KFC NEW FIERY GRILLED WINGS

KFC: 50% Bigger?



Fiery Grilled Wings.Fifty percent bigger chicken wings marinated in peppers and grilled. These wings are unique to the market because each one is injected with the marinade unlike most other restaurants which only offer new flavor through sauce extensions. These wings are bigger than normal wings as I call them a white drumstick. The wings had a nice kick to them. I love my wings on fire and while these were not burning my mouth it did have a nice taste and they were finger-licking good. The flavor had the original seasoning with peppers added to it. I like the idea that KFC is now offering and making it easier for customers to pursue balanced diets without sacrificing taste. This item is being launched nationwide next week 12/28/09 so I was honored to be one of the first to taste it.



50% bigger wing on the left and the normal size wing on the right.

Here is a better perspective showing the bone. The new bigger wing is on the left and the normal size wing on the right.




I was invited to KFC’s exclusive dinner and tasting by my dear friend Abby @pleasurepalate. It’s been awhile since I have had KFC so what the heck, why not? Let’s see what the Colonel been up to these days. Walking in I noticed a change of atmosphere as there was a wall of bucket art as I like to call it.







There were also bucket seats and the light fixtures are made like, yes you guessed it, buckets.




The tables were covered in red table cloths along with cloth napkins, nice china throw away plates and faux silverware.

A table was set up with chicken fingers, wings and popcorn chicken was waiting for us to munch on.



I guess I haven’t been to KFC in awhile because I’m accustomed to the menu only offering original or crispy. We were greeted by Christopher Payne and Ed Thomas and I was excited to hear about his exclusive new item and being one of the first to taste it. We were given a tour of the kitchen. It was exciting to be able to see how it all comes together and to know that everything is made on-site. No frozen, pre-breaded chicken anywhere to be seen. Not only was the tour informative but we were able to bread our own chicken. I didn’t realize there was a science to breading chicken but there is. First you wash the chicken then you shake it seven times. Next, the chicken is breaded in a rolling motion seven times before frying.


Rinse the chicken.

Bread the chicken.






Location
KFC
Hacienda Heights

Priyani Ceylon Cafe

Sri Lankan food: I had no idea what to expect when I first tried this cuisine so it turned out to be such a nice surprise. It's somewhat similar to south Indian cuisine in its use of chili, cardamom, cumin, other spices and it has a distinctive taste. My friend invited me to try Priyani for the first time and not knowing what to order we asked the owner to recommend a few dishes. He was gracious enough to explain the menu and help us decide on what we should try. He really lead us in the right direction because from the moment we started eating it was nothing but a burst of flavors. Now I know “burst of flavors" means nothing to you but trying to capture the flavors of this cuisine has been a bit tough so I decided to go back a second time to speak to Priyani, the chef and co-owner and maybe try another dish so it would give me a better feel. Well, you can’t do that because each dish is so complicated with all of its spices that I can recognize some of the flavors but when they are all mixed together you get a very complex and difficult to pin down taste. When speaking with Priyani I asked her to describe the flavors in her food. I could taste Indian influences but I know it's not Indian food. The ingredients are the same but the flavors are different. How did she do this? She said that it’s in the way she combines, toasts and blends her spices that makes it unique. So that’s what they mean by the "love factor." This restaurant has no one else’s flavors and influence but Priyani’s. It’s her taste that we are experiencing and you can’t find this anywhere. It’s her terroir.

For appetizers we had a platter sampler of pattis, rolls, and fish buns. The pattis reminds me of an empanada. The dough was a nice and tender. It was filled with chicken, potatoes and spiced with curry and nutmeg. The rolls reminded me of Chinese eggrolls. They were wrapped in an eggroll wrapper and then battered and fried. Fish buns were similar to a salmon croquette and it had a nice spicy filling.


Lump rice or Lamprais-Dutch influenced: The whole meal comes wrapped up in a fresh banana leaf. Inside there is seemi sambola (caramelized onions) which were nice, sweet and spicy, pol sambola (shrimp paste), yellow banana curry, fish cutlet, chicken curry and deep-fried eggplant sautéed in onions and spices all stuffed in the banana leaf then steamed. This allows the flavors to permeate all through the rice giving you an incredible range of flavors from sweet to spicy with hints of cardamom, cilantro and fresh curry leaves.


Biryani-Served with chicken, cashew curry, raisins and an egg nestled in the middle of the rice. The technique that goes into making Biryani is what makes this dish. There is a two-part process from marinating the chicken in yogurt and biryani spice mix then adding and cooking it with the rice. Piryani makes this dish to perfection as the chicken is moist and the rice is evenly cooked. It's a wonderful aromatic combination of saffron and herb flavored basmati rice.


Kotthu Roti-This means chopped roti. This is Sri Lankan street-food. Strips of roti are cut and stir fried with vegetables, onions, egg and beef. Piryani says she makes roti daily.


Rice hoppers-First time I’ve ever seen this. The rice hoppers are made daily by hand. The ingredients are rice flour, water and salt.

Watalapaam-A bread pudding of Malay origin made of coconut milk, brown palm sugar, cashew nuts, rice flour, treacle (Sri Lankan syrup), eggs and various spices including cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.

Priyani Oriental Cafe

9035 Reseda BlvdNorthridge, CA 91324
(818) 998-6900

Dan Sung Sa: Pojangmacha

Don’t let this place scare you. It’s not hard to find just look for the Kim Jon IL poster whose face is plastered on the restaurant sign. Inside it's kind of eerie with dim lighting, slightly dirty and crowded. I guess they're re going for a North Korean vibe. There is graffiti all over the walls making you wonder if you've arrived in a third world country. If you’re not a smoker beware because this place has no regard for the no-smoking law as it seems like you're encouraged to light up. So why am I telling you this? Because if you can look past all that then you might like the overall experience. I've been here several times as I was introduced by a friend who's as passionate about food as I am. The food is inexpensive as it's only on menu to encourage you drink as much as you can. It's a restaurant of hit-or-miss bar food that's loud, grimy and sometimes smokey but I always seem to have good time when I'm there.


Here is their menu on a wooden tablet.


The first thing that comes out is complimetary
barley tea and vegetable soup.


One of my favorite dishes is something I call the dumbbells. Stuffed with rice noodles, tempura battered and fried,wrapped in seaweed.


Pig blood sausage It's mild and can be ordered steamed or fried.It had a nice mild buttery flavor


Raw tofu topped with kimchee This was another one of my favorites. the tofu was nice and creamy the kimchee added a crunchy texture and spiciness, it all complimented each other well.


Rabbokki with fish cakes (spicy) it's the same as tokkbokki but with ramen noodles added.

Frog legs and anchovies grilled.

Tender fried sliced egg rolls nice texture. Tasted like a rolled up omelete.

Mackerel grilled needed some seasoning.

Skewers ,shrimp, chicken, scallops, beef and mushrooms and the sauces.


BBQ pork or should I say BBQ cartilage? I couldn't find the meat.

Squid this was nice and spicy.

Soju after about two of these I can’t remember what else I ate.



Neighborhood: Koreatown
3317 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 487-9100

Dogzilla

Not Your Typical Wiener



The wieners themselves are very good. They’re meaty in texture and not salty, however, in this case the toppings make the hot dog. Various Japanese toppings are used to create a truly distinctive and delicious flavor. Their best-selling dog is the Dogzilla so that’s what I had. It consists of an all-beef frank, grilled onions, teri-mayo sauce, avocado and bacon topped with furikake.






These hotdogs are not cheap but are well worth it. The combination of the ingredients work really well together as you can't help but get a burst of flavor in every bite. The teri-mayo adds a sweet, smooth flavor that along with the caramelized onions worked perfectly. The furikake added a Japanese aroma.



Yakisoba dog: Spicy sausage link yakisoba, okonomi sauce, red ginger and nori. I did not try this one but I did take a picture to intice you. I will be going back tomorrow review to follow.

Okaki dog-Bratwurst: melted monterrey jack cheese, wasabi mayo teriyaki sauce, okaki ( rice flakes) and nori flakes.

Furikaki- All beef frank grilled onions, teri- mayo sauce topped with furikake.