Korea’s Stretchy Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken — A Sweet and Spicy One-Pot Delight with Multiple Ways to Eat

Text and Photos /MIKA

Every time I go to Korea, I always have to eat stir-fried chicken from Sangsu Chuncheon. Strangely enough, I’ve never gone to the same place twice — talk about a disloyal customer (shrugs), but honestly, there are just so many options in Sangsu to choose from. I used to love playing adventure games and would just randomly pick a spot to eat at. But this time, since I was with some friends visiting Seoul for the first time, I thought it would be safer to take them to the most highly recommended Chuncheon-style stir-fried chicken spot online, just to avoid any bad experiences. As it turned out… maybe because there were too many tourists, the service quality and overall standard weren’t that great — a bit of a letdown.

This Chuncheon-style stir-fried chicken joint is extremely popular, mostly frequented by tourists from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China.

Here, you’re not allowed to stir-fry the dish yourself. At other places I’ve been to, you could actually join in the fun. But at this one, you have to wait for the server to come and stir it for you. Even trying to do it yourself will get you stopped, and you just end up waiting around for the busy staff to come back. That feeling of waiting dumbly isn’t great.

The price isn’t really expensive either — stir-fried chicken dishes are all around this price range.

First, they heat up the pan.

Then they give you an apron to wear, in case you drip food on your clothes while eating.

They serve you a small side dish, but at other places I’ve visited, the sides are self-service — you can eat as much as you want. Actually, this place also offers refills, but the servers are just too busy, and I couldn’t be bothered to ask for more. I really love their macaroni salad, and the seaweed soup is served cold, with a sweet and sour taste that’s super unique and really cuts through the richness.

Their seaweed soup comes in many varieties — this is the cold version, and I like its sweet and sour flavor.

After what felt like forever, the server finally came to serve the dish — they generously added rice cakes, vegetables, chicken, ham, hot dogs, sliced sweet potato, spicy sauce, and more...

Then they covered the pot with a lid to let it simmer for a while. When they opened the lid to stir-fry it again, the aroma was amazing. The whole pot was super hearty and looked so spicy and red, making my appetite soar.

The server urged us to eat while it was hot. When we were almost done, they added noodles and stirred everything together, but you’re not allowed to touch anything yourself. If you couldn’t resist and tried to stir, you’d definitely get scolded (clenches fist). Seriously, I was just hungry — how long do I have to wait for you guys to come stir it XD?

Actually, once the noodles are stirred in, they absorb the sweet spicy sauce and the savory flavor of the chicken. The noodles are flavorful, tender, and really delicious.

Finally, when you’re almost done eating, the server adds cheese, and you watch it slowly melt. Once it’s melted enough, you can dig in. Some places even have a final step where they stir-fry the remaining ingredients and spicy sauce with rice. It’s basically the concept of getting multiple meals out of one pot.

The original ingredients — chicken, spicy noodles, veggies, ham — are all elevated with a generous layer of rich melted cheese. That stretchy, gooey cheese is absolutely irresistible. Actually, the stir-fried chicken from every place is pretty similar, but I felt this one had a bit too much oil and the texture was more average. Compared to other places I've tried, it was a bit underwhelming. As for the service, I understand that they must be really busy because of how popular they are, and I can empathize, but having to just sit there waiting and not being able to do anything yourself gets a bit frustrating. Next time, I think I’ll go to a less touristy spot. At least the owners there will chat with you, let you stir-fry the dish yourself, and you can even enjoy unlimited self-service sides without pestering the staff for refills. All in all — I wouldn’t really recommend this place.

Chuncheon-style Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken from Sangsu — Sangsu Sang Chuncheon Ji Tan
Phone: 02-325-2361
Address: 57-8, Changcheon-ro 8-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul (57-8, Changcheon-dong, Seoul, Seodaemun-gu)
Hours: 10:00 PM – 6:00 AM the next day

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