Visitors to the Daegu Chimac (chicken and beer) Festival in Daegu enjoy chicken and beer in this July 2022 photo. Korea Times file
Korea’s first government-backed “chicken guidebook” is set for release by the end of June, as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs finished the task of looking over citizen contributions on local chicken hotspots.
The guidebook, which is now in the design phase, will offer a collection of local chicken restaurants and hotspots in a bid to elevate locally-known eateries into the national sphere, the ministry said Tuesday.
Last month, the ministry opened a nationwide online survey where it asked respondents to send in their favorite local spots. The ministry said it received around 2,700 responses.
The government said public feedback included restaurants offering a variety of chicken dishes — from fried chicken to barbequed chicken, braised chicken, course menus, chicken gizzard and chicken stew.
The responses also covered local chicken hotspots such as the Fried Chicken Street in Suwon, Chicken Gizzard Alley in Daegu Pyeonghwa Market and Braised Chicken Street in Andong.
The responses also highlighted local chicken festivals including the Daegu Chimac Festival and Geumsan Samgyetang Festival. Streets in Iksan, North Jeolla Province and Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, were also mentioned for being a site to multiple chicken restaurants. Meanwhile, restaurants offering garlic chicken dishes in Uiseong and Danyang counties and citrus sauce chicken on Jeju Island were recommended as standout businesses that have successfully experimented with local ingredients.
The “K-Chicken Belt” initiative, the ministry said, goes beyond a typical tourist guide project but serves as a new national gastronomic drive aimed at connecting domestic businesses across agriculture, tourism and culture. It added that the project “will likely become Korea’s key gastronomic content.”
The ministry said it plans to unveil a map with detailed information on the restaurants and hotspots included in the guidebook. The release will be accompanied by video clips of Youtubers visiting some of the locations and eating the popular chicken dishes there.
“We have confirmed through this project a growth potential of chicken dishes and cuisine as a gourmet content that can link regional food culture and tourism. Based on the submitted feedbacks, we'll develop tourism content that reflects regional stories, promote through collaboration with private platforms, and nurture K-Chicken Belt as a global gourmet tourism resource,” said Jung Kyung-seok, the ministry's food industry policy director.
Source: Korea Times News
