Why Korean-Chinese restaurants are so popular and the roots of the hybrid cuisine
As the Chinese diaspora spread across the globe, Chinese communities formed in their adopted homes, and adapted their cuisines to suit the locals in their new locations.
A prime example is American-Chinese cuisine, which gave us those iconic takeaway boxes, dishes like General Tso's chicken and chop suey, and fortune cookies.
Such hybrid cuisines not only
enriched culinary landscapes , but also left a mark on popular culture. One such cuisine is that which evolved among Chinese residents of Korea.
Korean-Chinese restaurants, known as joongguk jib (literally 'China house') in Korean, are fixtures across South Korea, in city centres and remote towns.
The tiny island of Marado in Jeju province, South Korea, has nine Korean-Chinese restaurants. Photo: Shutterstock
Consider this: Marado, a tiny island of just 30 hectares (about 12 football fields) in Jeju province has nine joongguk jib restaurants.
Each serves its own variation on typical Korean-Chinese dishes such as jajangmyeon (black bean paste noodles) and jjambbong (spicy seafood noodles) which incorporate local ingredients – mostly seafood.
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