Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
A gold miner's life in Korea in the 1960s: Part 4
“Engineer Kim sitting down to a boiled chicken ― the common way of cooking chicken in Korea ― usually with 10 or so garlic gloves.” Circa 1961.
By Robert Neff
Not everything came from the PX in cans, especially meat ― although, admittedly, Fred Dustin loved the canned bacon from the PX (even though it was very salty) that the general, Richard Whitcomb, infrequently sent out ― and the miners had to fend for themselves.
To his parents, Dustin wrote: “Most villages, which are reasonably well organized and have some form of income, will have at least one pig killed each week or two, so pork is always available most of the time.” It was always a welcomed treat at the mine.
Of course, with no electricity and refrigerators, the meat had to be quickly eaten. “A roast chicken or roast pork was usually eaten within a couple of days so [it] didn't spoil.” Chickens were especially popular because they were small and readily available. But sometimes the men wanted something more ― something exotic. So they went hunting.
“I heard of wild boar but never saw one,” recalled Dustin but noted there were “lots of pheasants and lots of snakes but I don't remember any real incidents with the snakes. We hunted the pheasants and got some ducks from the small stream and local rice fields.”
Yu Tok-jae and Sanyo hunting near the mine. “There were lots of birds around the mine, many of which we shot.” The shotgun was confiscated by the National Police in 1963 but they couldn't use it because Dustin had peevishly removed the firing pin and hid it. Circa October 1960.
The stream also provided them with a variation to their diet. “There was a kind of crawdad in the stream which we sometimes caught and Kim Man-kyu's [house procurement boy] mother made a soup with.”
Sometimes PX items paired well with food scavenged from nature.
“One of the most precious items was PX oil!!!! I remember one of my greatest treats after being taught by an old miner was fried grasshoppers which then abounded in the local fields the two summers I was there ― best fried in Wesson oil.”
One meat that was probably not tolerated at the mine was dog. Dustin was extremely fond of dogs ― especially Sanyo, a black labrador that he raised from a pup and was his constant companion. But the story of Sanyo is for another time.
The black labrador Sanyo (meaning “mountain girl”) was “a wonderful friend, and an 'understanding' companion, as well as a truly great hunter.” Here she can be seen playing at the stream near the mine. Circa 1960.
Robert Neff