Comments on: The real KFC: Korean Fried Chicken

The real KFC: Korean Fried Chicken

paulinsanjuan — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:19:45 -0800

A good write-up on a different kind of fried chicken. [via nytimes.com] Registration-free link here.

By: paulinsanjuan

paulinsanjuan — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:20:42 -0800

If you're tired of buffalo wings with blue cheese and celery, this is a pretty good alternative.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:26:28 -0800

Oh my god, I'm so fucking hungry for Korean fried chicken right now.

By: phaedon

phaedon — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:28:09 -0800

Just let your Seooooooullll glow!

By: luriete

luriete — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:31:06 -0800

I read this yesterday and forwarded it to most of the foodies I know. I wish there was a Korean fried chicken place in San Francisco or near where I live (Sacramento). omg sogood.

By: cerebus19

cerebus19 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:33:54 -0800

Dammit, now I want some Korean fried chicken, but have no place to get it.

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:37:46 -0800

luriete: Of course there's Korean fried chicken in San Francisco. Although the East Bay is supposed to have more.

By: champthom

champthom — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:38:35 -0800

Dammit, now I want some Korean fried chicken, but have no place to get it. cerebus19, I feel your pain.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:39:15 -0800

Truly the breast of the web.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:42:55 -0800

No, really seriously, I would beat a puppy to death with a kitten right now for even a small platter of Korean fried chicken and a cold beer. Can anyone in New York issue the definitive opinion on the best place?

By: monju_bosatsu

monju_bosatsu — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:43:25 -0800

It is not via NYTimes, it is NYtimes. </peeve>

By: tadellin

tadellin — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:50:12 -0800

"Unidentified Flying Chickens"? THAT was the best they could come up with?

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:50:14 -0800

Anyone got a recommendation for LA?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:54:44 -0800

Divine_Wino: I hear the NY Times covered a few good places.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 13:55:21 -0800

good article, makes me very hungry for fried chicken. i particularly enjoyed the link to the korean food blog.

By: paladin

paladin — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:00:31 -0800

Oh, man. I remember getting it from the source when I was in Seoul. Especially the spicy sauced stuff... dinner is going to be disappointing tonight.

By: rosemere

rosemere — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:02:34 -0800

Toronto: Sejong Korean BBQ on Bloor near Manning is supposed to be a good source of fried chicken, but I haven't had it myself. Yet. *drool*

By: empath

empath — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:03:06 -0800

Yay, looks like there's one in centreville. Field trip.

By: Keith Talent

Keith Talent — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:10:06 -0800

Vancouver options?

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:10:36 -0800

Where can I get this in Toronto? And no more food posts at 5 PM EST. *drool*

By: onalark

onalark — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:13:25 -0800

I had this recipe lying around in Google Notebook (Hawaiian-style Korean Fried Chicken), figured somebody might want to try re-creating the flavoring: A Lot of Korean Chicken 15 pounds chicken (wings/thighs/drummettes/whatever) 4 cups flour 4 cups cornstarch 2 quarts oil (corn/vegetable) 1 1/2 c. shoyu 1 c. sugar 3 stalks green onions sliced thinly 3 crushed garlic cloves 2 hot peppers minced 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1/4 c. toasted sesame seeds Heat oil in a frying pan or deep fryer to 350 F. Warm shoyu in a saucepan, gently stirring in sugar until it's dissolved, add green onions, crushed garlic, minced peppers, sesame oil, and sesame steeds. Dredge the chicken lightly in the flour and cornstarch (add a raw egg to the mixture for crispier skin), fry for 10 minutes, shake and let cool for two minutes, then fry again for another 10 minutes. Remove chicken from oil, shake again, and dip in mixing sauce, then let cool for another 2-5 minutes. Ono!

By: onalark

onalark — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:15:19 -0800

oh, and I recommend Hawaiian chili peppers if you can find them.

By: kkokkodalk

kkokkodalk — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:20:50 -0800

Oh snap, my friend and I were just recently talking about yangnyum chicken. However, we both agreed while the chicken is good stuff we thought it was the chicken WITH the pickled radish that made it all sublime than just the chicken by itself. It's about texture and flavor contrast! Unfortunately, she thinks the chicken places here don't compare to the ones back home not because of the chicken but because the pickled radish is subpar.

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:24:39 -0800

Keith: Ap Gu Jung, on Robson, apparently. I haven't been, but you bet I'm going this weekend.

By: Tikirific

Tikirific — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:29:36 -0800

So these places are in LA as well? Anyone have suggestions?

By: rosemere

rosemere — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:35:34 -0800

GuyZero: Toronto (maybe)

By: 2sheets

2sheets — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:39:39 -0800

I was wondering, and onalark's recipe seems to answer, if the batter would involve corn starch, because that is one secret to a good crispy stir fry, along with egg whites. Makes sense; I'll have to try this.

By: MonkNoiz

MonkNoiz — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:45:30 -0800

Metafilter: Beat a puppy to death with a kitten.

By: CharlesV42

CharlesV42 — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:45:32 -0800

Is it racist if the article is about Korean Fried chicken during black history month?

By: jonson

jonson — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:46:59 -0800

Los Angeles places, anyone?

By: Drunken_munky

Drunken_munky — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:50:37 -0800

Hey, GuyZero: I was wondering about the exact same thing. There's a thread going on over at the Toronto Chowhound boards, hopefully they'll turn up something.

By: Postroad

Postroad — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:56:02 -0800

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822775.html soon, perhaps, no NY Times

By: exogenous

exogenous — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 14:57:34 -0800

paging stavros

By: kafziel

kafziel — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:03:56 -0800

I'm alternately in Baltimore and DC. I want. Where?

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:04:20 -0800

rosemere, I think you linked to the wrong thing, unless you're telling me that you make chicken like this, in which case: meetup at your place!

By: dw

dw — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:38:27 -0800

Surely we have it in Seattle, right?

By: twsf

twsf — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:52:33 -0800

In San Francisco, also available at San Tung.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:59:24 -0800

Keith Talent - Vancouver options? There's a CoCo chicken in Kerrisdale on W. 41st just a little E of West Boulevard on the North side. I adore the 'spiced salt' (it's probably a variant of pan-fried white pepper and salt, but I can't identify if they've got anything else in it) they provide with the chicken. The ginseng chicken soup is also very very good. When people take-out a carton of soup, I can smell it (and salivate) 2 blocks away. There's usually a bit of a wait and it looks like it doubles as a children's day-care, but <shrug> they've got good chicken.

By: Sangermaine

Sangermaine — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:27:00 -0800

Stavros better get here. This is his perfect storm of chicken and Korea. Once in a lifetime it is.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:43:50 -0800

boo_radley, you chose to be jocose, that is fine with me, no fried chicken for you.

By: Shoeburyness

Shoeburyness — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:55:02 -0800

I don't suppose there is any chance of getting this in Denver?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:17:32 -0800

shoeburyness: It's not Korean, but you can always go to Tom's Home Cooking in Five Points. Good catfish, fried chicken and other foods to cure what ails you.

By: floam

floam — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:18:21 -0800

Anyone know of places in Portland that do Korean fried chicken?

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:19:03 -0800

Korean Fried Chicken, instant internet meme. Seriously, do we have this in Seattle?

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:21:43 -0800

"Suddenly there will be a long line outside one chicken place, for no apparent reason, and then the next week, it's somewhere else." Word gets around quickly when a stall has managed to source some puppies-beaten-to-death-with-kittens for frying.

By: hifiparasol

hifiparasol — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:42:12 -0800

Jeez! Anyone having any luck finding this in Los Angeles? I'm sick of Zankou.

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:42:56 -0800

I want to go get some, but i'm guessing that all the places that the Times mentioned are going to be swamped for the next week. I don't think I can wait.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:18:26 -0800

@ hifiparasol, why'd you have to bring it up zankou chicken? now i'm on the look out for korean fried chicken AND mediterranean roasted chicken!

By: vacapinta

vacapinta — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:19:28 -0800

Thanks twsf! I'll try and grab some Korean Fried Chicken in the next couple days. Its really hard to imagine though that anything could be better than Powell's.

By: supercrayon

supercrayon — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:44:55 -0800

I'm kind of tempted to use an ask question, "Where are the best places, in any large metro area in the States, to get Korean fried chicken?" Then while everyone there was eating I could cry and choke back some marmite.

By: breezeway

breezeway — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:24:47 -0800

Wino, bro, my giant boss and I once went to the improbably named Baden Baden on a location scout lunch break, W 32nd b/t 5 Ave and B'way, an upstairs place with no sign on the street (you gotta look up). They played Special Ed and Rakim and you'd weep if I told you how much deliciously spicy fried chicken we ate; it was the real deal. But we had better another time in Fort Lee when we went to drop off files, at a place called Boom Boom or Big Bang or something; man, I wanna call my old boss for an escapade of gluttony, but I'm worried about his health (he's the only guy I know who can list a Mercedes sedan to port just by getting in, must need his alignment fixed every month). Three cheers for Korean fried chicken: Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! And who was it who needed Baltimore/DC advice? Check out Tyler Cowen's Dining Guide, I think it's available online. Central MD/Northern VA is silly with Korean spots.

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:35:35 -0800

Colonel Sanders may have died 26 years ago, but it feels like a funeral would be appropriate now.

By: gergtreble

gergtreble — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:54:48 -0800

NOW im hungry....

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:29:38 -0800

Thanks Poppa Bear Cool Breezeway, we might just have to hit that up one of these days.

By: _sirmissalot_

_sirmissalot_ — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:39:31 -0800

4 CUPS cornstarch? Typo? Correcto?

By: onalark

onalark — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:41:50 -0800

It's correct. Notice that the recipe calls for 15 pounds of chicken.

By: _sirmissalot_

_sirmissalot_ — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:53:55 -0800

Well there you go. I haven't used cornstarch as a fry-coating before and thought the 50 percent ratio to flour might be too high. Can't wait to try it.

By: euphorb

euphorb — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 23:36:11 -0800

As far as fried chicken in LA goes, nothing beats Honey's Kettle in Culver City (also Compton). The only thing close that I've experienced is the broasted chicken from Amber's Chicken & Donuts in Encino.

By: kafziel

kafziel — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:08:20 -0800

And who was it who needed Baltimore/DC advice? Check out Tyler Cowen's Dining Guide, I think it's available online. Central MD/Northern VA is silly with Korean spots. That was me. I love you. With mouth.

By: thedaniel

thedaniel — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 01:59:41 -0800

euphorb: I live in Koreatown. I am NOT driving to scienceforsaken Culver to get some k-chicken! There's a good pollo ala brasa around the corner from me - clearly i'm in a chicken-friendly neighborhood - i bet i could walk out my door right now (2AM) and find some damn chicken. I will keep the blue posted. .. On second thought, I am sleepy. I will keep the blue posted.. tomorrow. But i bet if nowhere else, the Prince has the chicken. They serve live octopus there, they must have good chicken.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 02:21:20 -0800

The best is when it's 3 o'clock in the morning and you're walking home after several bottles of soju and you pass the tiny store with the walk-up window on the street that sells "pride chicken"* and I swear to god, anyone who thinks they have an iota of willpower will melt into a puddle of weakness just for the smell for this stuff. *Not racist, as Koreans have a hard time pronouncing F's and they certainly take pride in their food, which they should, because it is delicious.

By: lotsofno

lotsofno — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:40:20 -0800

i always thought of the chicken described in the NYTimes article as Filipino Fried Chicken. i don't have a single aunt who doesn't know how to make this delicious recipe. and filipinos have a lot of aunts!

By: daHIFI

daHIFI — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:22:33 -0800

doesn't seem theres anything close nearby where i live. Interestingly enough Google Maps lists the PETA headquarters when I search nearby. I'm gonna try onalark's recipe after I adjust the quantities a bit. (15 pounds chicken?)

By: graventy

graventy — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:18:27 -0800

So....the Twin Cities?

By: roboto

roboto — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:31:48 -0800

In Seattle I go to Kyoto Teriyaki. When the old guy is cooking I get two orders!

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:56:07 -0800

So I went to Cco Cco, on 41st at West Blvd in Vancouver, and got the chicken. It was heavier on the sauce than is described in TFA, and definitely not crispy, but it was still pretty good.