Korean street food gives Americans a run for their money. This is especially true where Korean Corn Dogs come into the picture.
America’s corn dogs don’t hold a candle to them, and they’re starting to take the nation by storm.
Almost every city in the US has a place where you can get one.
Are Korean Corn Dogs healthy and good? Well, they’re definitely good! But, “healthy” is not part of the vocabulary when discussing them.
These sweet batter-wrapped morsels of joy stuff with meat and/or cheese, which then undergo subsequent frying in oil.
Then, spicy condiments slap on to create a burst flavor that you can only experience to understand.
Let’s dive deeper.
About Korean Corn Dogs & Their Ingredients
Korean Corn Dogs came about as a street food staple in the 1980s throughout Seoul, South Korea.
However, many attribute its Korean popularity to Myungrang Hot Dog, which is a chain in Busan that started around 2016. The company expanded into the United States, specifically Georgia in 2018.
In 2019, Korean Corn Dogs spread to Koreatown in L.A., California.
They became such a hit that the restaurant had to limit them to five per customer to be able to serve everyone efficiently.
Ever since, they’ve been growing in popularity with many other small mom-and-pop shops devising their own versions.
Ingredients of a Single Korean Corn Dog
Korean Corn Dogs take things over the top when compared to an American-style one.
The name Corn Dog is a bit misleading, as it doesn’t have corn or cornmeal as part of the recipe, although it can.
They can comprise any type of sausage, typical hot dogs, breakfast links, just cheese, or half-meat-half-cheese.
There can be two kinds of cheese, fish sticks, squid, or a host of other fillings. Other varieties can comprise crispy rice or ramen noodles.
In terms of the cheese, you’ll often find that mozzarella is the star of the show.
However, some restaurants will prepare their Corn Dogs with cheddar, gruyere, Monterey Jack, blue cheese, feta or gouda, among hundreds of other types.
Preparation, Cooking & Serving
The meat and/or cheese skewers onto wooden sticks and dunks in a rich, sweet rice and/or wheat flour batter.
Next, they roll in a topping like panko, breadcrumbs, chopped French fries, crunchy rice, ramen noodles, or some other such thing.
Finally, the corn dogs fry in oil and cook to a perfect, crunchy golden brown.
The thing that sets Korean Corn Dogs apart from the American version is the condiments.
Once done cooking, it rolls in sugar and comes with super spicy ketchup and mustard to counteract the high levels of sweetness.
However, some use chipotle mayonnaise or Siracha as well as wasabi, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, red chili paste, teriyaki sauce, or horseradish.
How Korean Corn Dogs Taste
When you chomp into a Korean Corn Dog, it’s wonderfully crusty on the outside with a soft, chewy, and gooey center.
The crispy oiliness crunches in your mouth as you pull cheese away for miles on end. The juices from the meat drip down your chin simultaneously.
The batter’s sweetness and sugar coating intermingle with the spicy condiments slathered all over it.
Truly, this is an explosive dance of flavors, leaving your taste buds wanting another, even if you’re too full to eat anymore.
The whole Korean Corn Dog experience is messy and delicious all at the same time.
Nutritional Value of Korean Corn Dogs
Unfortunately, if you’re a healthy eater or you’re trying to manage your weight, a Korean Corn Dog will be a danger to your diet.
These are not even a little healthy, and there’s no way to make them so. They are greasy, oily, and fatty by nature. Plus, these are not vegan or vegetarian in any capacity.
General Nutritional Facts
For one of these monstrosities on a stick, expect at least 465 calories. That’s just for the ones with only cheese inside.
If you get meat without cheese, it’s about 475 calories. For half-meat-half-cheese, it pushes to about 500 calories.
Also, there’s about 32 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of protein, 10 grams of sugar, 994 milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of fat, and 5 grams of cholesterol.
But, this will impinge on the type of meat, cheese, and condiments.
For instance, mozzarella cheese has less fat and calories than cheddar. Mayo is higher in cholesterol than mustard.
Getting a dog with just the breading and nothing else, like ramen or potato, will have fewer calories and sodium.
For Healthy Eaters
So, Korean Corn Dogs are not a good choice if you’re attempting to maintain a sensible diet. However, if you want to splurge on one of these puppies to reward yourself, go for it!
But be incredibly sparing and exercise some discipline. Therefore, you should only eat it once or twice per year.
Besides, Korean cuisine burgeons with plenty of other dishes that are far healthier and much better for your body.
To eat one of these is for the pure novelty of it and not for daily consumption. Seriously, one will take up most of your allotted calorie counts for the day.
This means you should eat it either before or after vigorous exercise.
Conclusion
Korean Corn Dogs are definitely good! But they are miserably unhealthy. Therefore, when you decide to eat one, make sure that’s all you have for quite some time.
These battered bundles of gooey goodness do have the potential to clog arteries and force cholesterol levels into severe shock.
