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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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 Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 4:58 am Post subject: Lacquer tree soup |
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I went to a school dinner today. Different tables had different main dishes. I sat down at the first table and the teachers said, "You won't be able to eat this food. It is spicy. Foreigners can't handle food this spicy."
I said, "Uh…OK…" >_<…and went to the next table.
Those teachers said, "Oh no, don't eat here; this is a special medicinal health dish."
I said, "Hey, well maybe I want to be healthy."
Then the teachers emphatically warned, "No. This is dangerous."
In my mind I was thinking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1jk4F1757A
A teacher said to me, "You eat. You die. You go to hell."
I guess he was half joking, but another teacher told me I could end up in the hospital if I tried some.
I said, "How is it you guys will be fine, but I won't? Is it because I am not Korean?"
The answer was, "We have had it before, so we are OK to take it."
I was thinking, "They have an antibody to it or what?"
I thought that this was all over the top ridiculous like the "foreigners can't handle spicy food" bit, so I became determined to try some.
I tried just a small amount (despite the objections of others). Big mistake. Now my whole body itches- my scalp, eyes, eyebrows, hands, legs, chest, everything. I feel like I rolled through a field of poison ivy.
What is in the 옻닭? This:
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| The trees are cultivated and tapped for their toxic sap, which is used as a highly durable lacquer to make Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lacquerware. |
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| The sap contains the allergenic compound urushiol, which gets its name from this species' Japanese name urushi (漆?). Urushiol is the oil found in poison ivy that causes a rash. |
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The Rural Development Administration said on March 19 that its scientists have developed a technology to remove "urushiol," an oily organic allergen found in Toxicodendron plants such as poison oak, poison ivy, and Chinese lacquer tree.
Thanks to the technology, the administration expects the lacquer tree sap, whose applications have been limited to making healthful chicken and duck soup, would be widely applicable in areas including bean paste and soy sauce, fermented vinegar, and grain-based wines. |
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| the total economic value of the lacquer tree sap as a food additive would be 36 billion won by 2017 |
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| The lacquer tree sap is considered toxic as it can cause a severe allergic reaction. Traditionally, the sap has been used by Oriental doctors as a medicine to cure gastrointestinal diseases, circulatory problems, and gynecological conditions. In addition, it has been used as a highly durable lacquer to make Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lacquerware. |
Ugh. What should I do? Just wait it out? That's what I'll do for now. But if my condition doesn't improve I'll have to go to the hospital.
Beware of this soup. It is purported to be healthy, but I don't think that's true. It's supposed to remove toxins from the body or evil spirits or something, but I highly doubt the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. It's witch doctor science. One's liver and kidneys remove toxins from the body. Special cures for toxin release are myth and junk science. All you'll be doing is poisoning yourself. >_< |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:06 am Post subject: |
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| wondobern wrote: |
One of my Bible students was missing yesterday, and I was told the reason was because she got sick from eating chicken mixed with lacquer. I thought that maybe the person I talked with had the wrong English interpretation. Surely, I was thinking, no one would eat furniture polish for health! But, he insisted that some Koreans do indeed eat lacquer for health benefits.
Of course he was talking about the natural kind of lacquer that comes from a tree. I did a google search and found out from one site that some do indeed believe that lacquer is good for health. However, many suffer from ill side-effects from this belief, and that folks should be warned not to believe the myth that eating lacquer will benef one's health.
Has anyone known anyone who eats lacquer for health benefits? This is new to me. Although, I heard someone say that at one time Korea was so poor that people would sometimes boil the bark from trees and make soup out of it, just to have something to eat.
(this person is not poor by the way) |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:09 am Post subject: |
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| Honestly, I'm just shocked to hear that for once a Korean's typically bullshit warnings about food was true. The only other time I've seen that happen was with 홍어, which is admittedly mildly bad, but nothing like this. |
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J Rock
Joined: 17 Jan 2009
Location: The center of the Earth, Suji
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 6:17 am Post subject: |
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Who the hell thinks eating lacquer is a good idea?!?!? Who comes up with these stuipd ideas?
"Today I will eat poisonous muchrooms and drink cactus juice. It gives me explosive diarrhea and makes me projectile vomit for hours so it must mean it's good for me." |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 6:57 am Post subject: |
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...
Last edited by schwa on Wed Feb 26, 2014 4:30 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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TDC troll
Joined: 03 Feb 2009
Location: TDC
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 7:48 am Post subject: |
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Go to the pharmacy in the morning .
Tell the pharmacist that you ate 옻닭. ( OAT TAK ) .
If you have some calmine lotion at home , put it on the affected
areas .
I am surprised that before you tried some , the restaurant owner didn't give you a couple of small pills .
I have had 옷닭 at least 20 times ,and never developed a rash .
But last summer I cut some of the wood , with a small saw .
The sawdust from that wood got on my arms , even though I washed
completely after ,I had a rash for a good month .
I feel for ya . |
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Hokie21
Joined: 01 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 8:07 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Honestly, I'm just shocked to hear that for once a Korean's typically bullshit warnings about food was true. The only other time I've seen that happen was with 홍어, which is admittedly mildly bad, but nothing like this. |
For real....this almost has be questioning fan death. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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How much more dangerous is consuming urushiol internally as opposed to being exposed to it topically? (Maybe it varies person to person?) I would think getting it inside one's body is potentially more dangerous (but that's just a guess; I'm not sure).
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| If poison ivy is burned and the smoke then inhaled, this rash will appear on the lining of the lungs, causing extreme pain and possibly fatal respiratory difficulty.[24] If poison ivy is eaten, the mucus lining of the mouth and digestive tract can be damaged.[25] |
When I was a kid, my father burned some dead plants, including poison ivy. Because of that smoke inhalation, he ended up hospitalized and had to get steroid injections to recover. |
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geldedgoat
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| Honestly, I'm just shocked to hear that for once a Korean's typically bullshit warnings about food was true. The only other time I've seen that happen was with 홍어, which is admittedly mildly bad, but nothing like this. |
Wait, you thought 홍어 was just "mildly bad?" Did you just have the unfermented kind? The stuff that they let go for days smells and tastes like someone with a hangover urinated into a bucket, let it sit in the sun for a few days, and then marinated the fish in it overnight. I still don't understand how anyone considers that the least bit edible.
Last edited by geldedgoat on Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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| geldedgoat wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| Honestly, I'm just shocked to hear that for once a Korean's typically bullshit warnings about food was true. The only other time I've seen that happen was with 홍어, which is admittedly mildly bad, but nothing like this. |
Wait, you thought 홍어 was just "mildly bad?" Did you just have the unfermented kind? The stuff that they let go for days smells and tastes like someone with a hangover urinated into a bucket, let it sit in the sun for a few days, and then marinated the fish in it overnight. I still don't understand how anyone considers that the least bit edible. |
No I had the kind that tastes like ammonia. It wasn't a pleasant flavor, but it was an interesting one. I actually ate more of it than any of the Koreans. |
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geldedgoat
Joined: 05 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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Wow.  I don't know whether that deserves respect or abhorrence.
I guess respect. |
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andrewchon
Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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| Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:33 am Post subject: |
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| TDC troll wrote: |
Go to the pharmacy in the morning .
Tell the pharmacist that you ate 옻닭. ( OAT TAK ) .
If you have some calmine lotion at home , put it on the affected
areas .
I am surprised that before you tried some , the restaurant owner didn't give you a couple of small pills .
I have had 옷닭 at least 20 times ,and never developed a rash .
But last summer I cut some of the wood , with a small saw .
The sawdust from that wood got on my arms , even though I washed
completely after ,I had a rash for a good month .
I feel for ya . |
+1
I was told: "don't even sit near it." and I didn't. |
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yodanole
Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: La Florida
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| Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2014 11:56 am Post subject: |
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Well, can't say that he wasn't warned. But the "too spicy for foreigners" caution is definately a "boy that cried wolf" proposition. I once complained to the girlfriend that the red pepper powder wasn't spicy and was told that there were spicy varieties available at the open market. I asked her to get some and found that it was best used sparingly.
I've never had the urge to try lacquer, and still don't. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 4:37 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| geldedgoat wrote: |
| Wait, you thought 홍어 was just "mildly bad?" Did you just have the unfermented kind? The stuff that they let go for days smells and tastes like someone with a hangover urinated into a bucket, let it sit in the sun for a few days, and then marinated the fish in it overnight. I still don't understand how anyone considers that the least bit edible. |
No I had the kind that tastes like ammonia. It wasn't a pleasant flavor, but it was an interesting one. I actually ate more of it than any of the Koreans. |
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/south-koreans-crave-asia-s-smelliest-fish-1397128130-slideshow/ |
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