Single on Single’s Day? Jinjja Chicken Brings The Spice To Singlehood
While Valentine’s Day bestows flowers and chocolates for the guys, and March 14th’s White Day reciprocates with chocolates for the women, April 14th is reserved for the single life. Popular in Korea as Black Day, April 14th is celebrated as Single’s Day -- a day for the unattached to celebrate their singlehood with good-natured venting and a lot of comfort food.
Single Doesn’t Mean Lonely
Comfort food usually involved the jjajangmyeon: a type of Korean noodles in black bean sauce that supposedly showed how black-hearted and bitter single people are. That is completely unfair to both single people and the delicious jjajangmyeon, so much so that for a week in 2016, Jinjja Chicken gave people who declared that they were #singleandhappy on Facebook a free bowl of jjajangmyeon in celebration of Single’s Day. The next year, we made sure that singles felt special with the participation of Doppelganger star Hayley Woo, who enjoyed bowls of jjajangmyeon with us in an invite-only event. In 2018, simply wearing black to any Jinjja Chicken outlet on that April 14th earned diners a free bowl of jjajangmyeon!
Black Day is meant to be a light-hearted celebration of singlehood, whether you’re actively looking for a partner or are enjoying your freedom from commitment. Matchmaking events are also popular around this time. For some, it’s the right time to scout for a potential match: after all, with all the singles out celebrating, it’s easier to meet someone also unattached that you can connect with. As part of our Single’s Day celebrations, we have also launched singles-only events where the happily unattached had the chance to mingle, make new friends and partake in delicious black bean noodles.
In 2019, we played a prank on solo diners by partnering them with a surprise tablemate. Unsuspecting diners sat on what seemed to be a black cloth-covered cubicle meant for dining alone, but at the press of a button, a curtain unveiled a fellow diner sitting across them! The participants took it good-naturedly and even shared the complimentary plate of hot wings. Hot wings + a new friend? Sounds like a great way to celebrate being single!
This Single’s Day
Being single in a pandemic is hard, mostly because it’s hard to meet new people when in-person mingling is highly discouraged. Many found solace bingeing on K-dramas, living vicariously through the exciting love teams, heart-rending scenes, and the many gastronomic delights of Korean cuisine. Korean dramas often show food as a way to humanise characters, illustrate their emotions, and even create a connection between the leads. Of course, the by-product is often an audience with an intense craving for Korean food.
But don’t worry: Jinjja Chicken has your back! If you’ve ever found yourself envious of mouthfuls of delicious food from Korean dramas, our menu can satiate that craving. From craving crispy Korean chicken from that scene in Crash Landing On You, or binge-watching It’s Okay Not To Be Okay with your own bowl of Jjampong noodles, Jinjja Chicken can make Single’s Day feel less alone. This year, we’re launching a new dish to make being single even more fun.
If you’ve ever needed to relieve stress through spicy food, just like how Eun Ho Won and Seo Hyun did in Radiant Office, or want to share in Dan-I and Eun-ho’s romantic indoor date in Romance is A Bonus Book, our special fusion Jjajang Tteokbokki will hit the right spot. These spicy rice cakes doused in our signature black bean sauce can elevate your Single’s Day with the yummy heat of tteokbokki in the style of the traditional jjajangmyeon. After all, who says being single can’t be spicy?
The new Jjajang Tteokbokki dish is available in all five Jinjja Chicken outlets the whole month of April! Dine-in with us and celebrate being #singleandhappy with great, fast and hip Korean food. Check out jinjjachicken.com to learn more.