#FoodFeature - Korean Chicken Dishes

Fried chicken culture in South Korea is absolutely massive! It is not unusual for you to find dozens of chicken restaurants in any given area, and there are roughly around 50,000 chicken restaurants in the country! This huge boom is a relatively new one, in fact it developed around 20 years ago during the Asian financial crisis. When many men were laid off and without jobs, they all decided to start opening chicken restaurants as a way to make income. 

It is believed that this trend came from the fact that opening a chicken restaurant had relatively low overhead costs, and you didn't need to have a culinary background or even know how to cook to get by. It was an easy thing for a lot of people to jump on board with.
So now all of a sudden there are these chicken restaurants opening, and people needing jobs and people also needing to eat. Here is where the chicken craze begins.

The first thing that may come to mind when you think "fried chicken" may be those 3 infamous letters KFC. This restaurant has made quite the reputation for itself all over the world, including South Korea. While it does have a presence here in Seoul, it is not the only option for chicken by any means. In fact, the chicken obsession reaches beyond the infamous fried recipes and ventures into a variety of different and delicious korean chicken dishes. Let's take a look at some of the most popular!

Fried Chicken - Stepping up first to the plate we have 4 of the most popular versions of fried chicken.

Huraideu-chikin - regular fried chicken

Yangnyeom-chikin - fried chicken coated with spicy sauce, "seasoned chicken"

Ganjang-chikin - fried chicken coated with soy sauce

Dakgangjeong - sweet and spicy fried chicken

Koreans typically use small to medium sized chickens because they have more tender meat. Then, prior to frying, the chicken is seasoned with spices, sugar and salt. The difference that I found most interesting between Korean fried chicken and American fried chicken is that Korea fries it twice. Frying it twice makes the skin crispier and less greasy than American versions. (YUM) 

The word chikin is defined by the National Institute of Korean Language as  "a dish made by coating chopped chicken with flour, and frying or baking it". Alternatively, fried chicken that is not chopped beforehand is called tongdak or "whole chicken". Tongdak is more commonly served grilled however.

Sunsal-chikin is also a style of fried chicken that is "pure flesh" or boneless.

Buldak or "fire chicken" is a spicy chicken dish. Buldak can either be prepared grilled or fried in small pieces and is accompanied by a spicy sauce made of chili powder, soy sauce, chili paste, ginger, and garlic. It is common to see this dish topped with melted cheese and rice cakes and help to tame the spiciness. 

Andong-jjimdak or "steamed chicken of Andong" is another popular chicken dish in South Korea. It is believed to have originated in the Andong city in Gyeongsangbuk-do. This dish is made with chicken, cellophane noodles, soy sauce based broth, and various vegetables like sliced mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and spinach. It is a very popular dish that is pretty spicy.

Dak-bokkeum-tang is a dish that features boiled pieces of chicken with vegetables and spices. These ingredients can sometimes be stir fried together before being boiled. The recipe itself varies across different parts of Korea. The vegetables used are typically carrots, scallions, cabbage, potatoes, spinach, green and red chilies, onions and garlic! This is a very flavorful spicy korean stew.

Dak-galbi or spicy stir fried chicken, is a very popular chicken dish that was developed in  
Chuncheon and is considered a local specialty there. They even have an annual festival dedicated to the celebration of dak-galbi! In Korean the word galbi means rib, but in this case dak-galbi does not actually come from a chickens rib.The dish is diced chicken, and sweet potatoes, perilla leave, scallions, rice cakes, and cabbage!

And last, but not least, Samgye-tang! A chicken ginseng soup that is a whole young chicken stuffed with rice, garlic, jujube, and ginseng. It is a Korean custom to enjoy this warm soup on hot summer days and is believed to promote good health. Specifically on sambok days (Chobok, Jungbok, and Malbok) which are three days of the lunar calendar that are commonly among the hottest days of the summer in Korea.

With all of the amazing dishes that are offered, and the general popularity of chicken in South Korea, there are an overwhelming amount of places where you can get chicken at restaurants, markets, street vendors, or even delivered directly to your door!  Competition is high in the chicken game, and it feels like there are new restaurant franchises opening every day. With that being said, there are still quite a few places that stand out above the rest. Here's some popular franchises and restaurants to keep in mind. 

• Kyochon
• BHC
• BBQ Chicken
• Nene Chicken
• Goobne
• Jicoba Chicken
• Kkanbu Chicken

Is your stomach grumbling yet? Mine definitely is! Luckily, the chicken craze in South Korea is still going on, so there are literally hundreds of places to get your chicken fix. Leave a comment and let us know what your favorite way to eat korean chicken is!