Chinese-Korean Zha Jiang Noodles from Hyo Dong Gak

Conversation number one:

Calvin (Chinese):  What’s the Korean word for three?

Abe (Korean):  Sam

Calvin:  That sounds just like the Chinese word for three.

Abe:  That’s the word the Chinese imposed on the Koreans.

Conversation number two:

David (Korean):  Let’s go have Zha Jiang Mian in K-town.

Alicia (Chinese):  Isn’t Zha Jiang Mian a Chinese dish?

David:  It’s a dish that the Chinese Imperialists brought to Korea.

Alicia:  But the Chinese invented it!

David:  The Chinese may have invented it but the Koreans perfected it!

Alicia:  I guess I can live with that.

Hyo Dong Gak is a Chinese-Korean restaurant in Midtown on 35th Street between 5th and 6th.  I had always watched my dad eat Zha Jiang Mian growing up.  We always celebrate birthdays in our family with noodles and my dad’s favorite noodle dish was Zha Jiang Mian.  I never could bring myself to try them because I couldn’t get over the black colored sauce.  Boy, I never knew what I was missing out on until now.  We ordered ggampoongi for the table.  When it arrived I couldn’t help but call it a Korean General Tso’s Chicken.  The irony in that is that General Tso’s Chicken is not a dish that is found in China.  It is a Chinese-American creation.  But I digress.  The Zha Jiang noodles were amazingly delicious.  And the spicy seafood noodles called jjam bong were nicely done, as well.  The bowls are huge so this is a great place to take guys, Chinese or Korean!  Or anyone else, for that matter.  It’s very reasonably priced.

Korean General Tso's

Zha Jiang Noodles

Jjam Bong Noodle Soup

Kyochon is the New KFC

Move over Colonel Sanders!  Korean Fried Chicken is all the rage.  I recently visited two different Kyochons.  As far as I know, Bon Chon in K-town and Flushing started the trend.  There is also UFC (Unidentified Flying Chickens) which is also very popular.  What is so special about Korean Fried Chicken?  I’ll try to explain in words but it really must be experienced for yourself.  Sometime I’ll have a blind taste test to see which one of these would win in a throw down.  Let me know if you want in on the taste test!  Double battered and fried wings and drumsticks with various types of glazes.  Although I am fiercely loyal to New York now, I’m sorry but Buffalo Wings have nothing on the new KFC.  The wings come in a non-spicy glaze but to quote my pastor, “Why would you get chicken that wasn’t spicy?”  He also said that compared to Bon Chon, Kyochon tastes more like something his mother would make.  UFC is excellent as well.  Each one suits a different mood.

At the Kyochon in Flushing we had the whole chicken non-spicy and the drumsticks spicy.  They were Spicy (with a capital S).  We also ordered the dukboki with sauteed chicken and onions, simmered in a spicy red sauce.  Below, at the Kyochon in Korea Town on 32nd Street, we had rice balls, miso soup, and pickled daikon radish to accompany the wings.  This Kyochon is hip indeed.  The second level provides seating with plenty of televisions with a lounge feel to it and a great street view.

Hot wings

Oven used at Kyochon (Manhattan)

Rice Ball and Miso Soup

Dumplings on Mosco

One of my favorite places to have dumplings is at a hole in the wall in Chinatown on the teeny tiny Mosco street in Manhattan.  There are two ladies in the tiny place rolling out dough, filling, and cooking dumplings.  It’s a steal at 5 for $1.  You can also buy frozen bags of them so you can cook them at home.  They are seasoned really well and although many “foreigners (lao wai)” (aka Caucasian, or White people) frequent the place, many Chinese people eat there as well.  It is literally a hole in the wall with a counter on the left side of the place to sit and eat at.  I stopped to get dumplings and hot & sour soup for lunch and paid a whopping $2.  As I sat and ate I eavesdropped on the ladies’ conversation.  They didn’t talk about anything extraordinary at that time but I probably would have caught some juicy tidbits had I stuck around a little longer!