Hwang Kyo-ik "Korean Chicken, Tasteless and Expensive... Debate Will Continue Unless Chickens Get Bigger"

Criticism Continues for Years: "Korean Chicken Tastes Like Sauce, Not Chicken... Also Expensive"

Taste columnist Hwang Kyo-ik has been continuously arguing that Korean chicken loses the original flavor of the chicken meat and is also expensive.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] Food columnist Hwang Kyo-ik has once again emphasized his claim that Korean chicken is tasteless and expensive unless domestic chickens grow larger.

On the 8th, Hwang stated on his Facebook, "I do not engage in debates that end with just one strike. Having confirmed that the chicken is small, making the chicken taste poor and the price high, I will only stop the debate after seeing that chicken grow larger."

He pointed out, "Years ago, when I gave an interview to the media saying that chicken tastes bad because the chickens are small, various comments appeared all over the internet saying, 'Try frying a big chicken. Hwang Kyo-ik doesn't know cooking,' and 'Koreans have a taste for young chickens. Foreigners also say Korean chicken tastes good.' These messages were slightly altered and flooded everywhere," adding, "They attacked the messenger to prevent verification of the facts I presented."

He continued, "The attacks were so widespread that I could not properly defend myself and had to endure them," and speculated, "I suspect there were forces who thought that if they drove me out of the food culture scene through messenger attacks, the chicken debate would disappear."

He added, "Don't be mistaken. If such attacks could have driven me out of the food culture scene, my life would have already been over during the 천일염 (Cheonil Salt) debate," asserting, "I fought alone against the government, academia, and producer associations for eight years over 천일염 and I won."

Hwang also explained, "The chickens used for cooking chicken are broilers. The breed of broilers is the same worldwide," and "Korea is the only country in the world that raises them as small as 1.5kg. Other countries raise them around 3kg." He emphasized, "The Rural Development Administration, a Korean government agency, has confirmed that chickens around 3kg taste better and are cheaper per unit weight than 1.5kg chickens," and "Countries around the world outside Korea are frying and eating chicken made from chickens around 3kg very well."

He then demanded, "To those anonymous people who falsely attacked me in groups, I ask you to reveal your faces and names and speak," adding, "If you want to deny what I say, first attack the Rural Development Administration. Cowards, if you want to fight, at least do it honorably."

Earlier, on the 3rd, Hwang had also pointed out, "Korean chicken is eaten for the seasoning flavor, not the chicken meat taste, and it is expensive," and "The people we should be angry at are those who created the structure that sells those small chickens at high prices." He has repeatedly said for years that "Korean chicken is tasteless and expensive," and said, "It is tiring, but as a food columnist, doing this is my professional destiny."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.