Dak-galbi닭갈비

Dak-galbi is younger than you might think. According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, Chuncheon dak-galbi began in the late 1960s as a charcoal-grilled drinking snack in the city's standing bars. The story goes that a vendor who sold grilled pork on Jungang-ro in Chuncheon one day bought two chickens, marinated them like pork ribs, grilled them over charcoal and sold them as "dak-bulgogi."

In the 1970s, dak-galbi restaurants multiplied in the back alleys of Chuncheon's Myeong-dong. The regulars were soldiers on leave and university students on tight budgets, who could eat their fill for little money. At around 100 won a piece, the dish earned the nicknames "college students' galbi" and "common people's galbi."

Why Chuncheon? The area had a thriving poultry industry at the time, with many slaughterhouses. What started as a charcoal-grilled snack is now best known as chicken marinated in gochujang and stir-fried with cabbage, sweet potato and rice cakes on a giant griddle. Today it is said that dak-galbi represents Chuncheon even better than the city's own name.