Korean food — ranging from the fine cuisine that wins chefs James Beard awards to the gooey corn dog cheese pulls trending on TikTok — is surging in popularity across America.

• The big picture: Although most Asian restaurants in America serve Chinese, Japanese or Thai food, there's clearly an appetite for more Korean restaurants, Carly Mallenbaum writes.

🇰🇷 Catch up quick: First came Korean fried chicken. Then, kimchi turned into a go-to condiment, and ready-to-use Korean barbecue sauces hit shelves, says Tim Fires, president of global food service at market research firm Circana.

By the numbers: In 2024, there was a 10% increase in Korean restaurants nationally, per Circana.

🍽️ What we're watching: As Korean cuisine gains traction in more U.S. cities, expect to see more inventive fusion flavors on the menu, like the crawfish fried rice at a Creole-tinged Korean spot in New Orleans, and Korean beef tacos at a Korean Mexican restaurant in Detroit.

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Huntsville is no stranger to international food, especially Korean cuisine.

Why it matters: Recent additions like Yeti Dog, Seoul Good and Q Korean BBQ and Revolving Sushi are elevating the Korean culinary scene locally.

• Corn dog-focused Korean street food spot Yeti Dog opened April 5 off Bailey Cove Road, owner Sunhee Nix tells Axios. Nix opened the restaurant with her sister.

What they're saying: "When I was growing up in Korea, we ate [street food] all the time," she said. And so far it's a hit in Huntsville, too.

• "We had a lady who came here for work from Birmingham," Nix said. "She came back the next day to take a few corn dogs [back] to her husband."

Catch up quick: The main difference between the American corn dog and the Korean corn dog is the batter, she said. American corn dogs are made with cornmeal batter, but a Korean corn dog uses yeast batter and rice flour.

• There's also the ingredients themselves. A traditional corn dog is simply a hot dog on a stick, covered in batter and fried.
• At Yeti Dog, the first decision is what to put on the stick, with options like all-beef sausage, all mozzarella, half mozzarella and half beef, and even American cheese-wrapped Jalapeño sausage.
• After that, pick from toppings like cinnamon sugar, potato, Hot Cheeto or Ramen, then a choice of one of 15 sauces like BBQ, sweet and sour, and even Yeti Dog's own take on Alabama White Sauce.

Zoom in: Nix says the most popular pick is the all-mozzarella with Hot Cheeto topping. The second most popular topping: potato.

💬My thought bubble: I ordered the mozzarella and Hot Cheeto combo, and the beef sausage with potato, and can see why they're the top choices.

• They're large, and rich. My advice: get one corn dog and grab some of the other offerings at Yeti Dog to balance it out.
• Also on the menu are kimbap (Korean rice roll), lumpia (fried spring rolls) and Korean potato salad.

Yeti Dog isn't the only recent Korean restaurant to launch in Huntsville.

• Seoul Good, which opened in Stovehouse in May 2024, is also bringing fresh takes on Korean food to Huntsville with a focus on chicken wings with flavors like soy garlic, Sichuan mala and Kimchi.
• Q Korean BBQ & Revolving Sushi, which opened late last year on University Drive, is one Nix noted when I asked about local restaurants.
• Bonchon, a global chain with a name meaning "my hometown," opened on Whitesburg Drive last spring. Mainly known for fried chicken, it also offers a variety of Korean mainstays like bulgogi and bibimbap.

Context: Korean food has long been a staple in Huntsville, with I Love Korea on Jordan Lane set to celebrate 40 years next year, and Stone Age Korean BBQ at Times Plaza on South Memorial Parkway, which opened in 2020.

🏛️ State Sen. Tom Butler, a retired pharmacist from Madison County, is stepping down after decades in the state legislature. (AL.com)

🚚 International Motors is gearing up to convince its 200-plus employees in Huntsville not to join the United Auto Workers union. (FOX54)

🐶 Pet-friendly Hound & Harvest is closing. The Whitesburg Drive restaurant's last day will be July 13. (Hound & Harvest on Facebook)

Fireflies are having a good year.

The big picture: In general, firefly populations have declined over the last 100 years, said Megan Abraham, division director and state entomologist at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

• Yes, but: Conditions were good for fireflies this year, and there are likely more of them lighting up night skies near you than in recent summers.

What she's saying: "Every once in a while, we'll see a resurgence because of perfect weather conditions and there will be fireflies all over and that's what we're seeing this year," Abraham said.

Zoom out: Much of the country had a warmer, wetter spring than usual, and Alabama is no exception, recording the wettest May on record, per NOAA.

The bottom line: "Everybody loves them," Emily Justus, outreach coordinator at Purdue University's entomology department, said. "I think it's the lighting up at night and their association with summer — it being warm outside and fireflies are glowing. It creates such an ambience."

📢 Let me know: Hit reply and tell me your favorite spots to watch fireflies in Huntsville and maybe the kiddos and I will see you there!

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