By Park Hye Ri and Lee Jihae

July 12 this year (June 10 on the lunar calendar) is chobok, or the first day of the year's hottest period (sambok) in Korea, which is expected to last about 30 days this year. The middle day of this period is called jungbok and the last day malbok.

On such hot days, demand rises for boyangsik (healthy supplementary food) as Koreans believe such food will help them gain energy, relieve exhaustion and withstand the heat. The most popular of these dishes is samgyetang, a boiled stew of protein-rich chicken, ginseng, milk vetch root and jujube.

This time-honored culinary favorite in Korea during summer requires a complicated cooking process. In today's fast-paced and hectic society, more Koreans are looking to order precooked versions of this food and others online so that all they have to do is heat before eating. Demand for such food is rising especially among workers, housewives and those who live alone.


One manufacturer of precooked food on July 8 said it sold 65,000 units of its precooked samgyetang from May to June this year, more than double its sales of 28,000 during the same period last year.

A source from the manufacturer said, "More customers are seeking at reasonable prices tasty samgyetang whose taste is similar to those professionally made."

 "Customers can order this online and keep it at room temperature for quite a few hours. All they need to do is put the package in boiling water without opening it for 15 minutes, so this is quite convenient," he added. Demand for precooked galbitang (beef short ribs soup), jangeoyori (an eel dish) and jeonbokjuk (abalone porridge) is also rising, with another manufacturer of precooked food reporting sales of these dishes from June 4 to July 3 this year surging 70% from the same period last year.


The variety of precooked boyangsik continues to grow in line with changing trends in Korean society. The convenience store chain GS25 on July 4 launched a precooked item of rice with grilled eel, saying it had sold 82,500 units as of July 9.

Samyang Food and CU, GS25's competitor in the convenience store sector, have also launched the products Samgyetangmyeon, or ramyeon noodles in samgyetang soup, and an "energy-restoring lunch" of beef bulgogi (marinated grilled beef) and smoked duck meat.

hrhr@korea.kr