Korean fried chicken is not Korean, most Koreans say – but for rest of the world it’s their favourite Korean food and the one they eat most often
- In a survey, 8,500 people in 17 cities around the world were asked to name their favourite Korean dish. Korean fried chicken topped the list
- In another survey in South Korea, a majority said Korean fried chicken isn’t Korean. Think of it as ‘K-food’ instead, an academic suggests
By Yoon Ja-young
According to one recent poll, Korean-style fried chicken is the favourite Korean food of people overseas, while more than half of Koreans surveyed in another poll do not think it belongs in that category.
A survey of 1,500 Korean nationals by the non-profit organisation Korean Food Promotion Institute shows that 63.9 per cent believe that regular fried chicken is not Korean food, while 45.1 per cent say that neither is marinated fried chicken. Respondents were asked whether they would consider each of 30 different kinds of food as Korean.
The perception of fried chicken as not Korean contrasts with another survey by the institute in which people living overseas chose fried chicken as their favourite dish.
Joo Young-ha, a professor of folklore studies at the Academy of Korean Studies, said in an interview with Korean radio channel CBS Radio that one should focus on the concept of “K-food”, rather than arguing if fried chicken should be considered a Korean dish.
When asked whether fried chicken is a Korean dish, he said it should be thought of as K-food, adding that this category includes not just dishes traditionally thought of as Korean, but dishes served in Korean restaurants or produced by Korean food factories.
Joo pointed out that foreign nationals living overseas often come to be interested in K-foods such as samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly), soju, tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes) and pajeon (scallion pancake) after seeing them in Korean dramas, while Koreans want to introduce foreigners to more traditional dishes.
As time passed, however, Koreans came to regard this new form of japchae as traditionally Korean, he added.