Hot Star Chicken

More than anything else, what impressed me here in Taiwan was the quality of its snack scene. I think it is well known enough that the snacks have made it overseas. In Singapore, and eventually the rest of Southeast Asia, a lot of Taiwan snacks have made it to their hawker centers and have themselves become famous. I would like to try it here at the source itself. Perhaps the one snack which for me epitomizes Taiwan snacks it the extra large fried boneless chicken. I had this in Singapore and it is always a delight to eat it. I was wondering how much better it would be when I tried at the place which invented it.

Hot Star Chicken 豪大大鸡排 is probably the best known of makers of this extra large fried boneless chicken. I imagine a piece of chicken fillet as large as your face. I went to the branch at Ximending 西门町 which is a commercial district in Taipei. There is a branch of Hot Star Chicken here and it is actually difficult to miss. Long queues notwithstanding, I ordered my own extra large chicken. The chicken is battered and fried to perfection while you wait. Incidentally, they do have other stuff but no one really wants those. You get the chicken piping hot and it is incredibly difficult to take a photo of it while holding the chicken in one hand. The chicken was much better than the ones I have had in Singapore, this one seems to be juicier but the batter makes for a very nice contrast to the juicy insides. I was surprised to know that they actually use breast meat here. I normally don’t like chicken breast meat but with this style of cooking, it really didn’t matter anymore.

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