Korea Diary | Winner Winner Chicken Dinner (Day 31)
Last post I said that we were finally venturing outside of campus on school nights for our dinners. I want to say that was mostly true....but after another full day of eating on campus.
Thinking back on it now, I am not sure how I managed to eat that much rice for breakfast on the daily. It seemed like a norm for other Korean students on campus. So I thought I'd give having roll and tofu kimbap a try one morning. Snacking on the small rice pieces throughout class time definitely curved those hunger pangs that usually came a knocking mid-way through the lesson. But boy was it filling! I also found that sweetened vinegary rice and unsweetened coffee made a very balanced combo.
I forgot the premise of the situation. When you're shown a shirtless singing Taeyang, who really cares? Eyes, Nose, Lips was all the rave in Korea that summer. Every corner we turned, every shop in every neighborhood had this song and/or a few others on constant replay.
For lunch that day my friends and I tried a different cafeteria in a building that was right next to the General Ed building. It surprisingly had some Western items on the menu. Please do take Western with a grain of salt in most situations in Korea. Foods tend to be quite Korean-tastes oriented.
Perhaps Day 31 was close to a language exam day? One of my classmates accurately showed our struggles. The teacher certainly felt like we needed extra motivation, "Fighting!! 파이팅!! (You) can do it! 할수있어!"
Instead of ordering our typical delivery-fare, a.k..a. jajangmyeon and tangsooyook, we decided it was finally time to try some Korean pizza and fried chicken. Of the two, the boneless chicken was definitely the star. This pizza was alright but nothing to sing any praises about.
Oh the boneless chicken though! Please give me some more!! More soonsal chicken 순살치킨!! Mooorrreee!!! No sauce, yes sauce, cheese flavored...anything!!!! Just give me more.
When we hear about Korean Fried Chicken States-side, it is always referring to the double fried bone-in variety. But really the boneless type is, I think, even better. It isn't as crunchy, but crispy enough. I think the beauty is in the effortlessness and popability (if that's not a word, I am declaring it a thing here). It is akin to the Taiwanese-style popcorn chicken but crispier and meatier. The Korean style is also not just limited to dry seasonings. There are also wet varieties: soy sauce based, pepper paste sauces, etc. Here is yet another food that I really miss and haven't found anything like it in NYC.
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