Not only is Korean food highly regional (every city or area has any number of specialties or variations on traditional dishes), but it’s also seasonal — certain foods are appropriate during different times of the year (usually based on how hot or cold it is).
Meet my friend samgyetang, a chicken soup made with heaps of ginseng served boiling hot at your table. It’s a traditional summer dish (along with naengmyeon, a cold noodle soup with vinegar, and, ahem, boshintang, dog soup). I’ll admit, my first impression a few years back was negative — why take a perfectly good chicken and boil it until it’s corpse-white? In general, westerners like to sear, grill, barbecue, or fry their proteins. Boiling meats whole is generally anathema.
But I’ve come around to appreciating the steamy goodness of samgyetang. The chicken is boiled long enough to fall off the bone in gelatinous bits of goodness. The broth itself is mild (no red pepper paste, dear God!) and before cooking the chicken is stuffed with rice which thickens the whole thing.
And as always, banchan or side-dishes galore are available. You wash this all down with a little bit of ginseng-infused liquor, which is stronger than you’ll expect. Be careful.
The only downside is the price: here in lovely Daegu you can find good samgyetang for about 11,000 won. I’m sure it’s hard to find it for under 15,000 in Seoul.
But with the incredible heat these days it’s nice to sit down with some friends for it once in a while.
Wet Casements 
삼계탕, haha, you know “Fight fire with fire?” That’s why we eat 삼계탕 one of the hottest day :)