the hunt for kidneys: redux

I'm getting different stories from different butcher-shop proprietors as to why they don't have kidneys on sale. Last night, the third butcher I visited said he'd have kidneys sometime in October, and toward the end of this month, I could order them. I told him that wouldn't work for me, but just to make him feel all right about not having made a sale, I said I'd likely be back—a weasel-worded way of helping him save face.

Tonight, I visited the butcher in our building's basement. I have to wonder what sort of business he does since the grocery store that's also in the basement sells pretty much the same meats he does. Anyway, I stopped by his counter and asked about kidneys. He gave me a longish explanation about how butcher shops could sell kidneys up until four or five years ago, then some law was passed, and now most shops can't sell organ meats anymore.

Is this true? I have no idea. It's a different story from what yesterday's butcher said: yesterday's butcher was claiming that kidneys were actually on the way (and I have no idea how true that is, either). Tonight's butcher ended by saying I should visit the Majang Meat Market, where I could find all sorts of organ meats. This dovetails with my own suspicions, and I'm already planning to pay Majang another visit. Sometimes in Seoul, to get what you want, you have to travel far and wide.

Here's hoping I find beef kidneys, but I'll settle for pig or sheep.