Jangchung-dong Jokbal Alley장충동 족발 골목

About

The history of Jangchung-dong's jokbal (braised pig's trotters) began 52 years ago, when two jokbal restaurants opened in a building called the Manjeong Building, a short distance from today's Jokbal Alley. The two restaurants opened a year apart, and both are still in business on Jokbal Alley today. The very first of them did not have jokbal on its menu from the start. It served meals and drinks, with bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) and mandu (dumplings) as its main dishes, but customers wanted an inexpensive yet filling dish to go with their drinks, so the owner recalled her childhood and added jokbal to the menu. She was from Gwaksan in North Pyeongan Province, and so the jokbal she had eaten there took root in Jangchung-dong. In winter, her mother would butcher a whole pig, hang it up, and cook meat dishes, and the taste of the chewy, slightly dried jokbal stayed with her. Jangchung-dong jokbal, which began this way, gained fame through the late 1970s and early 1980s, and restaurants began lining up along what is now Jokbal Alley. This is how Jangchung-dong Jokbal Alley came to be. Even today, around 10 restaurants cluster along the main road and narrow side alleys, preserving the old flavors. What has kept the alley's reputation alive for decades, with people's unwavering love, is likely its generous portions of delicious jokbal. According to the women who run the restaurants here, the taste differs slightly from place to place. On Jokbal Alley, the side dishes served with the jokbal, such as bindaetteok and pajeon (green onion pancakes), are also well worth trying.