Latest Fad: Korean Fried Chicken and Beer from Outer Space

Clemence Jiang | Feb 21, 2014 11:30 am | 10 comments | 5415 reads

While the winter chill persists outside, it seems that fried chicken and beer have never been this popular before among young Chinese.

This food combo has suddenly become the latest fad after the hit romantic Korean drama You Who Came from the Stars (来自星星的你 – watch online here), started airing on iqiyi.com. I am personally not a big fan of Korean soap opera, and have never completely watched a complete episode. But after I was prompted to try Korean-style fried chicken, l not only fell in love with this delicious dish but also started to stay up late to watch this particular show.

I also suddenly understood why many friends and public Wechat accounts starting posting pictures of chicken with beer two months ago. According to guides to find Korean fried chicken with beer in Beijing, many of them point to a small eatery called Suutak’s Chicken, a place tucked away in a residential building in Wangjing, Beijing’s unofficial Korean town.

From the published reviews, the place looks like a cozy and intimate late night eatery with tasty yet reasonably-priced food. But when we arrived there at dinner time, I realized we should come back because there already were 32 groups in line before us, and all of us were waiting for the same few tables.

Having arrived late, Suutak’s did not disappoint us the next day when we returned; all the same, the place was still crazily busy and the food took a long time to arrive. We ordered Chili Sauce Chicken Wings (RMB 45) and Boneless Hot Sauce Chicken (RMB 45), and weren't able to finish because the portions was simply too generous.

But the wait only made the anticipation pay off when we took our first bite. Both dishes showed the uniqueness of Korean fried chicken: super crunchy, rich on sauces (chili, sweet and hot, soy sauce, etc.) and option for boneless chicken which is really thick on batter and won't get the sauce all over your face. Now this is finger-licking good!

An order of Draft Asahi Beer (RMB 18) will make your Korean drama combo complete. We also liked the Korean Rice Beer (RMB 35), a carbonated and stronger version of Yunnan style rice wine. 

To complete the experience, go home and watch the show: an alien man who landed on Earth 400 years ago falls in love with a modern day actress. He has the near perfect appearance of a Korean soap star and possesses seven times’ the physical abilities (vision, hearing and speed) of ordinary humans; however, he cannot come in contact with human saliva and blood. Not a bad story if you read Chinese subtitles!

The show's famous line is "It's snowing outside; we should have fried chicken and beer!" (下雪了, 怎么能没有啤酒炸鸡呢? Xià xuě le, zěnme néng méiyǒu píjiǔ zhá jī ne?) We'll have to wait and see if this latest fad will continue into the snowless climes of the spring and summer.

Suutak’s Chicken
Daily 2pm-2am
320 Wangjing Xiyuan Sanqu Sanqu, Guangshun Beidajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区广顺北大街望京西园三区320号
(8472-6745, 134 3961 6544) Delivery service also available.
 

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mtnerror's picture mtnerror Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/27/2014 - 16:19

Settle down, Charles. A trend is different from a restaurant review -- the former is pluralist in nature. If a particular restauant was the only one in town where locals could join in on the trend, or if the resto had actually started the trend or was declared as the best at it, I could understand. But since there are far more than ONE purveyor of KR-style fried chicken in WJ, let alone BJ, I was stating it was interesting how so many publications were focusing on just one of the many who do it (decreasingly) well, or even some who re-purpose an earlier article to make it seem they're "with the times." There was a Chinese publication that recently featured a different establishment, so kudos to them for branching out a bit -- I guess. It's more understandable when local publications all descend on a NEW restaurant in a short period of time, but seeing as this resto's not new nor the only serving fare of this kind...if you can't stand the heat, better get out of the (fried chicken) kitchen. Or maybe you should bring it up with your editing team that TBJ should no longer accept comments on stories if they disagree with your opinion.

And unfortunately, Steven, none of them have the hot, homemade potato crisps and crunchy chips, unlike the ones on the other side of the Yellow Sea. Even worse, when I ate here earlier this week I could tell Suutak's had pre-cooked the fried chicken, resulting in stale fried chicken -- deep fried foods NEVER re-heat well. In recent weeks, thanks to new-found (and hopefully short-lived) popularity, the small eatery has really gone down a few notches in quality of the output. Still charging the same, though Smile

charlesliu's picture charlesliu Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/27/2014 - 15:18

Steven Schwankert wrote:

No wonder this is showing up in China as a trend: a Korean TV show.

http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2014/02/26/korean-tv-show-sparks-chicken-and-beer-craze-in-china/?mod=djemSceneAsia

Oh dear. I don't think this news is going to make mtnerror very happy. When will this reporting of popular trends cease?

britomart's picture britomart Submitted by Guest on Fri, 02/21/2014 - 15:56

I for one don't mind the recycling of news, as I don't check those other sites regularly, so reading it on the Beijinger was the first time I'd seen it. Probably an indication of how widely-read I am (not).

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)

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