If you had to pick one kind of fried chicken - just one - as the best you've ever had, your 'last meal' fried chicken, which would it be?
Would you put your hand up - or out - for Japan's light, crisp kara-age aka karaage chicken? For Taiwan's little bites of extraordinary good popcorn chicken? America's tender, juicy buttermilk chicken?
We've been debating this very topic in the SBS Food office and totally failed to find any agreement. There's just too much diversity for our little team to come up with one winner. So we're throwing it out to you - vote in our poll (scroll down to the end of this article) so we what kind of fried chicken is hot right now (see what we did there?). To warm you up, here's a round-up of some of the ones that are making us want to rush to the kitchen and fire up the fryer, or head out to find our local hot spot selling the good stuff.
A lot of US-style recipes marinate the chicken in a buttermilk dressing, but if you want crunchy Southern chicken within the hour, give , from the Feast magazine archives, a go. 'Slaw' is the classic side for fried chicken, and this one is a cracker, with two types of cabbage tossed with carrot in a sour cream, mayo and mustard dressing.
Coleslaw and southern fried chicken Source: Feast magazine / John Laurie
"Taiwanese food is a great mix of local dishes with influences from China, Japan and Southeast Asia. Popcorn chicken – yan su ji – is a popular street food in Taipei, and once you try it you’ll see why. The crunchy texture of the sweet potato flour coating is incredible," says Adam Liaw of his take on this street food star.
Adam Liaw's popcorn chicken Source: Steve Brown / Hachette
Originating in Taipei’s Shilin night markets, the juicy schnitzel-style chicken can be huge - around 30 cm long. Its crumbly crunchy coating is generously doused in a sweet, salty and spicy seasoning. has all the flavour, but will fit on your plate!
Taiwanese fried chicken, made with sweet potato (camote) flour Source: Feast magazine / Brett Stevens
"I love it because it’s light and it's really crispy and it stays crispy for a long time, even after frying," says Matty Matheson of the traditional potato starch coating used on Japan's outstandingly good karaage chicken. Pieces of chicken are marinated in a mix of soy sauce, garlic, sake and ginger before being coated in the potato starch and fried. Matheson's kitchen foray into Japanese recipes, including karaage (that's the one up the top, in the centre), is what prompted our office debate about which chicken rules the roost. You can catch the episode on SBS VICELAND on Saturday September 8 5.35 pm, then on .
Matty Matheson's Karaage chicken Source: SBS VICELAND
Reiko Hashimoto included this twist on the traditional tonkatsu in her book Cook Japan: Stay Slim Live Longer - a katsu made with chicken and vegetables, instead of the usual pork. The coating is multi-layered, starting with buckwheat flour, then egg and then panko breadcrumbs.
Chicken and vegetable katsu Source: Cook Japan / Bloomsbury
This is another Matty Matheson creation - this one gets a 24-hour bath in pickle juice, and then another soak in buttermilk and then, finally, is coated in a highly-seasoned flour mix. What you get is juicy pieces in a flavour-packed crunchy coating.
Matty Matheon's super-crispy fried chicken Source: Viceland / Farideh Sadeghin
Korean fried chicken (dakgangjeong) offers not just the crisp coating, but the sticky, sweet, spicy, tangy - and addictive - sauce. Try the show below, which is served tossed in the sauce, or, where the recipe includes a sauce with extra punch from gochujang (Korean chilli paste).
Of course, variations on crunchy-coated fried chicken are endless - rock on over the SBS Food if you want more deep-fried deliciousness, including shaoxing, kunyit and .
Korean fried chicken holds a world of flavour Source: Brett Stevens
But don't go without voting!
Fried, fab, crunchy, crisp
Southern fried chicken with corn salad
