Recently the heat of Korean fried chicken grows rapidly. People start to pay attention to this brand-new type of fried chicken. Now let’s date back to 1950s to uncover the mask of Korean fried chicken.
The Beginnings of Korean Fried Chicken
Aside from traditional food, Korean fried chicken originated here after 1950. To celebrate Thanksgiving without a turkey, American service members in Osan, Seoul, and Pyeongtaek fried and shared chicken with their Korean counterparts. A Korean tank driver called it “a taste of heaven,” a sentiment most It would become the consensus among Koreans.
However, the popularity of fried chicken cannot be attributed to taste alone. To understand how Korean fried chicken came to be referred to honorifically as ” 치느님” (Chi-neu-nim: Sir Chicken), you need to comprehend a few aspects of post-war culture and economic development.
The Rising Tiger and Rotisserie Chicken
Korea was battling economic stagnation in the 1960s. The average household income was minuscule and chicken was expensive, so no one was going out for chimaek (“chi” from chicken, “maek” from maekju, the beer in Korean. Around this time, chicken gained its first cultural foothold thanks to the invention of the rotisserie oven.
In spite of the fact that chicken was still expensive, the 1960 opening of Myeong-dong Yeongyang Center, Korea’s first rotisserie chicken restaurant, contributed to the dish’s growing reputation. The 1960s also saw the advent of “yellow bag chicken (노란 봉투 통닭).” Fathers would bring rotisserie chicken home from work in a yellow bag for their families to enjoy. It is important to note that even at this early stage, “chicken,” in contrast to traditional Korean soups and stews with chicken were not regarded as meals. It was an indulgence, a once-a-month luxury snack.
Then at the beginning of the 1970s household income began to take off. As “The Miracle on the Han River” unfolded, a cheap cooking oil appeared on the market just as domestic chicken production began to ramp up. The average Korean consumed more chicken as a result of the interaction between falling prices and rising disposable income.
In 1977, the first fried chicken franchise in Korea, called Lim’s Chicken, debuted. The legend expanded as the era of Korean fried chicken started in earnest two years later, when Lotteria started selling individual pieces of chicken.
The Chicken Hof Unleashed
In Korea, fashions come and go quickly. By the 1980s, fried chicken had quickly surpassed rotisserie as the preferred method of preparation. To give Koreans even more variety, Doosan introduced Kentucky Fried Chicken to the peninsula in 1984. This fried chicken variety has a thicker breading. However, it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that chicken and chicken hofs in their current form started to appear.
Alcohol is inevitably brought up in discussions about Korean fried chicken. Although Koreans do eat it with non-alcoholic beverages, chicken is mainly regarded as drinking food, or anju (안주). This word’s very existence indicates how significant food is to local drinking culture. Most Korean bars won’t let you sit down without ordering anju. Food is essential to the drinking experience, and there is a long list of common pairings: Korean pancakes and makgeolli, soju and samgyeopsal, sake and soup, dong-dong ju and… you get the point.
Chicken fits the profile of a drinking food to a tee. It’s messy, salty, greasy, crunchy, and probably the best friend beer has ever had. This particular alcohol and anju pairing helped the modern chicken hof root itself firmly in the drinking culture in the 1980s, while steadily increasing economic prosperity ushered in the era of franchise chains of all kinds. Mexicana (1989), Pelicana Chicken (1986), Cheogatjib Yangnyeom Chicken (1988), and Mexican Chicken (originally known as Kyesung Tongdak) all opened their doors shortly after the Korean chain’s 1985 debut. All of these restaurants are still operational today.
The “Yangnyeom” Chicken
No less important than drinking culture and the rise of the chain is the creation of “yangnyeom (양념)” chicken. Yangnyeom translates to seasoning, but when it comes to chicken it means the sweet and spicy red sauce that makes Korean fried chicken so distinct. Since it is so well-known, a legal dispute over its authorship resulted.
Even so, it was just the start—Yangnyeom chicken. The 1990s were a coming-out party for Korean chain stores, and with Korea’s expanding appetite for beer and chicken, new franchises sprang up, chains like KyoChon (1991), BBQ (1995), and Ne Ne Chicken (1999), and with them a host of new varieties that started to push the boundaries of what fried chicken could be.
Soy fried chicken, which remains KyoChon’s most popular menu item, gained widespread popularity. Garlic chicken and green onion chicken were first made available to Koreans in the early 2000s. By that time, fried chicken had become more prevalent in drinking culture, pushing innovation and competition to new heights. As a result, today almost any type of fried chicken flavor can be found somewhere in Korea, including Thai fried chicken, carbonara fried chicken, and curried fried chicken, to name a few.
The continually rising demand drove the chicken market into a fever pitch, and the nationwide number of chicken restaurants jumped to an astounding 36,000 by 2017, which is more than the number of McDonald’s locations in the entire world.
The Future of Korean Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is probably here to stay. Outside of Korea, brands like KyoChon and Bonchon have established themselves in nations like the Philippines, Cambodia, and the US. It appears that the rest of the world is catching on, so it’s possible that Korea no longer has control over the future of Korean fried chicken.
We won’t likely see the end of Korean fried chicken’s story here on the peninsula, but rather a continued evolution and improvement of the idea given its status as a nightlife food. Because of the fierce competition in the market, chicken hof owners are almost certain to keep inventing new variations on traditional fried chicken dishes as well as brand-new ones.
It is indeed a difficult business to survive in, but given the special place fried chicken has in the hearts of Koreans, no one appears to be backing out of the fight.
