I think Hungry Dragon is a tremendously overrated card. I don't think dealing with the 1 mana minion is worth the extra +1/+1.
Basically, for your free +1/+1 stats to be worth it, you have to spend a a tiny fraction of a card on whatever pops out. Like a couple hp from a minion or something. If that 2hp comes from the Hungry Dragon than you basically played a Lost Tallstrider. Even if you spend a hero power on it you just spent 6 mana for a 5/6, which is abysmal. So unless you have another minion on the board that can easily trade it's not worth it.
Think about what you would actually want to do in this game to get a 0 mana banana. And on the same subject, compare the card to King Mukla, which has even BETTER stats for its cost, and your opponent has to spend 2 mana to get the benefit. Hungry Dragon has slightly worse stats for the cost and your opponent pays nothing. And yet nobody runs Mukla.