KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Among the many restaurants on the fourth level of NU Sentral Shopping Mall is So Chicken, a fusion fried chicken spot with Japanese and local influences on the flavours.
Here, the sauces play a starring role in your fried chicken experience, whether it’s wings in a bunga kantan-infused sweet and sour sauce or Japanese kare (curry) mayo-flavoured drumsticks.
There are five flavours to choose from: spicy miso (the spice comes from cili padi), Japanese sriracha mayo, umami soy and the aforementioned Japanese curry mayo and sweet and sour.
Unlike the good Colonel, where the flavours are uber-secret herbs and spices, here they come from the sauce that coats every crack and crevice of the crunchy battered fried chicken.
However, just like the good Colonel, every bite is finger licking good, flavour preference notwithstanding.
At the risk of sounding a little boring, I would say my favourites are the umami soy and sweet and sour flavours.
A thick, salty and savoury sauce on anything crispy and fried is absolutely undefeated. And it’s better when the chicken comes fresh out the fryer, still piping hot with steam flying out when you pull it apart so the flavours on everything just get dialed all the way up to 11.
With the umami soy, you get a saltiness that keeps you coming back for more without feeling too intense, which is the way it would be if it was straight salt.
Because the batter here is pretty light, and you don’t get that undesirable sandy taste of flour in your mouth, I like the umami soy with the wings and drumettes (RM19 for six pieces).
The chicken is almost just a vessel for the sauce really, and I can sit there and suck every bone dry like an episode of Hot Ones (shoutout Sean Evans!).
The sweet and sour flavour is a tangy, sharp and fragrant alternative, perfect with the juicy and moist fried chicken. I liked it best with the drumsticks (RM17 for two pieces), because with a bigger piece of meat I find something a little more acidic works best.
I’m not really a mayo person, though for those who are, they will love the two flavoured mayo options on offer. Sriracha and mayo is a classic combination, and though I like it more in sandwiches, the creaminess balances out the gentle heat of the Sriracha sauce.
Japanese curry is on the sweeter side, and when it's mixed into mayo and put on fried chicken, it reminds me a bit of sweet Korean fried chicken.
For lovers of all things hot and spicy, the spicy miso flavour will be right up your alley. Unlike the gentle heat of Sriracha, this sauce gets its kick from cili padi, so it's right in your face and all over your tongue in an instant.
The savoury, fermented notes from the miso keep you coming back for more, but seeing as I am generally spice-averse these days I can’t say it’s my thing.
To me, sides at any chicken joint are an additional but essential part of the experience. Standouts include pumpkin chips (RM7), garlic fried rice (RM9) and nori rice (RM6), the latter of which is a pillowy, starchy affair of short-grain Japanese rice dusted with roasted seaweed.
It’s also part of the sets on offer: For RM24, both Set One and Two includes nori rice, a drink and either two pieces of drumsticks or six pieces of wings and drumettes.
You can find So Chicken sandwiched between Mr Tuk Tuk and Banana Bistro on the fourth level of NU Sentral. It joins a plethora of places offering fried chicken in Kuala Lumpur, but with interesting flavours and most importantly, delicious chicken.
So Chicken MY @ Nu Sentral
Lot 4.11 Level 4, Nu Sentral Shopping Mall, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur
Open daily, 10am-9pm
Tel: 019-570 3411
Facebook: @sochickenmy/
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