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| A promotional image of bhc fried chicken / Korea Times file |
By Lee Kyung-min
The year-round popularity of fried chicken is nothing new in Korea. But even more people are choosing it not purely as an accompaniment to beer or soju but purely as a "sambok" dish, instead of "samgyetang," a hot chicken stew. The word "sambok" refers to a time of year when Koreans choose to eat a hot dish to fight off the excessive heat.
This is because the price of one bowl of boiled chicken has jumped to about 20,000 won ($15.79), according to food industry watchers, Friday.
Samgyetang, is a delicious chicken stew stuffed with ginseng, rice and other anti-fatigue ingredients, long known as a must-eat Korean dish during the three hottest days of summer: "sambok," meaning the three "boks" of the year. Koreans partake in this tradition as a way to stay healthy throughout the sweltering summer heat waves.
Sambok comprises "chobok," "jungbok" and "malbok". Chobok, or the first bok, began Tuesday. Jungbok means the mid bok and malbok, the last bok. They fall on July 21 and Aug 10, respectively.
Nevertheless, a bowl of samgyetang has become too expensive, as have almost all the prices of food and services over the past year due to inflation.
Samgyetang prices are now over 15,000 won and some have a price tag of 20,000 won.
According to a website operated by Korea Consumer Agency, the average price of samgyetang in Seoul came to 16,423 won in May, up 12 percent from a year earlier.
The over 10 percent year-on-year increase is far sharper than that of the price for dining out, which registered a year-on-year increase of 6.9 percent.
Even steeper was the increase in the wholesale price of chicken. The average price stood at 4,092 won in the same period, up 20 percent from a year earlier.
"I don't go to samgyetang restaurants that often but I thought the price was around 11,000 won or less a couple of years ago," an office worker surnamed Kim said. "The price is almost 20,000 won, I think I will have fried chicken. It tastes better too."
BHC, a local fried chicken operator, said Tuesday that sales at its restaurants nationwide for chobok increased over 155 percent compared to a month prior.
The increase is 105 percent, compared to the week before.
BHC said that sales have been steadily rising over the past few years.
"Fried chicken has established itself as one of the most popular 'boknal' food menu items, as more people think the protein-rich ingredient of chicken can be consumed in different ways of cooking."
