Turn Up The Heat On That Fried Chicken

On my “cheat days” when I allow myself some leeway in my strict diet regime by indulging in food that had been struck off the personal trainer’s approved list, I might pick a spicy fried chicken dish.  

So this was a conversation I had with myself on one of my cheat days at a restaurant that served spicy chicken,  “Chicken is protein isn’t it?  Spice comes from chillies which do have a lot of nutritional goodness right?  One order of spicy chicken please.” 

Jerome loved spicy food too. He does not have a “cheat day”.  Every day is a “diet fail” day for him.  This would be the conversation that he might have in his head about 4 hours before lunchtime, “Today is a pretty awesome day. It is breezy and cool. This calls for something spicy. Perhaps I would have my favourite Korean spicy chicken for lunch.  How about 2 orders of that.  And if it isn’t spicy enough, I should head for that Szechuan restaurant down the road and order another spicy chicken dish for dessert.”

Jerome and I have eaten our way through a few restaurants that served up some outstanding spicy chicken.  The only common conclusion we came up with was that whether or not a spicy chicken dish was cooked in the Western way or Asian way, we loved them all the same. We would like to recommend a sampling of some of these restaurants that served up spicy chicken that could turn the heat on for you on a cool day.  Just remember that scheduling meetings after a spicy chicken lunch might be a bad mistake.

 

Chir Chir

A local chapter of a highly popular fried chicken chain in Korea, Chir Chir is a relatively new entry into the food scene here and have already cooked up quite a storm at their restaurant, located at 313 Somerset.  A variety of chicken cuts in various delectable spicy and non-spicy marinades are available and Jerome had opted for the spicy fried chicken.  This was marinated for 6 hours in a piquant mixture of spices, fried to a beautiful crisp and sprinkled with almond flakes for the added crunch. 

According to Jerome, this had certainly got to be the Korean version of the American buffalo wings.

Brewerkz

Just to be sure that he could be more objective about comparing Korean spicy chicken to American buffalo wings, he had decided to pay American restaurant,  Brewerkz a visit, and  consequently ordered a plate of their famous buffalo wings.  While the wings were a main course for me, they were an appetizer for him.  The wings were marinated in a mix of spicy and zesty flavours that got him ordering more pints of beer each time he had polished a couple of wings. A very clever strategy on the part of Brewerkz I must say. 

However that appetizer wasn't enough to tickle his belly so he ordered a Southern fried chicken which was served with a side of white barbecue sauce and coleslaw.   Jerome swore that this dish was a "must-try" although he went off the brief and ignored my request that he had to order only fried chicken that was spicy.

 

Oven and Fried Chicken

During my visit to Oven and Fried Chicken at Telok Ayer Street, the team had decided to pander to my dietary requirements by ordering a mixture of spicy and non-spicy fried chicken as well as the oven-baked ones.  I much preferred the non-spicy fried chicken as the spicy option was way too spicy for me.  I thought initially that the unhealthier fried version would be tastier than the oven baked option but I was wrong.  The marinade could be tasted with every bite of the oven-baked chicken and the best thing about it was that it was a guilt-free option for me.

 

Chengdu Sichuan Restaurant

Not to be outsmarted by me, Jerome decided that this blog post was not about the choice of having my chicken fried or oven baked, spicy or non-spicy.  He said, “Stay focused, woman! It’s all about locating the most delicious and spiciest chicken in Singapore!”  I disagreed but Jerome tends to veer to extremes.

So he visited the Chengdu Sichuan Restaurant and ordered for himself, a plate of Szechuan Fried Chicken which comprised of bite-sized nibbles of crisp fried chicken with copious amounts of fiery dried chillies.  The light touch of saltiness brought about by a coat of marinade on the chicken provided for a good balance with the heat of this dish.  Together with a slight sweetness from a handful of roasted peanuts tossed in, it is little wonder why this is one of the signature creations at the restaurant.

Jerome’s take on the buffalo wings at Brewerkz? -  BELLY OK

Jerome’s take on the spicy fried chicken at Chir Chir ? – BELLY GOOD

Jerome’s take on the Szechuan fried chicken at Chengdu Sichuan Restaurant? – Belly Sure He’s Going To Be Shi**ing Broken Glass The Next Day

My take on the spicy fried chicken at Oven and Fried Chicken? – Belly Awesome

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking.  

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.