92 Chicken serves exclusive dishes that are going viral internationally (2024)

COLUMBIA — When the team behind92 ChickenSouth Carolina, a Korean fried chicken restaurant on Decker Boulevard, noticed the explosion of Korean corn dogs across international social media, they knew they'd have a hit on their hands.

"We are aware that Americans like fries, cheese and sausage," said owner David Chang in a translated interview with the Free Times. "They're comfortable with it, and it's a comfort food for them."

The original Korean corn dog is just one of many trending Korean dishes Chang and his team have brought to South Carolina. At the time of publication, 92 Chicken is the only restaurant in Columbia that features four different versions of beef and cheese Korean corn dogs, as well as the city's first homemade Buldak, or Korean"fire chicken"recipe. These menu items are more than just eye-catching stunt food— for Columbia, they're a glimpse into Korea's modern culinary landscape and the trends dominating international foodie culture.

Korean corn dogs barely resemble the cornmeal-battered hot dogs that many South Carolinians might expect— these versions can be filled with any combination of cheese, beef or fish sausages, rolled in potatoes or sugar and can feature squid ink or rice flour in the dough.

At 92 Chicken, guests can choose between beef sausage, a mozzarella cheese stick or their 'Half & Half' combination. The filling of choice gets wrapped in the eatery's slightly sweet and exceptionally fluffy corn and flour dough, which the team ferments in house. For those craving a bit of starchy crunch, opt for the mozzarella stick rolled in chopped, fried potatoes.

Chang said developing the recipe was no small undertaking. From start to finish, the process took six months of "trial and error" before the food specialist team realized the trick for creating their highly porous, bread-like dough.

"Fermenting the breading played a very important and crucial role in terms of processing the corn dogs," Chang said. "That's why it took so much time."

Columbia's own 'fire noodles' challenge— with a twist

While the team was figuring out the dough, 92 Chicken South Carolina's food specialist, Zhong Kim, noticed that Buldakinstant noodles from the Korean brandSamyangwere beginning to go viral on American social media. Across the United States, influencers have been trying these noodles on camera, which are bathed in a sauce that could havetwice or three timesthe amount of Scoville Heat Units as a jalapeño pepper, and reacting live for millions of people.

It was just popular enough, Kim believed, to consider bringing to Columbia.

Given theinternational controversiessurrounding the extreme heat levels of Buldak sauce, Kim began leading 92 Chicken's kitchen in making a from-scratch version of the sauce that was only "80 percent spicy" compared the original. While Buldak sauce has a notably high concentration of pure capsaicin, the chemical compound responsible for the mouth-tingling heat of spicy peppers, the 92 Chicken team wanted to go a different route with their sourcing.

"We decided to not to put the capsaicin for freshness, and to balance the level of sweetness with the spicy level," Chang said. "We don't put capsaicin directly, but we tried to imitate the capsaicin."

Another challenge of their sauce formulation was mirroring the exact flavor of the Buldak sauce using peppers from across East Asia. As Kim tested different recipes, she realized using one type of hot pepper wouldn't suffice.

"The Korean hot pepper that we used wasn't too spicy, but the Vietnamese dried pepper was a bit more bitter than we expected," said Kim in a translated interview with the Free Times. "Then, we were like, 'The Korean one was pretty sweet, so it might be a great balance to mix them up together.'"

The final 92 Chicken Buldak Chicken recipe is citrusy, sweet and slightly acidic with a warming and buildable heat that might not hit you until you've eaten a few pieces. Compared to the Samyang-brand Buldak, it's slightly milder, but, more noticeably, the heat lingers for less time.

On its own, the 92 Chicken sauce doesn't have the umami component of the Samyang, which contains chicken flavoring, but their Original Fried Chicken is a fitting, savory vehicle for their homemade Buldak.

In June, 92 Chicken launched the Buldak Chicken and their line of Korean corn dogs. They've been challenged to make the menu items appealing to South Carolinians, and began by offering 10 percent off for orders of Buldak Chicken and by promoting the corn dogs.

"I had to prepare certain phrases for them to understand how it tastes," said Youn Choi, who works at the ordering counter. "I wasn't always trying to convince every single person, but I tried to attract them and to teach the Korean style."

But Choi said not every customer needed her clarification.

"I was kind of surprised when they actually knew," she said. "There was even one person who asked for the sugar on their corn dog."

Choi believes many cultural factors have contributed to their customer base's awareness.

"Everyone knows about it from K-pop," she said. "A lot of people will also say, 'I got stationed in Korea, and I tried it there. Does it taste similar?'"

As for the Buldak Chicken, Chang reported its sales are currently "in the middle stage at the moment," currently ranking it the sixth best-selling out of their 21 total flavors. Its reception has been more polarizing.

"There are two different types of people," said Choi. "One says it's very spicy, but there were some people who said it's not spicy at all."

"I got upset because of that," Chang added. "I was like, 'Next time, when you come, I'm going to make it a little more spicy.'"

If you're looking for an extra kick with your order of Buldak chicken, just ask — Chang and Choi said they're prepared to tailor the recipe to the taste of each customer, especially during the initial stages of the item's rollout.

For now, Chang is just happy to give Soda City a taste of popular Korean cuisine.

"We're in the middle of nowhere, South Carolina, where there aren't many Asian people," said Chang. "We're spreading the Korean culture."