Chicken Rhapsody (2024)

Clucking good!

Chef Baek Jong Won returned, this time to guide us through Korea’s obsession with the beloved yard bird on Chicken Rhapsody aka Korean Fried Chicken Rhapsody. With streets named after area specialties and fried chicken restaurants seemingly everywhere, the Koreans take chicken very seriously combining tradition with innovation in order to create nearly limitless variations to delight and challenge their taste buds.

Despite Netflix’s title, only the first episode focused on fried chicken. Baek and his guests did a deep dive into the history of fried chicken and the major turning points for the popular dish. Fried chicken took off in the 1970’s as chickens and cooking oil became more readily available. The initial restaurants were influenced by American fried chicken but it didn’t take long for the Koreans to say, “hold my beer” and put their own delicious spin on the dish with a wide variety of sauces for the juicy and crispy chicken pieces to be tossed in. I did love the trivia bit regarding Kentucky Fried Chicken’s introduction in the 1980’s. Not only did the American chain show the benefits of brining, but it was also popular with women of all ages because they could finally order chicken legs for themselves which were often gobbled up by the men in their lives when meals eaten elsewhere only came with two.

Episode 2 explored other dishes, such as rotisserie and barbecued chicken. Baeksuk, Sujeunggye, Spicy Stir-fried Chicken, and Cauldron Lid Spicy Braised Chicken all had their moments of attention. None of the bird goes to waste as cooks through the years have developed new ways of serving offal in addition to the more favored parts. The show also discussed the efforts to restore native birds, including the long-tailed chicken.

With over 40,000 fried chicken shops, it's safe to say that Koreans love the crispy delights. And why wouldn’t they? Whether it’s for dinner, celebrating, or winding down with co-workers at the end of the week, they eat around one billion chickens a year. There are streets throughout market districts named after the specialty dish served to happy customers from Braised Chicken Street to Chicken Feet St! Fried, braised, stir-fried or cooked on a cauldron lid over a fire, there was no shortage of styles. Too hot for chicken soup? There is no such thing! The hotter the day the more bowls of scalding soup that are sold!

If you’ve ever watched a Kdrama with the characters eating fried chicken and wondered what went into making the tasty morsels, look no further. Baek and friends not only showed the different methods used, but the history and how cooks create their own unique and mouthwatering styles of preparing the popular bird. Per usual, this series produced a quality program showing the love and imagination that goes into preparing both traditional and cutting edge cuisine.

15 June 2024

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