Sometimes I dream of Korean fried chicken. The thin, yet crispy skin, the sound of the crunchy, and the sweet and spiciness that follow. Goodness.
What's the difference between Korean fried chicken and American fried chicken? I asked Mira Kim, during a recent visit to Chicken Barn in Frisco."Korean fried chicken has lots of flavor and a crispier skin," said Kim, who pulls triple duty as manager, server and in the kitchen. She even kindly pulled out the picnic table benches for us, as they do for every customer at Chicken Barn.
Before us was a plate of wings, marinated for 12 hours, coated in Korean batter and deep fried, and then slathered in flavor.
How do you get the skin so crispy, I asked. "That's my secret," she replied.
The Secret Of Korean Fried Chicken
It is a secret! And while Kim didn't spill the beans about what makes Chicken Barn's fried chicken so darn tasty, there are some techniques that do make Korea's fried chicken crispier and less greasy than its American counterpart.
In Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking, author and Michelin-starred chef Mingoo Kang points out that there are two types of Korean fried chicken: There is a simpler version with a light golden crust called huraideu (fried) and another iteration called yangnyeom that's covered in a complex sauced. "Both types rely on a long brine to imbue the meat with juiciness, cornstarch to create its crystalline crust and double frying for maximum crunchiness," writes Kang.
As SCMP further explains, Korean fried chicken is double-fried unlike American fried chicken, which is typically single-fried. After the first dip in hot oil, the chicken is removed, letting the excess oil drip off, before getting another blistering oil bath. This technique makes the chicken less greasy and crispier, giving it a distinct crunch.
The History Of Korean Fried Chicken
Chicken was fried in Korea as far back as the 15th century. The dish, dubbed "pogye" (포계), was described in Sangayorok, an agricultural and culinary manuscript dating from the late 1450s written by Korean royal court physician Soon ui Jeon. (The manuscript also describes the first artificially-heated, temperature-controlled greenhouse that was used to cultivate vegetables during the colder months.)
Flour and oil were luxury commodities in Korea during the 1400s, so pogye wasn't widely eaten by the hoi polli, but it's believed this was served to royalty — and the dish seems to have been forgotten for centuries. To make pogye, a whole chicken was cut into pieces, seasoned and mixed with flour and soy sauce, and stir-fried. The dish is closer to grilled chicken, and the crispy, flavorful deep-fried chicken for which Korea is famous wouldn't be developed until the second half of the 20th century.
(According to Adrian Miller's James Beard Award-winning book Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time, the earliest fried chicken recipe in the West was found in a 1747 British cookbook called The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy — note: it also has an early English-language recipe for Indian curry.)
American-style fried chicken was introduced during the Korean War, which as The Korean Herald explains, differed from the way chicken was prepared at the time, boiling bird with rice and ginseng. In the 1960s, Myeongdong Yeongyang Center opened in Seoul, serving up Korean-style rotisserie chicken, cooked in an electric oven. The result was crispy outside and tender and juicy inside, and Myeongdong Yeongyang Center is still a major tourist destination today.
Opened in 1977, Lims Chicken in Seoul's Shinsegae Department Store was the first Korean fried chicken joint, paving the way for another chain, Pelicana Chicken, to roll out seasoned sweet-and-spicy fried chicken in the early 1980s, which is now a Korean fried chicken staple. After previously arriving in Japan in 1970, Kentucky Fried Chicken opened its first restaurant in Seoul's historic city center of Jongno in 1984. A little over a decade later, there were 100 KFCs in the country, and throughout the 1990s, Korean chains and mom-and-pop restaurants were defining and perfecting their own spin on fried fowl deliciousness.
What Fried Chicken To Order
At Chicken Bar, we tried the Korean sweet and spicy sauce, lemon pepper spice and Buffalo sauce fried chicken — all were crispy, flavorful and delicious. The Buffalo wings and lemon pepper will feel closer to American-style wings, but the extra crispy, non-greasy skin highlights what makes Korean fried chicken so wonderfully special.
My fav? The classic sweet and spicy. Since Korean fried chicken is covered with sauce and seasoning, like Nashville hot chicken, your fingers are going to get messy. Chicken Barn provided plastic gloves as we dug in. They were appreciated.
More Than "Just" Korean Fried Chicken
At a place called Chicken Barn, you are expecting to get, well, chicken, for the perfect chimaek (fried chicken and beer) pairing. And you expect the fried chicken to be really, really good. It is.
But what we weren't expecting was traditional Korean favorites like sundubu jjigae and bulgogi japchae bap — which were more recently added to the menu. They are welcomed and wonderful.
Our rec: Get the Chuncheon dak galbi (spicy chicken thigh, sweet potatoes, cabbage, onions, scallions and sesame leaves). The dish hails from the city of Chuncheon, which is about an hour northeast of Seoul, and is a symphony of spicy sweetness. It's not tongue-laceratingly hot, but with just enough spice to add complexity to the slight sweetness. I loved it — one of the best things I've had this year — and this now occupies space in my culinary dreams.
Plus, the dish is for two. Share with a friend or loved one, or eat it all yourself. I won't judge.
For Those With Dietary Restrictions
While Korean fried chicken isn't gluten free, Chicken Barn does have vegetarian options, including the stir-friend mushrooms and some of the sides.
Chicken Barn is located at 9292 Warren Pkwy, Suite 350, near 99 Ranch Market, off Preston. We thank the restaurant for hosting and treating us.
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