Yukgaejang육개장

Hidden in the name yukgaejang is gaejang-guk, a soup of slow-simmered dog meat that was once a favorite on boknal, the hottest days of summer. The widely told explanation is that people who would not eat dog made the same soup with beef instead and put yuk (肉, meat) in front of the name. The scholar Choe Nam-seon wrote in his Joseon sangsik mundap that those who did not care for dog meat substituted beef and called the dish yukgaejang.

The late-18th-century Gyeongdo japji gives a recipe for gujang, regarded as the dish's prototype: meat boiled with green onion into a soup, sprinkled with chili powder and eaten with white rice in the broth. It is often said to be a dead ringer for today's Gyeongsang-style yukgaejang. The oldest record to use the name yukgaejang itself is thought to be Gyugon yoram, believed to date from the 1800s.

In modern times the city most famous for it was Daegu. In 1929 the magazine Byeolgeongon introduced Daegu's fiery red yukgaejang, served hot enough to scald the tongue, and Choe Nam-seon also listed "Daegu's yukgaejang" among the country's regional specialties. Known locally as Daegu tangban, it is better known today as ttaro-gukbap, with the soup and rice served separately. Because a pot could be stretched to feed any number of guests simply by adding more ingredients, yukgaejang was a favorite at feasts, and today it is the dish most often served to mourners at Korean funeral halls.