Fried food involves coating ingredients like veggies, fish, or meat in flour, then frying them in hot oil until submerged and heated through. It’s popular street food, often served with soy sauce for its natural flavors. Fried cuisine originated in China and Portugal, influencing dishes like fish and chips, tempura, and fried chicken globally. In Korea, limited wheat and oil production delayed fried food’s popularity until the 1970s. Potato, sweet potato, kimchi dumplings, fried chicken, fish cake skewers, shrimp tempura, and squid rings are common Korean fried snacks, each offering unique flavors and textures.
Fried food refers to dishes where ingredients like vegetables, fish, or meat are coated in flour and then deep-fried in hot oil for a short time until they are well submerged in the oil and heated to high temperatures. Ingredients are heated by convection in the hot oil, causing dehydration and absorption, giving them a unique flavor while minimizing nutrient loss.
Often prepared in street food stalls or large restaurants, there are no restrictions on the ingredients for frying. Since most fried foods retain the original flavor of the ingredients, they are best accompanied by condiments like soy sauce rather than strong seasonings. Besides being suitable as snacks, they also make great side dishes for alcohol.
The birthplaces of fried cuisine are China and Portugal. Due to Portuguese influence, dishes like fish and chips in the UK, Belgian fries (French fries), tempura(덴푸라, てんぷら) in Japan, and fried chicken in the US have emerged.
Tradition
The Roman Empire cultivated olive groves on the Iberian Peninsula to use as a supply base for edible oil. As a result, Portugal had abundant olive oil and a developed culture of fried cuisine. Additionally, as a maritime power that opened the Age of Exploration in the 15th century, Portugal consumed a lot of seafood and was the first in Europe to start frying fish in oil. The frying cooking method was not only prevalent in Portugal but also in the Mediterranean coastal areas where olive oil was abundant during the Middle Ages.
After Spain merged with Portugal in 1580, King Philip II, who was the unified monarch, intensified persecution against heretics. Many Jews emigrated to England, Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other places for religious freedom, and it was through these Jewish immigrants that Portugal’s fried food culture spread.
The fried food culture that originated in Belgium led to the creation of today’s French fries, which are made by cutting potatoes into long, thin pieces and frying them. The fish frying brought to England by immigrants later became the origin of a dish called fish and chips. In the 16th century, Portuguese missionaries introduced the frying culture to Japan, leading to the birth of tempura. The fried food culture brought to South Africa by Portuguese black slaves traveled to the United States along with the slaves, eventually giving rise to today’s American-style fried chicken.
The widespread use of edible oil to the extent that fried cooking could be done in ordinary households began in the 20th century with the mass production of vegetable oil. With the Industrial Revolution and population growth, the demand for edible and industrial oils increased, leading to a proliferation of restaurants selling fried foods. However, there were limitations in the production of animal fat, and traditional methods of crushing and pressing grain seeds for oil had low yields. In 1856, solvent extraction methods were developed in England, increasing yields, and in 1911, the American company P&G began mass-producing solidified vegetable oil, called shortening, at affordable prices, ushering in the era of popularization of edible oils.
China has a long history of stir-frying and deep-frying culture, mainly due to its poor water quality and dry climate inland. However, the situation on the Korean Peninsula was different. While wheat was extensively cultivated in Europe and China, its production on the Korean Peninsula was limited. Thus, flour has always been considered a precious ingredient, and edible oil was also scarce, so only certain privileged or wealthy classes could afford sesame or perilla oil for special occasions. Fried dishes did not develop significantly, mainly consisting of dishes like stir-fries, pancakes, and roasted dishes. However, during the Japanese colonial period, influences from Japan, such as tempura, started to emerge. In the 1960s, there was an increased demand for edible oil, but traditional oil extraction methods had low yields, leading to low self-sufficiency rates. As Korea relied heavily on imports for most of its edible oil demand, prices remained high. The popularization of fried cuisine in Korean society began in the early 1970s.
The widespread use of flour began after the Korean War. This was due to large-scale aid and imports from overseas. Additionally, in 1971, Dongbang Oil & Fat Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Sajo Haepyo, began mass-producing soybean oil using solvent extraction for the first time in Korea. Thanks to the reduced cost of edible oil, even ordinary people could afford to cook fried dishes. In the 1980s, with the large-scale commercialization of imported breeds of poultry, the domestic poultry industry began, leading to the emergence of specialized chicken fry (commonly known as fried chicken) restaurants in Korea.
Types
- Gamja twigim (감자 튀김): Potato fries. Sliced potatoes deep-fried until crispy.
- Goguma twigim (고구마튀김): Sweet potato fries. Similar to gamja twigim but made from sweet potatoes.
- Kimchi mandu twigim (김말이튀김): Kimchi dumplings. Kimchi and other ingredients wrapped in dough and deep-fried.
- Dak twigim (닭튀김): Fried chicken. Chicken pieces coated in batter and deep-fried until crispy.
- Eomuk twigim (어묵튀김): Fish cake skewers. Fish cakes skewered and deep-fried.
- Saewoo twigim (새우튀김): Shrimp tempura. Shrimp coated in batter and deep-fried.
- Ojingeo twigim (오징어 튀김): Squid rings. Sliced squid rings coated in batter and deep-fried.
These are just a few examples of the delicious fried foods you can find in Korean snack shops, each offering a unique taste and texture that’s sure to satisfy your cravings!