Sean Chang grew up in a Korean-American family in Buford and enrolled at the University of Georgia with plans to go to med school. It didn’t take him long to see the experience wasn’t for him. “I just was very unhappy,” said the Los Angeles-born Chang, now 23. “It just didn’t fit right with me. I did not want to spend the rest of my 20s studying.”
What he did love were the connections made through food. On Friday nights, he’d cook a meal in the communal kitchen of his dorm, then feed whomever dropped in hungry. He pondered the idea of a career in restaurants, but he felt such a move might disappoint his family.
Credit: Elena Veselova
Credit: Elena Veselova
And, then, on Jan. 31, 2016, something happened that made him rethink where he was headed in life. Driving home from Athens alone late at night, he had a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. When he returned to college, using a wheelchair, he transferred to Georgia State, where he studied hospitality.
In October, Chang and his partner, Peter Chung, unveiled Mukja Korean Fried Chicken in the Metropolis condominium in Midtown. The two had toyed with the idea of opening a teriyaki spot called Chung & Chang. But, in the end, fried chicken spoke to their backgrounds as Korean-Americans planted in the South and straddling two cultures — Kentucky fried and Korean fried. (Chung, 24, grew up in John’s Creek and studied at Georgia Tech.)
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
Also, who doesn’t love fried chicken?
Chang certainly does, as I discovered in a recent interview in which he described in some detail the various techniques of butchering, battering, frying and saucing (or not saucing) the chicken. “I was just obsessed with Korean fried chicken,” said Chang, who has gnawed his ancestral bird from Southern California to Suwanee.
Mukja is a deeply personal project, reflecting the fast-food upbringing of its owners. It’s a fast-casual, counter-service establishment that serves chicken boxes with twisted sides inspired by both America and Korea. Macaroni and cheese is made with kimchi and bacon; waffles are concocted with garlic, jalapeño and scallions.
Credit: Wendell Brock
Credit: Wendell Brock
While most traditional Korean fried chicken joints offer their bird plain or coated with sauce (often fiery, with garlic and gochujang), Mukja’s gently spiced chicken arrives naked, with sauces for dipping on the side.
I approached Mukja with a bit of nostalgia. I lived at the Metropolis in the early 2000s, just after it was built. I remember how the first restaurants in the building struggled, even though the options nearby were limited at the time.
If Mukja had been around then, I would have been a regular.
The chicken was exceptionally crispy. Chang, who spent four years developing recipes, said the secret is the addition of pure grain alcohol to the batter, to impart flakiness. It appears to be a rather thin, delicate batter. Dropped in oil, the coating solidifies into a shattering crunch. (The chicken actually is fried twice, the classic Korean way: Once to cook it internally, a second time to crispen.)
I found it to be even better with a bite of the traditional Korean slaw, a mix of ultra thin scallions and red cabbage with some good heat from the gochugaru vinaigrette and some nuttiness from toasted sesame oil. I also loved the smoked gouda mac and cheese (covered with bits of crispy bacon), and a clever slaw called the Standard (green cabbage, white onion and sweet corn, topped with creamy, gochujang-spiked Thousand Island dressing).
Credit: Elena Veselova
Credit: Elena Veselova
What needs work are the sauces, which tend to be rather sweet. The biggest disappointment was the honey butter. The menu suggests it as a dip for the fries. No thanks. The Korean sweet heat was better, but a bit syrupy and not prickly enough. The soy garlic was the best of the three.
The takeaway: Lovers of Korean fried chicken will want to check out this modern riff. Chang is doing what’s good for his soul, it seems. And, it shows.
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MUKJA KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN
Menu: contemporary take on Korean fried chicken, with creative sides
Alcohol: license pending
What I ordered: whole bird with Korean slaw, macaroni and cheese, the Standard, fries with honey butter, plus large cups of each of the three sauces
Service options: takeout; delivery via Uber Eats and DoorDash
Outdoor dining: no
Mask policy: required for staff and patrons
Address, phone: 933 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta; 404-855-5516
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays
Website: mukjaatl.com
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