![]() But Taiwanese fried chicken’s history is quite contemporary, said Katy Hui-wen Hung, a co-author of “ A Culinary History of Taipei.” It may be tempting to conclude that Taiwanese fried chicken evolved from Japanese fried chicken styles like karaage and katsu, given Japan’s colonization of Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. She, in turn, had adapted the recipe from a friend who owned a fried chicken business in Taichung, Taiwan. Sun adapted it from the one his mother and kitchen collaborator, Amy Lee, used to prepare hundreds of pounds of yan su ji for Atlanta’s Lunar New Year festival when he was in middle school. ![]() Java Saga’s chicken recipe is well traveled and closely guarded: Mr. “It’s not something you can find in Taiwan,” he said, “and some of our customers say ‘Taiwan doesn’t have this - but this is really good.’”įor purists, he still offers straightforward dark-meat nuggets and a breast-meat cutlet, in the styles of yan su ji and da ji pai. 1 cutlet slathered in a cayenne-based “lava” sauce atop a slice of brown-sugar milk toast and sweet pickles. ![]() Inspired by the regional specialty, Java Saga also serves a version of the No. Sun was obsessed with Nashville hot chicken, sampling varieties from chains like Hattie B’s and Gus’s and watching videos on how to prepare it. When he opened his restaurant in 2020, Mr. “As long as they have an interest in trying it, they do seem to like it,” Mr. They’re tucking Taiwanese fried chicken into sandwiches and steamed buns, serving it atop sliced white bread with pickles and drenching it with sauces in acknowledgment of regional American specialties and their life experiences. Kuo is among a generation of Taiwanese American chefs who are molding this night-market fixture to fit their own upbringings and tastes. Indian fried chicken sandwiches draw crowds and inspire spirited reviews in New York City. Korean fried chicken chains dot college campuses. The crispy, aromatic chicken, which often can be found popcorn-style at boba shops in the United States, is gaining its foothold in the American culinary landscape amid a fried-chicken fervor: Fast-food chains battle for the title of best crispy chicken sandwich. A cultural tentpole, Taiwanese fried chicken is finding a wider audience of diners and selling out at restaurants in the process. Interest in Taiwanese cooking is surging in the United States, with cookbooks that chronicle the cuisine dotting the horizon and new shops and pop-ups opening left and right. Kuo sells small, bone-in pieces of popcorn quail topped with fried basil, with spicy mayo for dipping. In a nod to his Taiwanese roots, his American childhood and his fine-dining background, Mr. Kuo’s Los Angeles restaurant, Little Fatty, the poultry on the menu feels familiar, yet distinctive. Marinated in soy sauce, rice wine, often garlic and always five-spice powder, then coated with coarse sweet potato starch, fried and finished with a dusting of white pepper, Taiwanese fried chicken is typically served in paper bags, without any sauce, for easy on-the-go snacking.Īt Mr. Kuo encountered at street vendor stalls on family visits to Taiwan: yan su ji, boneless popcorn chicken strewn with fried basil leaves, and da ji pai, butterflied boneless breast cutlets. The bony pieces were unlike the styles of fried chicken Mr. Kuo’s father would often come home late from work with a bucket of Church’s fried chicken, and they would dig in as they wrestled pixelated figures on the screen. Just outside, luffa gourds, garlic chives, sweet potato leaves and other crops beloved in Taiwan grew in his grandmother’s vegetable garden. Growing up, the chef David Kuo and his brothers played video games in a converted garage in the family’s backyard in West Covina, Calif.
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