Today’s edition of The Party Cut covers a particular genre of food that I’ve learned many people aren’t familiar with: Chinese-Korean.
In short, it’s a version of Chinese food that’s been sort of retrofitted to suit Korean taste buds by Chinese immigrants in Korea. I actually wrote a lil’ something about it at my day job for The Takeout, which should serve as a pretty good primer; I highly recommend you read that first so you understand what I’m about to show you.
The food style was born in the early 1900’s, when an influx of Chinese immigrants came to South Korea, mostly to the city of Incheon. These are familiar circumstances you often find around fusion food, when an immigrant group adapts its dishes to match the flavors and preferences of its new home.
And there’s three particular Chinese-Korean dishes that Koreans hold dear to their hearts (especially me): Jjajangmyeon (noodles in a fermented black bean sauce), jjampong (fiery seafood noodle stew), and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork or beef).
That brings me to one of our new favorites: House of Wah Sun.
By “new,” I mean new to us. If the name sounds familiar to you, that’s because it used to be in Lincoln Square, but the place has since moved to Irving Park (in fact, it’s on Irving Park). It’s now housed in a former Golden Nugget diner, and the place still has diner vibes because of it. My friend Mike Sula wrote a great piece about the owners (a husband and wife team) for the Chicago Reader, which should give you some good background on them, as well as the restaurant.
Here’s a fun little thing to start with: If you’re ordering Chinese-Korean dishes, they’ll bring out a plate of white onion and danmuji (yellow pickled radish, which is very sweet), along with a small container of black bean sauce.
You’ll want to take the bottle of white vinegar on the table and absolutely douse the onions (seriously, make it rain) with it. The vinegar will cut the acridity of the onions, and you dip them in the black bean sauce as a little snack before your food comes. I’m actually not sure where this practice is from, I’ve just been taught that it’s a thing you do, and I’ve been doing this my whole life.
Did you know that egg rolls made in Chicago have an interesting little trademark?
Some of them, like the ones at House of Wah Sun ($2.50 per), are made with a secret ingredient, which is apparent once you take a bite. It’s peanut butter.
Louisa Chu at the Chicago Tribune did a little search on where this style of egg roll originated some years back. While adding peanut butter to egg rolls isn’t uncommon elsewhere, it’s a particularly popular practice in Chicago.
The egg rolls at House of Wah Sun are good, too. They come to you piping hot, well-stuffed, they’re crispy without being terribly greasy, and yes, they have peanut butter in them. Oh, and the mustard here is strong; one of the owners saw me wincing after I took a big dose and she asked, “Mustard?” and I frantically nodded.
The crab rangoons are pretty solid too.
They’re the flat pentagonal variety and not overstuffed, which ensures that they’re uniformly crisp throughout. It’s hard not to like something filled with cream cheese and deep fried.
(Also, I’m a very big fan of crab rangoons, if you know me at all.)
Before I get into the Chinese-Korean stuff, I wanted to point out the cumin lamb ($17.95) on the menu, which is a house specialty.
It comes in a packet of foil, and features heavily spiced lamb slices, onion, and a shitload of fresh cilantro. The cumin flavor in the dish is aggressive, and it’s accompanied by a mix of chiles and mouth-numbing Sichuan pepper. It’s a fairly oily dish, but in the best way, and despite gorging ourselves on it, Davida and I still had extra to bring home. (Basically what I’m saying is that you need to get it.)
Jjajangmyeon is a dish of wheat noodles absolutely drenched in a pile of fermented black bean sauce.
That naturally savory sauce is filled with bits of pork and vegetables such as onions, carrots, radish, and potato. And House of Wah Sun’s is exactly what you want in a regular bowl of the stuff, it’s warm, hearty, filling, and perfect. It’s the most popular Chinese-Korean dish in South Korea for a reason. Calling it “popular” is almost an understatement, that’s how beloved jjajangmyeon is.
For those of you new to jjajangmyeon, you’re supposed to mix the sauce in yourself, which can be a little bit of work. While it may look oversauced, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Trust me, you’ll be scraping the bottom for every last bit when you’re done. And hopefully you remembered not to wear white while you’re eating it, because if you’re not careful, you may leave your meal covered in some new freckles.
Jjampong is a spicy seafood noodle stew that’s comforting in a more soupy sort of way.
In it, you’ll find wheat noodles, a variety of seafood like shrimp, squid, and other types of shellfish like scallops or mussels, all in a spicy red broth that you’ll practically want to drink. It’s almost like Korean cioppino (but the red comes from chile, not tomato). Jjampong has a reputation for being aggressively spicy, but the versions I’ve had across town so far haven’t been too challenging, such as the one from House of Wah Sun. For general spice levels, I’d say this lands on medium.
Since jjajangmyeon and jjampong are such different dishes, I find myself craving one over the other at any given time.
And lastly, this is tangsuyuk, or sweet and sour beef (or pork).
I grew up eating the pork version, but at House of Wah Sun, they specifically use beef. The meat is battered and then fried so it gets a thick, crunchy, and almost hard shell. The sweet and sour sauce isn’t quite something you’d get at your typical Chinese-American takeout spot; it’s a clear starch-thickened sauce that’s slightly brown in color.
In that sweet and slightly vinegary sauce, you’ll usually see wood ear mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and sometimes pineapple or bell pepper. After your first bite you’ll see why this one’s a crowd pleaser. It’s different enough from your standard sweet and sour dish in lots of ways, from how the strips of meat are coated and fried, all the way down to the texture and flavor of the sauce. I highly recommend you try this if you’ve never had it.
House of Wah Sun isn’t the only restaurant in Chicago that serves Chinese-Korean food. Other ones we also love are Great Sea (get the chicken wings) and Peking Mandarin, both in Albany Park. They share a similar menu to House of Wah Sun in that all the favorites listed above are present, and you can’t go wrong with any of them.
And when you’re at any of these places, listen carefully to all the languages spoken in each restaurant. You’ll hear Chinese, Korean, English, and Spanish (either to customers or employees), all under the same roof, sometimes used interchangeably. It’s really something to see. The food is just part of it.
House of Wah Sun
3234 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 267-0801
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tue - Thurs: 11:30 AM-2:30 PM, dinner from 4:30 PM-9:00 PM
Friday: 11:30 AM-2:30 PM, dinner from 4:30 PM-09:30 PM
Saturday: 12:00 PM-09:30 PM
Sunday: 12:00 PM-09:00 PM
This one was long, but I figured it deserved a little extra attention, since it’s a type of food that means a lot to me. If you know of any other Chinese-Korean restaurants in Chicago, give ‘em a shoutout in the comments section.
Please share the newsletter to your fellow Chicagoans, by the way! It’s small but mighty and could use a boost.
And of course, thank you for reading The Party Cut. Don’t forget to upgrade your subscription to get the whole pie, since every other week’s edition is for paid subscribers:
Not only do you get the full shebang, you’ll also get tiny little extra drops now and then with single dishes from places that deserve a shoutout.
Okay, everyone. Love you all, and talk to you soon. Jjajangmyeon’s calling my name.
Great Sea is still open??? My mom likes to get the veg dish with the spicy mustard dressing and I think some sort of noodle... I will need to try this place! I’m craving jjajangmyeon now!!