Juicy, crunchy, crispy and covered in a glaze sauce, Korean fried chicken is one of the most loved K-cuisines and has won millions of hearts worldwide. A contemporary food staple in Korea, the Korean fried chicken recipe promises to serve a burst of sweet, sour and spicy flavours in every bite.
The dish is currently a food phenomenon and most of its global success can be attributed to the legendary South Korean band BTS. Be it Jungkook enjoying the Korean fried chicken in Break The Silence: The Movie (2020) or BTS releasing the ‘BTS Meal’ along with a sauce inspired by the Korean version of fried chicken in McDonald’s, the group has managed to pull the world’s attention towards their favourite dish.
With each passing generation, Korean fried chicken, which supposedly had an American influence in the beginning, broke away from that version to become a recipe of its own. In Korean, people simply call the dish ‘chikin,‘ making it a ‘Konglish’ (Korean plus English) version of the English word ‘chicken’. Koreans also call it that in order to differentiate the dish from all other types of ‘tak‘ (chicken).
As per the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Korean Food Promotion Institute, “Korean-style fried chicken has been voted the most popular Korean dish among non-Koreans worldwide,” reports Korea.net (2021).
This conclusion came up after a survey conducted on 8,500 residents in 17 major world cities including Beijing, New York and Paris from August to September 2021. The findings of the survey reveal that “Korean-style fried chicken was the most consumed with 30%, followed by kimchi with 27.7%, bibimbap (mixed rice with meat and vegetables) 27.2%, tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) 18% and gimbap (seaweed rice roll) 15.5%.”
Want to know more about almost everyone’s top favourite Korean food? We have you covered.
Origin of Korean fried chicken
Did you know Korean fried chicken is not actually of Korean origin? Well, the golden brown pieces of heaven that melt in your mouth have an interesting history.
To begin with, fried chicken is