The Best Fried Chicken EVER!

The Best Fried Chicken 

https://www.kyedong.com

This may just look like your typical fried chicken. BUT I KID YOU NOT, IT IS THE BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER! Well... to say it is THE BEST would only be our opinion, and while we are not connoisseurs of fried chicken, we have had a fair amount between the two of us. From Southern fried chicken, to fast food fried chicken, to Thai fried chicken, to chicken fried chicken, to chicken katsu, you name it, we probably have had it. (I felt like Lt. Dob writing that sentence)

What makes a good fried chicken? That is a great question! For us, its all about texture and flavor. The batter or skin has to be crispy, not crunchy. A moderate coating of batter, not over loading the chicken. Flavor wise, we are up for anything! Spicy, sweet, salty, but our favorite would have to be an all around umami flavor coating the chicken but not to the point of making it soggy. The chicken itself should be juicy, not dry or greasy. 

This is the Original fried chicken from Kyedong. The chicken is served with pickled radish, sweet chili sauce, and some nuts and crunchy puffs. The first bite we took of this delicious chicken, we knew. Any competitor would have to be darn good to beat it. There is no batter on the chicken, yet the skin was fried to perfection, no soggy fat remains. It is coated in a sweet soy glaze, that is like the chicken's second skin. The chicken is juicy and not greasy and absolutely finger licking good (and KFC needs to try Kyedong before they have a clue as to what that really means)! Don't believe me!? Well then you will have to fly to Korea and find out for yourself! Or just check out their website... and drool at the pictures! 

The second time we visited, Alan was brave enough to try their spicy chicken. It was spicy! But to him, he describes it as a good spicy, one that slowly builds and sizzles in your mouth and you just want to keep eating even if your mouths is slightly burned. Of course we figured the remedy to this tingling sensation and brought our Ranch with us... Oh the goodness! 

Jinju Lantern Festival

Jinju Lantern Festival

This weekend we decided to go on a little adventure. We heard about the Jinju Lantern Festival from the Mokpo Facebook page. After some research, we found out that this festival was named one of the best festivals to attend in South Korea. How could we past this up! Jinju is about a three hour bus ride from Mokpo, connecting in Gwangju. We left after lunch, and had to wait in Gwangju for the next available bus at 5:00pm! So we arrived in Jinju at around 7:00pm. Perfect timing since the festival is better at night! We had a big group of seven, Alan of course being the only guy lol!

The lanterns were incredible! Made out of cloth, every lantern had intricate details. Some of them even moved! We decided to get these light up hand ands to keep track of everyone. Alan nicknamed us the Minnies, after Minne mouse, he of course was the King with his blue crown.

Year of the Rabbit!

Year of the Dragon!

There were many activities at the festival. We made our own floating lanterns and floated them along the river. There was also a hanging lantern tutorial but we needed reservations which we did not know about. Bummer! We did however reserve our spots on the boat tour along the river to see the lanterns up close!

Boat Tour! 

After the boat ride, we went to the Super Heroes and Cartoons area where they had an array of character lanterns. Keep in mind that these lanterns are constructed of a wire frame and then covered with the cloth material. So intricate! 

After our long night, we had our first Korean bathhouse experience. Very interesting to say the least! There were seperate floors for males and females. Think communal showers and lockers where everyone is not shy about their bodies... At all... Lol! After a night of not much sleep, we were on our way back to Mokpo. Pistop in Gwangju for some much needed brunch! All in all it was a great adventure!