Health-Boosting Foods to Combat the Midsummer Heat

With the monsoon season safely past, the real heat of the summer has begun. July 20 traditionally marks the first day of midsummer, when our ancestors ate health-boosting fare to battle the intense heat. The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (“Nonghyup”) opened an exhibition and tasting party for midsummer foods at the Yangjae-dong Branch of the Hanaro Club on Monday, featuring such traditional dishes as the ginseng and chicken soup, “yong bong tang” (a carp and chicken soup named after the dragon and the phoenix for its superior health-enhancing qualities), and braised abalone and sea cucumber. The exhibition ends on July 21.

Yeong-Wook Byeon cut@donga.com