There are some objective indicators to judge economics status: trade balance, rate of operation, interest rate, and so on. And it is traditionally said that spicy food is sold more when the economy is bad.
There are lots of spicy food out there in China or Mexico including Korea where lots of people love spicy flavor. In China, they use mashed red pepper in their dishes. In Mexico, they use jalapeno peppers.
There is Buldakbal Golmok (fire-chicken foot alley) nearby Songnae Station in Bucheon.
You can imagine how spicy it is because of its strong adjective, 'fire'. They use special sauce made from Capsaicin, which makes spicy flavor of chili peppers more spicy.
Alley is about 50m long and there are 10 restaurants which sell Buldakbal (fire-chicken foot).
The sign is very noticeable; red letters in yellow background.
Actually, this Dakbal (chicken foot food) traces back to the Korean War. During war, ordinary people didn't have enough food to eat, so they ate even chicken foot after eating chicken. In cart bar, people grilled chicken foot after seasoning it.
In fact, chicken foot is kind of creepy. However, Collagen in it is known for its nutrition, which makes it famous these days. Also, if you use chicken foot in soup, it tastes much better and it becomes more savory.
I went to Yam Yam Fire-Chicken Foot restaurant located in the middle of the alley.
There were 12 tables with braziers inside and about four tables outside.
There was Mupyeu dakbal (boneless chicken foot), which was very soft to chew. But it would be still delicious if you try original chicken foot.
There are two set menus: both include gristle and steamed eggs. Only difference is chicken foot with bone or without bone. You can choose your own degree of pungency. I ordered midium-spicy flavor.
Side dishes set on the table first: radish water kimchi, a cold bath with sea mustard, a cabbage salad , salted perilla leaf , White Kimchi, and cold fish cake soup. They also served fruit drink, which could reduce the spicy flavor. Or you can just drink soup instead of it. That is a still good way to reduce pungency.
The color of the food is awesome. I could feel fire in its red color. Even though I ordered midium spicy flavor, it was still too spicy for me. But enjoying hot and spicy flavor is the purpose of this alley! You should try this because this alley is full of those food.
Gristle, a fried cartilage with some piece of meat, was excellent, too.
Thankfully, steamed egg reduced pungency. You can make rice balls with rice, dried laver, and some gristle.
B set menu includes this rice ball, fruit drink called coolpis, steamed egg, boneless chicken foot, and gristle. You should pay extra charge if you want more than one drink. The total price was 24000 won.
While eating, I decided not to eat this again because of its spicy, but after few days, I wanted it again.
Location : Yam Yam Buldakbal : Sang-dong 444-19 (Bu Il St. 237th road 20), Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do
Tel. 82-032-326-5234
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