Another day, another lunch, and another argument over food. This time, the entire GastroSense team had a drag-down, hair-pulling, nose-punching fight** about – wait for it! – fried chicken.

The only way to settle the fight? A tasting competition, of course!

**A little artistic license has been taken with the fight’s description….   

THE RULES
For some measure of objectivity, we set some boundaries:

• Flavour – is it properly marinated?
• Texture – is the meat tender and juicy?
• Skin – arguably the most important part of any fried chicken! Is it crunchy or soggy? Has it been breaded or battered? Does the coating itself have any flavour?

THE CONTENDERS
Taking into account appetite, time and potential delivery conditions, we picked just three types – a Singapore special, a typical Southeast Asian style, and a wildly popular East Asian style:

• Arnold’s: one of the most popular homegrown brands, Arnold’s was a hidden gem before being a breakout star in our fried chicken scene

• Jollibee: the Filipino chain that had hour-long queues when it first opened

• Korean Fried Chicken: Guess how many Korean fried chicken shops there are in Singapore right now?

A BRIEF BACKGROUND
Fried chicken is frequently considered as “junk food” now, but just 40 or 50 years ago, frying as a method of cooking and chicken meat were both regarded as luxuries. The reason is simple: during the time that countries and their economies began to slowly recover from the devastation of WWII, both meat and oil were expensive and difficult to come by.

In Singapore, the economy and the people’s spending power took some time to take flight post-WWII; with many historians agreeing that transformation began only after independence in 1965. As people started earning enough to actually have disposable income, what used to be considered luxuries became more easily obtainable.

Perhaps it’s easiest to trace our complicated relationship with fried chicken through the history of Kentucky Fried Chicken – or KFC as it’s now known! – in Singapore. It was the second fast-food restaurant to ever open in Singapore; its first outlet in Somerset welcomed guests in 1976, according to nlb.gov.sg. The first fast-food restaurant A&W has long since faded from memory.

Anecdotes reveal that for many years, in line with the idea of fried chicken being an indulgence, KFC restaurants were served on ceramic plates with proper steel knives and forks! It slowly progressed into its current incarnation as the market matured and customer base became ever-more segmented.

As fitness and wellness became more important, high-calorie foods like fried chicken became less welcome on the dining table – but has still been a favourite indulgence especially as different styles started showing up.

Brining, dry rub, marinating, battered, breaded, deep-fried, shallow-fried, whole chicken, chicken parts; there are so many different ways and choices that it wouldn’t even be an exaggeration to say that there is a cornucopia of crunchy chicken choices out there!

Due to our lack of stomach space, we restrained ourselves to just three options.

HOW WE CHOSE OUR FAVES
To make sure the fried chicken was of similar freshness levels and temperature, and that the visuals were similar, we :

• timed the fried chicken to arrive at almost the same time (rather successfully, we might add!)
• then poured them out in identical pure white bowls,
• and sat them on the exact same surface.

Every single one of us tried them at the same time. 

Only after that did everyone vote for their absolute, ride and die favourites.  

No anonymity! Everyone takes responsibility for their favourite choices.

RESULTS
A shocker – there was a TIE between Arnold’s and Jollibee.

Some people felt that Jollibee just had the tender juiciness and wonderfully crunchy battered skin they wanted from fried chicken.

Fans of Arnold’s, on the other hand, raved about the fabulous flavour – full of umami – and its crunchy crispy skin even though it had no batter or breading.

And after thinking about it, we left the tie because after all, the more fried chicken, the batter, right? Wink wink!