SOUTH Korean pop star Lee Min Ho flew into the country recently to open the third branch of the popular Korean chicken diner Kyochon (www.kyochon.ph/), located at the Theater Mall in Greenhills. The 30-minute program ended with a bang as fireworks lit up the night sky.
With fresh food made of natural, domestically grown farm products, coupled with 20 years of know-how, using healthy oil exclusively for deep frying, South Korea’s No. 1 chicken restaurant is definitely a must-try. Proffering naturally aged meat that’s low in sodium, with neither glacial acetic acid nor sodium saccharin, diners get to eat the pure goodness of poultry as it should be.
“We make three promises. First, we won’t make fast-food. Each dish has a time for preparation, storage temperature and cooking. There are no shortcuts. Second, we only use what’s natural and organic. And, third, we only make healthy chicken with honesty. But now it’s time to fulfill a promise we made last year, and that is to let diners of Kyochon meet one of the brand’s biggest fans, Lee Min Ho himself,” said Marketing Manager Chanky Tiangco in introducing the star during the opening.
Lee’s breakthrough came in 2009 with the South Korean version of Boys Over Flowers. Playing Gu Jun-pyo won him several awards, including Best New Actor in the television category at the 45th Baeksang Arts Awards, and made him a household name in the Philippines. He further cemented his status as a leading man with the highly successful City Hunter and the Heirs, which garnered for him another nomination for Most Popular Actor at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards ceremonies. He has visited the Philippines twice before: first, to promote a local apparel brand; and then for an Asian tour in promotion of his first album.
Lee nabbed his first cinematic lead role as an impoverished orphan-turned-mobster in the film Gangnam Blues, a noir-ish action film set in the 1970s depicting the tumultuous history of real-estate development behind Seoul’s now famous fashion district. The movie is currently playing in theaters around these parts.
Starting in 1991 with the first restaurant occupying floor space of a mere 30 square meters, Kyochon today owns almost a thousand stores in South Korea alone.
What once was a lone outlet in the province of Guni has grown into a global brand.
“We cook food only when it’s ordered using fresh, not frozen, chicken. Kyochon literally means ‘start in town’. With this pioneering perspective, the restaurant started the double fry style of cooking with oil really meant for deep frying. The first frying takes water out of the food. The second frying takes the oil out from it,” Tiangco said. Kyochon has become an everyday favorite in the Land of the Morning Calm. Double-frying and piece-by-piece sauce coating are time-consuming but these are the necessary processes for the brand’s nutritious chicken.
“Because we value quality ingredients and customers’ health the most, we only use domestically grown natural ingredients. Our chicken contains the lowest amount of sodium among the industry players.
“Kyochon’s menu came to perfection by the combination of good ingredients grown by the wind, sunlight and soil, then preserved by state-of-the-art facilities, together with our chicken specialists’ research and passion,” Tiangco shared.
There are four chicken dishes to choose from: the Soonsal (strips/fillet) series, the spicy Red series that’s glazed with original hot sauce courtesy of South Korea’s hottest red peppers; the sweet and crunchy Honey series that’s marinated for 24 hours in special seasoning then fried to perfection and coated with natural honey sauce; and my favorite Original recipe series that’s simply coated in an exclusive blend of soy sauce and garlic. Lee’s favorite is the honey-coated variant.
Eco-friendly is the basic interior concept of every food outlet. Every Kyochon restaurant is built using natural materials, providing a comfortable ambiance to relax and feel nature even in the heart of cosmopolitan cities. Other must-tries are the authentically spiced Kimchi Rice and the healthful bowl of green salad with grilled chicken strips. For the latter, you may opt for the mandarin orange or blueberry dressing.
Alas, we were unable to ask Lee what was his preferred salad dressing.
Nico Erle Ciriaco