Fighting Heat with Heat: Korea's Summer Food Tradition
On the hottest days of the Korean summer, restaurants fill up with people ordering boiling-hot chicken soup. To a first-time visitor it looks completely backwards. It isn't — it's one of the country's most enduring food traditions.
The phrase translates roughly as "fight heat with heat." The idea is old and more culinary than clinical: on sweltering days, Koreans lean into warm, hearty food rather than cold. It's a seasonal custom, marked on the calendar and shared at the table.
The dishes
The star is samgyetang — a whole young chicken simmered with ginseng, jujube, and glutinous rice into a rich, steaming broth. Around it sit other warm soups and stews, eaten precisely when the weather is at its fiercest.
Where ginseng comes in
Ginseng is a traditional companion to these summer dishes — tucked into the pot, or enjoyed afterward as a warm cup. It's part of the ritual of the season more than anything else.
A rhythm, not a rule
You don't have to believe in the folklore to enjoy the tradition. Like many food customs, iyeol-chiyeol is really a way of marking time — a reason to gather, cook something with care, and pay attention to the turning of the season.
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