Buldak
 | |
| Alternative names | Fire chicken |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | South Korea |
| Associated cuisine | Korean cuisine |
| Invented | 2001 |
| Serving temperature | Hot |
| Main ingredients | Chicken |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 불닭 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | buldak |
| McCune–Reischauer | puldak |
| IPA | [pul.dak̚] |
Buldak (불닭) or fire chicken is a heavily spiced, barbecued chicken dish.[1][2] The literal meaning of the name is "fire chicken", where bul means "fire" and dak translates to "chicken."
History
Buldak became popular in South Korea during 2004, primarily for its extreme pungency, as the country's long-term recession and economic downturn caused the local population to seek out spicy food to relieve stress.[2][3][4] The rise in popularity of buldak set the trend for extremely hot dishes in South Korea, which led to the rise of buldak franchise restaurants.[2] However, the name buldak was registered at a patent office in April 2001 by Buwon Food, who claimed copyright to the name. This led to strong opposition from Hongcho Buldak and other leading buldak restaurants, who claimed that the term had been used as a common noun.[5] On the 30th of April, 2008, the Patent Court of Korea agreed that term was generalized and buldak became free for public use.[6] Although the popularity of buldak has declined in recent years in South Korea, the dish has led to the development of other successful dishes inspired by it, such as buldak-flavored instant noodles by Samyang Food.[7]
Preparation and serving
Buldak can be grilled or deep-fried using bite-sized chicken pieces, and is served with a spicy sauce usually including gochutgaru (chili powder), gochujang (chili paste), soy sauce, jocheong (starch syrup), garlic, and ginger. Chili powder made from Cheongyang chili pepper is preferred as it is spicier than regular chili powder used in Korean recipes. Sliced garae-tteok (rice cakes) and melted cheese are common additions to the dish. Mild side dishes such as gyeran-jjim (steamed eggs) or boiled nuringji (scorched rice) are often served with buldak to help counteract the spiciness. The dish is usually accompanied with an alcoholic beverage such as beer.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Lee, Jiyeon (29 May 2012). "Don't say we didn't warn you: Korea's 5 spiciest dishes". CNN. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
- ^ a b c d Lee, Jiyeon; Han, Sol (31 August 2015). "7 Korean dishes that are super spicy -- and tips for eating them". CNN. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ 황, 인원 (29 July 2004). "매운 맛을 보여다오". Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ 정, 충신 (7 October 2004). "입안이 '화끈화끈' 홍초불닭". Munhwa Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ 임, 도원 (24 January 2007). "'홍초불닭' 상표 못쓴다...대법원 "부원식품 '불닭' 상표와 유사"". Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ 송, 인걸 (1 May 2008). "'불닭' 상표권 등록 안돼". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ^ Jeon, Ji-hyun; Baek, Sang-kyung (29 November 2016). "Korean instant noodles hot in overseas as ramen challenge goes viral". Maeil Business Newspaper. Retrieved 2 June 2017.