Yun Jong-gye, the founder of Mexicana Chicken who first created seasoned fried chicken and pickled radish for chicken, died on the 30th of last month at age 74, his death becoming known belatedly.
According to the bereaved family on the 8th, Yun died of a chronic illness at around 5 a.m. on Dec. 30 last year at his home in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang.
Born in April 1952 in Daegu, Yun ran a print shop that went bankrupt and then, in the late 1970s, opened a roughly two-pyeong "Gyesong Tongdak" in Hyeomok-dong, Daegu. He introduced the first red seasoning sauce using starch syrup and red pepper powder and a brining method, sparking a craze. Brining is a pre-treatment process that enhances flavor and tenderizes the meat, either by soaking the chicken in water with dissolved salt, sugar, and spices, or by rubbing salt and powdered seasonings directly onto the chicken.
Yun appeared on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block" in 2020 and explained the background of how seasoned fried chicken was born in 1980.
Yun said, "In the early days, when I was running a shop of just about two pyeong, the chicken meat was dry, so at first I thought of kimchi. No matter how I combined kimchi seasonings, it failed," adding, "An elderly woman in the neighborhood passed by and told me to 'try adding starch syrup,' so I did, and the flavor came alive."
He went on, "I think it took more than six months to develop seasoned chicken," recalling, "I made a new recipe every day and kept failing." At first, there were lukewarm reactions like "It gets on your hands," but soon people flocked in from all over the country.
Yun ramped up the "Mexicana Chicken" brand in 1985. He named it for being spicy, sour, and sweet. It is a different brand from "Mexican Chicken," which takes its name from "Mexico."
He was also the first in Korea to try a TV advertisement for chicken. He fronted "Sundori" (Lee Geon-ju), who gained popularity through the MBC drama "Three Families Under One Roof" (1986–1994), as the model. On "You Quiz on the Block," he said that after the ad, he made so much money "you could push it with a bulldozer."
Yun was also the first to make pickled radish for chicken. To serve alongside chicken, he made a mix of radish and cucumber with vinegar and soda, which developed into today's pickled radish for chicken. His wife, Hwang Ju-young, recalled, "He made the pickled radish first, and then in the early 1980s developed seasoned fried chicken."
The seasoned fried chicken Yun developed became the industry standard, and in 1988 he even signed a broiler supply contract with Harim. At one point, he operated about 1,700 franchise locations, but the business closed around 2003.
Hwang said, "At the time, we imported machinery from Germany and, in the process of seeking a business transition, ran into several hurdles." In 2016, Harim Holdings acquired equity in Mexicana Chicken. Harim Chairman Kim Hong-guk, remembering old times, also handed Yun seed money so he could make a comeback as "Yun Chicken."
Yun also helped launch the "Daegu Chicken and Beer (Chimaek) Festival." He is survived by his wife, Hwang Ju-young, and his son, Yun Jun-sik. After a funeral service at noon on the 1st, he was laid to rest at Cheongdo Daeseong Church.