Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago.
One aspect to my Korean Air flight from Seoul to Los Angeles was so quirky I thought it merited its own Meal of the Week shout-out: midnight, mid-flight corn dogs.
Corn Dogs On Korean Air
A corn dog is a wiener/hot dog/frank (pick your poison) on a stick that has been coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep fried.
It’s a popular American snack and whether because of the American presence during and after the Korean War or for other reasons, has also become very popular in South Korea, where it is a street food staple and most just call it a hot dog.
Imagine this. It’s the middle of the flight in the middle of the night. All of a sudden the bright lights come on and flight attendants appear handing out a corn dog to every passenger along with ketchup. It was served in a Korean Air-branded box and called an “original K-hotdog.”
Confession: I loved it…my goodness, I have not had one of these for years and it brought back happy childhood memories of eating these at school. But there is a very good reason I don’t eat heart disease on a stick anymore, though I was happy to make an exception for purposes of my flight review (or so I told myself).
If you didn’t read my mini-review of the flight yesterday, you’ll note this was just a midflight snack: there was a large meal served after takeoff and another before landing:
While I give Korean Air high marks overall for its transpacific service in economy class, waking everyone up in the middle of the night to serve a corn dog is probably not the wisest choice. Instead, I’d quietly go down the aisle with the lights off or at least turned down and offer it only to those who are awake…
And Malik claims service has gone downhill for KE
Jokes aside, you will not go hungry on KE.
I would be so mad if this happened. In economy, Delta FAs pass several times during the night offering glasses of water to passengers that are AWAKE. They don’t turn lights on and leave the ones sleeping alone. Snacks are placed in the back of the plane if someone is hungry mid flight. As for Delta One, they bake chocolate cookies mid-flight but only give to passengers that are awake.
Wait until you savor a Ramyeon-ttang Hot Dog (라면땅 핫도그.
I too got a corn dog as the “snack” in Asiana economy class from Seoul to Tokyo. Maybe corn dogs are the thing in South Korea?!
“It’s a popular American snack and whether because of the American presence during and after the Korean War or for other reasons, has also become very popular in South Korea, where it is a street food staple and most just call it a hot dog.”
This is essentially what our food tour guide told us. American soldiers during the Korean War would donate leftovers to the locals, and so a number of traditional American foods (fried chicken, corn dogs, etc.) became intertwined with Korean cuisine. Hence why stuff like chicken and beer is such a big thing. (Our guide did talk my brother and me into coming back during baseball season to enjoy fried chicken and beer during a KBO game.)
BTW, I agree, not cool that they woke everyone up. I’m one of those that tends to sleep very soundly, but once awake, can’t get back to sleep, so I’d have been mighty p*ssed.
Yeah but some foods like fired chicken already existed in places like Korea and Japan long before WWII, they just did it a different way. The post war era probably brought American style fried chicken to those places though for sure.
Personally, Japanese friend chicken is probably my favorite fried chicken in the world. But to each their own.
And SPAM. Big there, and Hawaii, and a few other places.
Korean Air actually used to offer instant noodles/cup noodles as a mid-flight snack. However they decide to switch to something that did not involve hot water, given the frequency of mid-air/clear turbulence. Corn-dogs are what they come up with, as a replacement to cup noodles.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/korean-air-cuts-hot-cup-noodles-economy-turbulence-rises-2024-08-01/
However while it is not the healthiest snack, it is better than cup noodles. I am actually surprised that they turned on the flights for this quick service. Maybe that’s why they gave you eye masks on the amenity kits in economy class. But I will rather they serve a mid-flight snack than nothing at all.
Was it the waking up part that you found quirky, or the fact that they served corn dogs, or both? I’d say the corn dog itself is no different than getting a reheated sandwich or pizza or wrap, but the waking up everyone for a snack part I will agree was really uncalled for.
First paragraph: “my Korean Air flight from Seoul to Incheon”?
Too bad flights to Haiti on several US carriers have ended due to gunfire. They could service, not hot dogs, but warmed dog and cats, particular on any Haiti to Ohio flights.
Still pushing that dogs and cats nonsense?
Those MAGA clowns definitely have fewer and fewer neurons.
I know of an illegal alien who admits to eating dog, but not cats. That person is not a bad person.
Sure, Jan.
“But there is a very good reason I don’t eat heart disease on a stick anymore”
While the oil certainly isn’t healthy, a “hot dog” needn’t be. “hot dogs” in Eastern Europe are very natural made with simple mixed ground meat, garlic, and herbs. When preservatives are added is the issue.
There’s an internet campaign against “seed oils” including sunflower seeds. Olive oil while healthier is difficult to fry with. I personally use bacon grease or leftover cooking grease heated to a high temperature for frying and find that aside from a little flavor, not much of it soaks in. The key is the oil has to be super hot.
I hope when you visited Ukraine you tried Chebureki. They ought to serve it on planes. A wonderful comfort food snack.
“Heart attack on a stick.” Give me a break, Matthew. It’s nice you’re healthy and aware of the dangers of food so many of us enjoy. I live in the Midwest, where most of us eat what we want and for some reason manage to live as long as you folks on the West Coast. I agree, it’s nuts they woke up everybody on an overnight flight to serve a snack, but please spare us the mini-lectures. Your posts are much more enjoyable when your nose isn’t pointed skyward.
I don’t force my views on anyone and for me age has always just been a number. My Midwest grandmothers lived to be 108 and 99…and ate whatever they wanted.
I just happen to enjoy eating healthy and want to age as well as as I can without extra body fat.
Based on your posts of what you (over)eat on your flights, you have a very broad definition of “healthy.”
Yes, but I don’t travel all that often compared to my time at home and you should see what I eat at home…
As somebody who wrote opinion pieces for a living I know very well you can’t force your views on anybody. My little snit was about your lecturing everybody in a travel blog about healthy food choices. We know, we know, we know. Please let it go.
It makes me think of the line (wish I’d thought of it) about the question, how can you tell if somebody is a vegan? Answer: They’ll tell you.
Ok, I’m going to preach.
Obesity and its adverse effects are the fundamental health issues of our generation. We are a country of undisciplined, obese, slobs and that is not only driven by our laziness in failing to exercise but in the food choices we consume. It’s disgusting what is in our food and how we have a broken healthcare system that is reactive instead of proactive. Preventive health does not just guard against obesity – it promotes a better quality of life. Through the self-control of healthy eating and the discipline of exercise, you can maximize (not guarantee, but maximize) your chances to finish the race well when it comes to your physical health and also not be a burden on the system or your children. That’s something that should be far more serious to people stuffing themselves with crap and thinking that they can deal with it later (and I can be guilty of that too sometimes).
And I know I won’t convince some people…it’s the same as people voting against their economic self-interests…the more you tell them, the more likely they are to vote for the other candidate.
But this is a huge issue; if I were in Congres, it would be an area of focus.
You want me to let it go? Then people should take it seriously and not be dismissive. The numbers are trending toward more obesity, not less…and it is a far more existential threat than Trump or Biden or the Deep State or Iran or North Korea or Russia.
Among the spectrum of healthy food to unhealthy food, a corn dog is closer to the unhealthy end. It’s not cyanide. You can eat some unhealthy food and still not add too much risk.
Being woken up for a corn dog on a flight in the middle of the night. I dunno I have eye shades , noise canceling headphones, and benzos. Good luck waking me up. I’d be heavily sedated by the middle of an overnight flight.
There are 15 McDonald’s within a 6.6 mile radius from where I live in Houston. There are only 2 McDonald’s in all of Boulder , CO. I’m moving to Denver because the summer in Houston is unbearable and I need to cope with my obesity. Denver like Houston is also United territory and an outstation for American. I will still get frequent upgrades with American and good fares to Asia and South America. The obesity rate is one of the lowest in the nation in Colorado 25%. I’m going to beat obesity.