BTS, arguably the most well-known K-pop group in the world, is currently on an “indefinite hiatus.” Luckily for fans who are already experiencing withdrawal, the band behind Butter has just released the new memoir "Beyond the Story: 10-year record of BTS," written with journalist Myeongseok Kang. The memoir tells the story of BTS’s stratospheric rise, from seven teenagers sharing a dorm to one of the most famous musical acts in the world.
But one key detail in the new memoir has the BTS ARMY particularly shook. Jin, the most senior member of BTS, recounts Suga’s questionable eating habits during the group's early days. Suga “would basically just 'eat to live,'" Jin wrote. "He ate chicken breasts for protein but even eating them was too much of a hassle for him so he would blend it with some grape juice and a banana and gulp that down straight from the blender.” That’s right, this man was drinking smoothies made with chicken breasts, grape juice, and banana. Yeah.
Are chicken smoothies a thing?
Jin is out here exposing Suga, but actually he’s not the only one making chicken smoothies. I first heard of this disturbing phenomenon from my brother, who once worked with a man who would blend up chicken and bananas several times a day. At work, no less. The chicken in a smoothie concept seems to have originated in the powerlifting community, where people are very serious about getting enough protein.
Why are people drinking chicken smoothies?
Most of the chicken smoothie drinkers (or at least the ones who admit to it) seem to be anti-chewing. They just can’t be bothered. Apparently, they’re much too busy doing other productive things, like working out and becoming K-pop superstars.
TikToker @meji_o3o shared her chicken smoothie recipe (featuring boiled chicken, banana, strawberry, and milk) back in February.
Meji justified this abomination with the caption “I hate to chew chicken breast so drinking is 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻.” In response to the resulting backlash, she added “I wanna have it this way…it doesn’t harm anyone. Don’t act like it’s a big problem.” That’s fair. The chicken smoothie does not, technically speaking, harm anyone. And obviously people can eat whatever they want.
It’s fair to say chicken smoothies are far from a delicacy. It’s not about taste, it’s about efficiency. It’s giving Soylent. But it’s worth noting that chicken is sometimes featured in more culinarily-inclined sweet dishes. For example, the Turkish dessert tavukgöğsü consists of shredded chicken breast in a creamy milk pudding. So maybe the chicken smoothie people are onto something? But for now, I’ll stick to my chalky, artificially sweetened protein powder, thank you very much.