a toxic, delightful mix of
grilled meat, garlic and an assortment of banchans
that you dig your steely chopsticks into, you hear the word “stamina,” “good
for night,” or even being blatantly called “Man’s food,” while giving you that sly “Ah” smile. In the beginning it was hard
to understand the underlying meaning of what those phrases or word meant. But
in the end, some common sense in me prevailed, and I realized “of course they
meant sex.” How obvious could they not
be?
And when I mention
everywhere, it really is everywhere. Head to Busan, they will probably treat
eel the same way one would treat Viagra. Head south from Seoul to the shores
near Seoraksan, and you will find plenty of penis looking mushrooms that are
supposed to bring “health and happiness.” Take the cook who cooks Boshingtang, dog soup found here in
Seoul, he/she will have been really proud that he/she’s doing society a
service.
So why this
obsession with food that are bound to spice up your sex life? Is sex that bad? Don’t
know. Can’t explain and it’s beyond my level of understanding. But when a 20-something-year-old
needs reminding to take something that boosts his energy level so that he may
perform where ever it might be, well, he already has a problem then. What
happens when he hits his 40s?
Read more [HERE] and a report [HERE].
Read more [HERE] and a report [HERE].
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