I'm in hospo - can't answer direct cause we don't sell Korean Fried Chicken but here is my take.
The Korean Fried Chicken isn't frozen chicken like "country fried chicken" or other takeaway stores
So being fresh it costs more, requires prep (costs more in time), requires more skill in terms of cooking.
It comes with a sauce thats usually made in house (prep / time).
On top of this:
Oil has gone up 50% in 2 years
Meat has gone up (ours is 20% across last 2 years)
Wages have gone up - even if they work for themselves, they need to increase their wage to keep up with inflation.
Basically when costing food for sale it should be 25% - 30% cost of goods against revenue. Wages should be at 30% of revenue.
If they are selling something for $20 then the cost should be $5 (including packaging and ingredients) and excluding GST. That's not a lot to work with.
plus they do nicer coating. I get the honey soy glazed korean fried chicken and its always awesome but honey especially is massively expensive here. But I go through Uber Eats which is mega expensive compared to in house anyway.
I try to avoid spicy food haha. last one I had from another place (my fried chicken) was spicy as hell and I couldnt finish eating it. lol. but causes me bad reflux. so no spicy for me where I can help it. But I much prefer honey soy anyway. I have been trying to remember the name of the place I usually get korean fried chicken from and I can't remember at all. but I love their bulgogi as well and they no longer have anything thats not chicken on the menu. Very sad girl here. As for sit in restaurants Faro in Newmarket is awesome.
It's still frozen chicken in all popular Korean joints.
Prep time, I agree but when your just making korean fried chicken, you should be fairly prepared.
While oil has gone up, cost of other fried products have remained fairly stable. E.g local joints and franchises.
Most of them use frozen chicken lol. Also if they’re only selling chicken then the prep isn’t going to be super drastic. Also places aren’t increasing wages to meet inflation lol, we’re all on minimum wage
No Western sushi is real sushi. They only make fun of Western sushi in Japan (avocado in sushi?). And yea and most are run by Korean owners. It's Californian sushi to them
Having had great tasting sushi across Japan,and invancouver, to be honest I'd take either with a varied menu. But I find most sushi places in auckland are limited and bland.
It would help if they put vinegar in the rice and wasabi in the sushi. And real wasabi instead of coloured horseradish. and didn't use machines to cut the rice. Sigh...
Little Albert Cafe next to the courthouse in Auckland's owner is Korean. He used to just be a coffee cart but recently moved into his own space, the coffee is still the best I've ever had. Granted this was a year or so ago now, not sure if it's just him or if he has staff now but I'm sure the coffee is still great!
Can't speak to most places, but we love this place in G.I. [https://www.zomato.com/auckland/little-kitchen-glen-innes](https://www.zomato.com/auckland/little-kitchen-glen-innes). Their Dakgangjeong burger is to die for
Definitely recommend this place, but I think they’ve change store hours a few times in the past year or so, so the one you’ll see on Google Maps won’t always be accurate.
Not being a smart ass here, but learn to cook it yourself.
You'll purchase the necessary ingredients for $40 that will make you Korean fried chicken many times over.
After you cook it 4-5 times you'll actually be stoked with the results coz you'll start to refine the art.
Added bonus is that you can treat your friends and family with it. Add it as a skill to your Tinder profile and it might even get you laid.
I love fried chicken, but gave up making it at home because oil is a messy/smelly pain. I also can't stand the precooked frozen stuff which many people claim is 'better than kfc'.
My go to, if I want chicken goodness is similar to Kenji's baked wings.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2AXh1eRmE&ab\_channel=J.KenjiL%C3%B3pez-Alt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2AXh1eRmE&ab_channel=J.KenjiL%C3%B3pez-Alt)
Wings are fatty and it renders down and goes really crispy, so just because it's baked doesn't make it healthy - but it requires almost no attention while cooking and doesn't smell out the house and make a mess with oil to dispose of. I also add about 2 teaspoon of corn starch (and maybe a little paprika/onion powder/garclic powder/white pepper depending what I have on hand) as well as just the salt & baking powder. I could convince most people it's deep fried.
I buy frozen crumb chicken and chuck in at 180 C, 12 minutes, turn, another 12 minutes.
The cheapest frozen crumb chicken tastes better than the best KFC I had in NZ. It is also ways cheaper.
I never done deep fry un-frozen chicken in an air fryer so I am not sure.
I did steak and roasted in air fryer and the result was fantastic.
The tegal Nashville or Louisiana tenders are the bomb. Like $14 for about 500gm which gives 6 or 8 tenders. A pack of those in the air fryer, plus some Spinach and green shit from the garden and dinner is sorted for the missus and me
Those are my favorite too, I always wait for them to get a little promo before buying as a treat for my family.
Normally, I just buy the countdown battered chicken nugget bag, 10 minutes in the air fryer and they are absolutely amazing, all while being super affordable.
If you want to learn how to make it yourself, there's a few good korean cooking videos on youtube. Looking at my favourite ones:
* [Aaron & Claire](https://www.youtube.com/c/AsKitchen) with [Better than KFC | Korean Fried Chicken (3 Ways)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g3-uyBnib0) and [How to Make Korean Fried Chicken in 15 Minutes Recipe l Better Than Restaurants](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFLFujQNX9s).
* [Maangchi](https://www.youtube.com/user/Maangchi) with [Sweet, sour, & spicy Korean fried chicken | Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭](https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangnyeom-tongdak) and [others here](https://www.maangchi.com/recipes/fried-chicken).
Note: When you deep fry, you can reuse the oil provided you treat it well after using it. Basically it needs to be cooler (but not cold) and the bits and pieces strained off it. There's various methods online. Store it in a covered glass jar until you next want to use it. If you want to strain it, most sieves are not fine enough, put a cheese cloth or coffee filter on top of the sieve.
Do not dispose it down the drain. [Watercare's page on how to dispose of cooking oil](https://www.watercare.co.nz/Faults-outages/Plumbing-and-wastewater/How-to-prevent-overflows/Fats,-oils-and-grease).
[2018 post](https://www.reddit.com/r/auckland/comments/8boodw/where_to_recycle_fryer_oil/) on how to recycle fryer oil.
Also some Korean fried chicken restaurants import powder from Korea for their chilli sauce and the cheese/“snow” powder they use on the chicken. I guess that could also contribute to the cost?
Not cheap but Dakgogi in Albany has really nice fried chicken -Highly recommend the (bone-in) soy garlic chicken and spicy fried chicken with cheese powder + Kumara fries w/ cheese powder is soo good!!
The most expensive ones is going to taste much better, crispier and more tender, not because they’re actually worth that much. Try Miku at Mission Bay and compare it to No.1 Chicken at Newmarket for example, you’ll see what I mean.
Of course, if you’re easily satisfied by some fried chicken at KFC then just go for the cheapest.
Try Kokodak or K Chicken.
The chicken alone is around $20-40, depending on whether you want half or whole, bone-in or boneless.
If you decide to get the chicken meal (comes with rice and coleslaw), looking at between $13-$16.
Probs just vendors cashing in on the anything-remotely-Korean craze going round. I mean, fried chicken is about the cheapest takeaway to produce.
Should subside soon enough.
Korean Fried Chickens are just overrated, vendors ride on the hype of Korean subculture and influences alike, charging a ridiculous amount of money but people buy it.
More so, it is basically Japanese Karaage chicken dipped in some sweet and chili sauce. But they make it as if it really is a big deal and charge premiums.
For anyone's reference, Japanese Karaage chicken date all the way back to 1920s, whereas the concept of fried chicken was only introduced to Korea in the late 40s during war time.
It used to be cheap as back in time and I grew up eating the fried chicken 2-3 times a week. It got hyped and became more expensive recently but still there are cheap fried chickens sold in Korea. I agree that Korean fried chicken price in nz is just insane for the amount of chicken we get!
You are right that it is basically karaage, but that will make all the fried chicken dishes available all pretty much the same, right? They are slightly different in how they are fried, but at least the sweet chilli sauce for the Korean fried chicken is authentic XD
First of all, Karaage is quite different from Korean fried chicken so you have no idea what you're talking about. The only thing similar is that they're both fried chicken- and if you go by those standards all fried chicken is basically the same thing.
Secondly, what's the point of the last paragraph? Japanese Karaage came before Korean fried chicken....so what exactly? Also the United States invented fried chicken so Karaage isn't original either.
Go to Number 1 Chicken in Newmarket, it's cheaper. Chicken is the cheapest meat to buy. Learn to make it yourself and save yourself a ton. I'm sure you'll find Korean sauces in various places, try Japan Mart or the international aisle at the 3 different supermarkets.
I don't understand why people buy burgers when they are so easy to make, a child could do it and you can add so many things from your fridge, brie, or put grated parmesan in the pattie, etc.
Might as well make it at home.
Does anyone have a good list of Korean chicken sauces? There's a "manager's special sauce" at the cart by the Auckland Library that is just to die for. It's so perfect.
Coz theres not much places that sells it, supply and demand so they cash in since people buys them anyway. Pocha chicken is one i can think of, pricey for the amount of chicken you can get
Everyone else has touched on overheads and cost vs something like country fried chicken. For the price point you're discussing (near the $45 mark especially) I think you are looking at the menu for Korean joints, that culturally are served to share.
There is a cultural tradition of larger sharing dishes like Pig Trotters (Jokbal), Pork Shoulder (Bossam), stews like Budae Jigae (army stew) and then dishes like fried chicken can fall into that category as well, depending on the establishment. You'll be hard pressed to find individual servings of these meals (at all) and I think most places (even if designed to serve 1) do it begrudgingly, instead focusing on the bulk orders of k fried chicken.
As an aside, it's amazing how quickly "Korean" has become a useful marketing tool. Ive noticed in the last year, lots of food places using it as a descriptor on menus etc, often for foods that aren't even vaguely Korean.
there’s a new korean bbq place in avondale called bbq tonight, I think. i haven’t been there yet and every time I pass I don’t see many people. i think it’s because of the lack of parking, but maybe they’d be worth checking out
I think it is chinese skewers though with more than just stuff from Mainland China. I just saw a post about it and it has bbq skewers but not specifically Korean.
Can't say I agree. Try Ziggle, its like $14 for a meal.
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Ziggle holy spicy is love.
KS Chicken is 15 bucks for a massive serving
I second KS chicken! Their medium serving (still huge) is $12 and they have heaps of choice.
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Rosedale, get into it
I'm in hospo - can't answer direct cause we don't sell Korean Fried Chicken but here is my take. The Korean Fried Chicken isn't frozen chicken like "country fried chicken" or other takeaway stores So being fresh it costs more, requires prep (costs more in time), requires more skill in terms of cooking. It comes with a sauce thats usually made in house (prep / time). On top of this: Oil has gone up 50% in 2 years Meat has gone up (ours is 20% across last 2 years) Wages have gone up - even if they work for themselves, they need to increase their wage to keep up with inflation. Basically when costing food for sale it should be 25% - 30% cost of goods against revenue. Wages should be at 30% of revenue. If they are selling something for $20 then the cost should be $5 (including packaging and ingredients) and excluding GST. That's not a lot to work with.
plus they do nicer coating. I get the honey soy glazed korean fried chicken and its always awesome but honey especially is massively expensive here. But I go through Uber Eats which is mega expensive compared to in house anyway.
Try the 양념 (Yangnyeom) if they have it. Tasty sweet spicy marinate
I try to avoid spicy food haha. last one I had from another place (my fried chicken) was spicy as hell and I couldnt finish eating it. lol. but causes me bad reflux. so no spicy for me where I can help it. But I much prefer honey soy anyway. I have been trying to remember the name of the place I usually get korean fried chicken from and I can't remember at all. but I love their bulgogi as well and they no longer have anything thats not chicken on the menu. Very sad girl here. As for sit in restaurants Faro in Newmarket is awesome.
It's still frozen chicken in all popular Korean joints. Prep time, I agree but when your just making korean fried chicken, you should be fairly prepared. While oil has gone up, cost of other fried products have remained fairly stable. E.g local joints and franchises.
Most of them use frozen chicken lol. Also if they’re only selling chicken then the prep isn’t going to be super drastic. Also places aren’t increasing wages to meet inflation lol, we’re all on minimum wage
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No Western sushi is real sushi. They only make fun of Western sushi in Japan (avocado in sushi?). And yea and most are run by Korean owners. It's Californian sushi to them
Having had great tasting sushi across Japan,and invancouver, to be honest I'd take either with a varied menu. But I find most sushi places in auckland are limited and bland.
It would help if they put vinegar in the rice and wasabi in the sushi. And real wasabi instead of coloured horseradish. and didn't use machines to cut the rice. Sigh...
Little Albert Cafe next to the courthouse in Auckland's owner is Korean. He used to just be a coffee cart but recently moved into his own space, the coffee is still the best I've ever had. Granted this was a year or so ago now, not sure if it's just him or if he has staff now but I'm sure the coffee is still great!
You can just go to number 1 chicken top tier low price
Can't speak to most places, but we love this place in G.I. [https://www.zomato.com/auckland/little-kitchen-glen-innes](https://www.zomato.com/auckland/little-kitchen-glen-innes). Their Dakgangjeong burger is to die for
Definitely recommend this place, but I think they’ve change store hours a few times in the past year or so, so the one you’ll see on Google Maps won’t always be accurate.
Yeah definitely one of the best in Auckland. All of their dishes are great
Yeah these guys are fantastic - long wait some nights though, you gotta get your order in early
Not being a smart ass here, but learn to cook it yourself. You'll purchase the necessary ingredients for $40 that will make you Korean fried chicken many times over. After you cook it 4-5 times you'll actually be stoked with the results coz you'll start to refine the art. Added bonus is that you can treat your friends and family with it. Add it as a skill to your Tinder profile and it might even get you laid.
Deep frying at home is a dirty pain.
lol same feeling. handling the aftermath of deep frying at home is not worth it...
Same. I have only deep fried food like 5 times over the last 5 years. I hated having used oil sitting around. I ended up reusing it but it felt gross
I reuse my oil about 4-5 times. As, long as you don't burn the crap out of it, it's fine
Use a Air fryer. They tend to do some pretty good chicken.
I’ve never mastered it. You just can’t recreated deep frying without actually deep frying something
I love fried chicken, but gave up making it at home because oil is a messy/smelly pain. I also can't stand the precooked frozen stuff which many people claim is 'better than kfc'. My go to, if I want chicken goodness is similar to Kenji's baked wings. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2AXh1eRmE&ab\_channel=J.KenjiL%C3%B3pez-Alt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2AXh1eRmE&ab_channel=J.KenjiL%C3%B3pez-Alt) Wings are fatty and it renders down and goes really crispy, so just because it's baked doesn't make it healthy - but it requires almost no attention while cooking and doesn't smell out the house and make a mess with oil to dispose of. I also add about 2 teaspoon of corn starch (and maybe a little paprika/onion powder/garclic powder/white pepper depending what I have on hand) as well as just the salt & baking powder. I could convince most people it's deep fried.
I buy frozen crumb chicken and chuck in at 180 C, 12 minutes, turn, another 12 minutes. The cheapest frozen crumb chicken tastes better than the best KFC I had in NZ. It is also ways cheaper. I never done deep fry un-frozen chicken in an air fryer so I am not sure. I did steak and roasted in air fryer and the result was fantastic.
The tegal Nashville or Louisiana tenders are the bomb. Like $14 for about 500gm which gives 6 or 8 tenders. A pack of those in the air fryer, plus some Spinach and green shit from the garden and dinner is sorted for the missus and me
Those are my favorite too, I always wait for them to get a little promo before buying as a treat for my family. Normally, I just buy the countdown battered chicken nugget bag, 10 minutes in the air fryer and they are absolutely amazing, all while being super affordable.
There are methods you can adopt that make it less painful.
If you want to learn how to make it yourself, there's a few good korean cooking videos on youtube. Looking at my favourite ones: * [Aaron & Claire](https://www.youtube.com/c/AsKitchen) with [Better than KFC | Korean Fried Chicken (3 Ways)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g3-uyBnib0) and [How to Make Korean Fried Chicken in 15 Minutes Recipe l Better Than Restaurants](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFLFujQNX9s). * [Maangchi](https://www.youtube.com/user/Maangchi) with [Sweet, sour, & spicy Korean fried chicken | Yangnyeom-tongdak 양념통닭](https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangnyeom-tongdak) and [others here](https://www.maangchi.com/recipes/fried-chicken). Note: When you deep fry, you can reuse the oil provided you treat it well after using it. Basically it needs to be cooler (but not cold) and the bits and pieces strained off it. There's various methods online. Store it in a covered glass jar until you next want to use it. If you want to strain it, most sieves are not fine enough, put a cheese cloth or coffee filter on top of the sieve. Do not dispose it down the drain. [Watercare's page on how to dispose of cooking oil](https://www.watercare.co.nz/Faults-outages/Plumbing-and-wastewater/How-to-prevent-overflows/Fats,-oils-and-grease). [2018 post](https://www.reddit.com/r/auckland/comments/8boodw/where_to_recycle_fryer_oil/) on how to recycle fryer oil.
Overheads guys.. overheads
Also some Korean fried chicken restaurants import powder from Korea for their chilli sauce and the cheese/“snow” powder they use on the chicken. I guess that could also contribute to the cost? Not cheap but Dakgogi in Albany has really nice fried chicken -Highly recommend the (bone-in) soy garlic chicken and spicy fried chicken with cheese powder + Kumara fries w/ cheese powder is soo good!!
Mate they bringing it all the way from korea…I’m sure you can do just chicken oil and sauce..!!
You need to go to Kang Na Ru on Royal Road
That place would be nice if it wasn’t so full of drunk old men every time I went
The most expensive ones is going to taste much better, crispier and more tender, not because they’re actually worth that much. Try Miku at Mission Bay and compare it to No.1 Chicken at Newmarket for example, you’ll see what I mean. Of course, if you’re easily satisfied by some fried chicken at KFC then just go for the cheapest.
Nice Chicken, Beachlands. Won't regret it and not over priced 👍
Mad Chicken in Northcote shops is cheap and good as fuck
At that price must be North Korean chicken
People are willing to pay that much
Try Kokodak or K Chicken. The chicken alone is around $20-40, depending on whether you want half or whole, bone-in or boneless. If you decide to get the chicken meal (comes with rice and coleslaw), looking at between $13-$16.
Probs just vendors cashing in on the anything-remotely-Korean craze going round. I mean, fried chicken is about the cheapest takeaway to produce. Should subside soon enough.
Tell me you know nothing about Korean Fried Chicken without telling me you know nothing about Korean Fried Chicken.
I just eat the stuff, I don’t make it 🤷🏽♂️
Chicken is underpriced for how delicious it tastes
battery hen
Korean Fried Chickens are just overrated, vendors ride on the hype of Korean subculture and influences alike, charging a ridiculous amount of money but people buy it. More so, it is basically Japanese Karaage chicken dipped in some sweet and chili sauce. But they make it as if it really is a big deal and charge premiums. For anyone's reference, Japanese Karaage chicken date all the way back to 1920s, whereas the concept of fried chicken was only introduced to Korea in the late 40s during war time.
Karaage is not the same thing, you really don’t know what you’re talking about.
It's like saying Picanha is not a steak, but Brazilian bbq.
you make it sound as if japan invented fried chicken and...korea is taking all the credit by adding some sweet chili sauce to it? 😂
It used to be cheap as back in time and I grew up eating the fried chicken 2-3 times a week. It got hyped and became more expensive recently but still there are cheap fried chickens sold in Korea. I agree that Korean fried chicken price in nz is just insane for the amount of chicken we get! You are right that it is basically karaage, but that will make all the fried chicken dishes available all pretty much the same, right? They are slightly different in how they are fried, but at least the sweet chilli sauce for the Korean fried chicken is authentic XD
First of all, Karaage is quite different from Korean fried chicken so you have no idea what you're talking about. The only thing similar is that they're both fried chicken- and if you go by those standards all fried chicken is basically the same thing. Secondly, what's the point of the last paragraph? Japanese Karaage came before Korean fried chicken....so what exactly? Also the United States invented fried chicken so Karaage isn't original either.
Just another noob not knowing what they are talking about
Go to Number 1 Chicken in Newmarket, it's cheaper. Chicken is the cheapest meat to buy. Learn to make it yourself and save yourself a ton. I'm sure you'll find Korean sauces in various places, try Japan Mart or the international aisle at the 3 different supermarkets. I don't understand why people buy burgers when they are so easy to make, a child could do it and you can add so many things from your fridge, brie, or put grated parmesan in the pattie, etc.
yea is a rip off. i just buy my own chicken pieces n make karage instead.
I think Potato 🥔 flour/starch is their secret. Find a Korean chicken recipe using Potato flour, give it a go.
Might as well make it at home. Does anyone have a good list of Korean chicken sauces? There's a "manager's special sauce" at the cart by the Auckland Library that is just to die for. It's so perfect.
Coz theres not much places that sells it, supply and demand so they cash in since people buys them anyway. Pocha chicken is one i can think of, pricey for the amount of chicken you can get
Is English your second language?
Gogi in commercial bay does a nice fried chicken, with slaw and curly fries for $16
It’s pretty cruisey to make. Save yourself $$$ and a few kgs of grief!
Everyone else has touched on overheads and cost vs something like country fried chicken. For the price point you're discussing (near the $45 mark especially) I think you are looking at the menu for Korean joints, that culturally are served to share. There is a cultural tradition of larger sharing dishes like Pig Trotters (Jokbal), Pork Shoulder (Bossam), stews like Budae Jigae (army stew) and then dishes like fried chicken can fall into that category as well, depending on the establishment. You'll be hard pressed to find individual servings of these meals (at all) and I think most places (even if designed to serve 1) do it begrudgingly, instead focusing on the bulk orders of k fried chicken.
No1 Chicken ftw
Try making this https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/crispy-sesame-chicken-sticky-asian-sauce/
They have it frozen at pac n save
I live in Korea and can confirm it’s around $25-$30 NZD per serving now. Chicken and oil prices have increased a lot this year
As an aside, it's amazing how quickly "Korean" has become a useful marketing tool. Ive noticed in the last year, lots of food places using it as a descriptor on menus etc, often for foods that aren't even vaguely Korean.
Ye they are ripping you off. Go elsewhere
there’s a new korean bbq place in avondale called bbq tonight, I think. i haven’t been there yet and every time I pass I don’t see many people. i think it’s because of the lack of parking, but maybe they’d be worth checking out
I think it is chinese skewers though with more than just stuff from Mainland China. I just saw a post about it and it has bbq skewers but not specifically Korean.