Whoever invented the recipe for BonChon’s Korean fried chicken is some kind of genius.
The first I’d heard of this Korean chicken chain was when it opened its Allston, MA location a few years ago. My parents and I tried eating there in the spring, and the line spilled out onto the sidewalk. 45-minute wait. No-go. Anyone familiar with the Allston neighborhood of Boston knows that it has a sizable college student population, and I’m pretty sure fried chicken is right in a college kid’s wheelhouse. We ate elsewhere that night.
Two weekends ago I was back in Boston, and we tried again. The college students had yet to arrive for the fall (yes!), and this time we got in without a problem.
BonChon has more than just Korean fried chicken on the menu; they’ve got a global Asian thing going on, and we started with an order of agedashi tofu.
Different from other agedashi tofu I’ve had in that it arrived in a dashi broth. The broth was great; the tofu didn’t quite reach the silky/crispy level of perfection of DC’s Momoyama.
Wolfed down this fiery beef japchae.
Then it was time for the main event, the fried chicken. This was our mix of wings and drumsticks in BonChon’s hot sauce.
This video from Boston’s “Phantom Gourmet” gives a look at the cooking process of the chicken, which is fried twice and allowed to rest between fries. The ingredients of the batter aren’t mentioned (gotta keep some secrets). The result of the double-fry is skin that fuses with the batter to form a paper-thin, crackling crust around tender, juicy meat.
Man oh man that crust. Unlike regular fried chicken, it’s light and non-greasy, and miraculously, stays crisp, even after the chicken cools down. The last piece I ate was just as crispy as the first.
Employees at BonChon wear t-shirts that say, “Addicted yet?”
I think they know the answer.
BonChon
123 Brighton Ave.
Allston, MA
617-254-8888
And, the Annandale, VA location!
BonChon
6653 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA
703-750-1424
BonChon’s Korean Fried Chicken
Whoever invented the recipe for BonChon’s Korean fried chicken is some kind of genius.
The first I’d heard of this Korean chicken chain was when it opened its Allston, MA location a few years ago. My parents and I tried eating there in the spring, and the line spilled out onto the sidewalk. 45-minute wait. No-go. Anyone familiar with the Allston neighborhood of Boston knows that it has a sizable college student population, and I’m pretty sure fried chicken is right in a college kid’s wheelhouse. We ate elsewhere that night.
Two weekends ago I was back in Boston, and we tried again. The college students had yet to arrive for the fall (yes!), and this time we got in without a problem.
BonChon has more than just Korean fried chicken on the menu; they’ve got a global Asian thing going on, and we started with an order of agedashi tofu.
Different from other agedashi tofu I’ve had in that it arrived in a dashi broth. The broth was great; the tofu didn’t quite reach the silky/crispy level of perfection of DC’s Momoyama.
Wolfed down this fiery beef japchae.
Then it was time for the main event, the fried chicken. This was our mix of wings and drumsticks in BonChon’s hot sauce.
This video from Boston’s “Phantom Gourmet” gives a look at the cooking process of the chicken, which is fried twice and allowed to rest between fries. The ingredients of the batter aren’t mentioned (gotta keep some secrets). The result of the double-fry is skin that fuses with the batter to form a paper-thin, crackling crust around tender, juicy meat.
Man oh man that crust. Unlike regular fried chicken, it’s light and non-greasy, and miraculously, stays crisp, even after the chicken cools down. The last piece I ate was just as crispy as the first.
Employees at BonChon wear t-shirts that say, “Addicted yet?”
I think they know the answer.
BonChon
123 Brighton Ave.
Allston, MA
617-254-8888
And, the Annandale, VA location!
BonChon
6653 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, VA
703-750-1424