ON THE TABLE
Korean-style food on a stick puts American-style corn dogs to shame. Hot Dogs are served in panko-coated dough. Cheese sticks are breaded and fried with french fries studding the sides.
K
-Pop, K-Dramas and now…KDogs! Far from being a passing trend, Korean-style street food is addictive and delicious. SanFran Burritos N Fryz is one of several Korean eateries located inside Chinatown Supermarket. They specialize in K-style street food, including the ever famous fluffy-breaded hotdogs on a stick. Richard Kim, the owner SanFran Burritos N Fryz, is newer to Salt Lake City but is no stranger to restaurants. He owned a Mexican restaurant with some Asianfusion touches in San Francisco, as the name might suggest. Eventually, he says, “We tried to retire but realized we weren’t ready.” He and his wife bounced around a bit before landing in Utah. When they opened their restaurant inside the Chinatown Supermarket, they started serving Mexican-style burritos with some Korean flair. Then, inspiration hit. “Six months after we opened, I noticed that K-food was booming everywhere, in the whole world,” he says. “So I asked my wife, who is a good cook and has a good sense of the taste of food, ‘Hey, maybe we can add a hot dog to the menu, but not an Americanstyle hot dog.’ Everybody likes hot dogs, but I wanted to do something different.”
Move Over, Corn Dogs Korean-style hot dogs are the new star of the show BY LYDIA MARTINE Z
90 SALTLAKEMAGAZINE.COM | M AY/JUNE 2 0 2 3
Korean-style hot dogs, or gamja hot dogs, are different. They are dipped in batter and fried, but it’s not a corn dog. Most Korean hot dogs are coated in a slightly sweet yeasted dough or rice flour dough, then rolled in panko-style breadcrumbs, before taking a turn in the fryer for extra crunch. The outside is extra crisp and crunchy as a result, and the batter is almost pillowy once cooked. Corn dogs originally made their way to Korea and landed in the street food scene sometime in the ’80s. Then, in the mid-2010s, K-dogs started cropping up in Korea's food halls and night markets, with flavorful new toppings and extra crispy exteriors. Once they began making appearances in K-dramas >>>
PHOTO ADAM FINKLE
THE HOT DOG, K-STYLE
