If you’ve ever wanted to try Korea’s most popular street food but don’t have the funds to travel overseas, you’ve got to try Myungrang Hot Dogs in L.A.’s Koreatown. Unlike your typical American corn dog that’s deep fried with a thick layer of cornmeal batter, Korean corn dogs are covered in panko and sugar, which makes them a lot crispier and sweeter than their American counterparts.
Winnie Lam / Daily Nexus
Myungrang Hot Dogs is a small grab-n-go spot located on the second floor of a cute, trendy plaza in the heart of Koreatown. After seeing countless mukbangs (audiovisual eating videos) of people eating these Korean corn dogs, I knew I had to try them for myself. I came around lunchtime on a Tuesday thinking that, despite the long lines I saw on Yelp, I didn’t have to wait at all. The menu is pretty simple, offering corn dogs with a variety of fillings and toppings on the outside. The three that caught my eye were the mozzarella cheese, squid ink and potato corn dogs.
While I was waiting for my corn dogs, I noticed that Myungrang also offered an assortment of condiments to pair with the corn dogs. They have five different sauces including honey mustard, cheese mustard, ketchup, sweet chili and cheddar cheese, as well as three seasonings that include honey butter, cheese and parmesan cheese. I opted for a combination of mustard cheese sauce and honey butter seasoning on all of my corn dogs. Here’s what I thought about the three corn dogs I tried:
Winnie Lam / Daily Nexus
All Mozzarella Dog
This is a must-try if you visit Myungrang! This corn dog is filled with mozzarella cheese that will give you that amazing long cheese pull that’s perfect for the ‘gram. The crispy, sweet batter contrasts so well with the stringy, savory cheese that it’ll leaving you wanting more. However, it can get a little heavy so I’d definitely share this one.
Squid-Ink Dog
The batter for this corn dog is made with squid ink, and this corn dog is half sausage, half mozzarella cheese. The squid ink batter didn’t taste like anything special and it was a little weird having the corn dog split like that. It would have been much better if the cheese was wrapped around the hot dog so that you could taste everything in one bite instead of eating the cheese first and then the hot dog. I wouldn’t get this the next time I come, as it wasn’t completely satisfying.
Potato Dog
This is the best corn dog here and another must-try! The potato dog is a Korean corn dog covered with small potato cubes that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It tastes like you’re eating fries with a corn dog all in one bite. The other corn dogs I tried don’t come anywhere close to the potato dog’s unbelievable texture and flavor.
Winnie Lam / Daily Nexus
After eating at Myungrang, I don’t think I could ever go back to classic American corn dogs. The crispy panko and sugar really make these corn dogs unbelievably good, and on top of that, they’re insanely cheap, priced from $3-4.50 per corn dog. It’s perfect for sharing with friends, which is what I did, or you could definitely order a bunch and make your own mukbang!
