Why Korean-Chinese restaurants are so popular and the roots of the hybrid cuisine

As the Chinese diaspora spread across the globe, Chinese communities formed in their adopted homes, and adapted their cuisines to suit the locals in their new locations. A prime example is American-Chinese cuisine, which gave us those iconic takeaway boxes, dishes like General Tso’s chicken and chop suey, and fortune cookies. Such hybrid cuisines not only enriched culinary landscapes, but also left a mark on popular culture. One such cuisine is that which evolved among Chinese residents of Korea. Korean-Chinese restaurants, known as joongguk jib (literally “China house”) in Korean, are fixtures across South Korea, in city centres and remote towns. Consider this: Marado, a tiny island of just 30 hectares (about 12 football fields) in Jeju province has nine joongguk jib restaurants. Each serves its own variation on typical Korean-Chinese dishes such as jajangmyeon (black bean paste noodles) and jjambbong (spicy seafood noodles) which incorporate local ingredients – mostly seafood. The popularity of the cuisine has created a trend among visitors to the island – they challenge themselves to eat at all nine joongguk jib during their trip. Much like other cuisines of the Chinese diaspora, Korean-Chinese cuisine has made its way outside its home country thanks to immigration. Today, joongguk jib can be found in cities around the world with sizeable Korean communities, from Los Angeles to São Paulo, Brazil. They even operate in culinary hubs like Hong Kong, where authentic Chinese cuisine from almost every region of China is readily available. The deep connection Koreans have with Korean-Chinese cuisine is the result of much more than just the appeal of the food itself. It reflects historical, cultural and geopolitical factors that have played out over many decades in South Korea: Chinese immigration; the impoverished state of South Korea after the devastation of the Korean war; government-driven post-war social and economic development, and; food delivery culture. The history of Korean-Chinese cuisine goes back more than 100 years. While there have been cultural exchanges between China and Korea for thousands of years, a pivotal moment in the development of modern Korean-Chinese cuisine came in 1884, when China’s Qing dynasty government established a concessionary area in Incheon, Korea. This occurred just a year after Korea’s isolationist Joseon dynasty opened a port there to foreign countries for the first time. A significant wave of immigrants began arriving from China, especially Shandong province just across the Yellow Sea from what is now South Korea, around 1900, fleeing the turmoil of the Boxer Rebellion. These immigrants included labourers who worked in the port and merchants who traded goods between China and Korea. The earliest Chinese restaurants established in Incheon were known as “Qing restaurants”, and they were symbols of sophistication that catered primarily to the elite. At the time, it was fashionable among the upper class in the capital of the incipient Empire of Korea to make day trips to Incheon on the country’s first railway, built in 1899, just to dine at these famed Chinese restaurants. But it was not until the mid-20th century that Korean-Chinese cuisine established itself in the Korean collective consciousness after it diverged significantly from its traditional Chinese roots. In 1948 Wang Songsan, a Chinese immigrant from Shandong, developed and introduced to the Korean market chunjang – a variation on the Chinese tianmianjiang (sweet bean paste) with added caramel colouring, sugar and other ingredients. This became the signature flavour base for jajangmyeon, the most representative Korean-Chinese dish, which features thick wheat noodles topped with a rich, savoury black bean sauce with meat. Jajangmyeon is often compared to China’s zhajiangmian, a noodle dish from Shandong province that also features fried bean sauce. While it is probably true that the Korean jajangmyeon originated from the Chinese zhajiangmian, now the two differ significantly. Made using chunjang, Korean jajangmyeon is sweeter, and the noodles are completely doused in the topping; the sauce of its Chinese counterpart is more savoury. Jjambbong, the other signature Korean-Chinese dish, is based on a Chinese diaspora dish from Japan. Its name comes from champon, a Japanese-Chinese noodle soup developed by a Chinese immigrant in Nagasaki. The Japanese champon must have been adapted to fit the Japanese palate, and the Korean jjambbong further evolved in South Korea. While Nagasaki champon features a white broth, the Korean version has a characteristically vibrant spicy red broth, with a hearty mix of seafood and vegetables. The golden age of Korean-Chinese cuisine, driven by the two-horse carriage of jajangmyeon and jjambbong, arrived rather unexpectedly in the 1960s and 70s as the result of a change in government policy. In 1953, South Korea had emerged economically devastated from the brutal Korean war. A shortage of rice – a Korean staple – in the 1960s and 70s posed a significant challenge that threatened to further destabilise society. As a countermeasure, the Korean government implemented a stringent policy to promote flour-based foods and restrict rice consumption, even prohibiting stores from selling food items made with rice. Jajangmyeon surged in popularity. It became the meal of choice for eating out and special occasions, particularly graduation celebrations. This deeply ingrained the dish in the Korean psyche, and evoked pleasant memories. Korean-Chinese dishes’ popularity grew further when joongguk jib restaurants were among the first food establishments to offer door-to-door delivery. Even today, when food deliveries of all sorts are commonplace, it is a tradition among Koreans to order jajangmyeon on the day they move home. Jajangmyeon has become so deeply embedded in Korean society that it is a component of the basket of goods used to compile the national price index. Its prominent place in South Korean popular culture is also reflected in its frequent appearance in dramas and films as a symbol of working-class life and simple pleasures. For instance, in the hit drama Couple or Trouble, a glamorous heiress, played by Han Ye-seul, loses her memory and develops an unexpected obsession with jajangmyeon. Her ravenous enjoyment of the dish became one of the series’ iconic moments. Korean-Chinese food is more than a mere adaptation of Chinese dishes. It is a reflection of history, migration and cultural fusion. What began as a cuisine brought by Chinese immigrants has become an indispensable part of the Korean culinary landscape, and deeply embedded in the Korean psyche. From its beginnings in Incheon’s concessionary area to having nine restaurants that serve it on a tiny island, Korean-Chinese cuisine is a testament to the power of food to adapt, evolve and delight. Whether it is a steaming bowl of jajangmyeon on moving day or a fiery pot of jjambbong, this culinary tradition will continue to nourish Koreans, one bite at a time.

Why Korean-Chinese restaurants are so popular and the roots of the hybrid cuisine

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Two noodle dishes are the soul of Korean-Chinese cuisine – jjambbong and jajangmyeon. Discover how they evolved, one of them via Japan

Two noodle dishes are the soul of Korean-Chinese cuisine – jjambbong and jajangmyeon. Discover how they evolved, one of them via Japan